Transcript Diapositiva 1 - Inter Press Service

“Millennium Development Goal 3
and the role of the media”
PANEL: case studies from civil society
ActionAid – HungerFree Women
Beatrice Costa
Policy Officer – Women's Rights Programme
Rome, 26th November 2009
Outline of the presentation
ActionAid & Women's Rights Programme
A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out
Challenges and opportunities to engage Media on W'sR
Issues for reflection and debate
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AA & Women's Rights Programme_1
“We believe that eradication of poverty and injustice will not be possible
without securing equality and rights for women.”
- Strategy 2005/2010 Rights To End Poverty -
“Gender inequality in and of itself without intersecting with poverty is an
injustice that we must fight”
- Women's Rights Strategic Plan 2005/2010 -
CORE INTERVENTIONS
awareness and critical consciousness
advocacy & campaigns for laws/policies
W's organisations/movements and broader alliances
W's leadership
APPROACH
Focus on challenging and changing power relations
Gender mainstreaming and standalone interventions
INGO supporting strategic alliance building
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AA & Women's Rights Programme_2
AREAS of WORK
Violence Against Women/Girls
Access & Control over land
HIV & AIDS
Political participation
HISTORY of the THEME
1999/2004: gender equality as one of the priorities. Piloting
work in Kenya, India, Uganda, Nepal. Work on HIV & education.
International/regional working groups/posts.
From 2005 on: repoliticizing our work with clear strategy &
political framework → focus on power relations. Consolidation,
deepening and expansion. Partnership with feminists and
movements. Built staff capacity with dedicated officers in most of
countries.
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A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out
THE CONTEXT
HungerFree is AA's global campaign
forcing governments to deliver on
their commitment and halve hunger. Hunger results from unequal
distribution of food, and the lack of access to/control over resources.
HF fights to out the issue of hunger to the top of the political agenda.
THE ISSUE: MDG3 & MDG1
Women make up 60% of the chronically
hungry and food crisis hit them the
Hardest. Women farmers produce 60-80%
of the food in poor countries but only own 1%
of the land, receive less than 10 percent of credit and are excluded
from associations, services, know-how. Rural women are often far
from the centers of power & decision making. Every year 115,000
maternal deaths worldwide are caused by malnutrition.
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What we did around the world_1
Some 80.000 women farmers
in Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, The Gambia, Haiti,
Nepal, India, Ghana, Mozambique, Brazil, South Africamarched
demanding the right to own/inherit land.
As a result of the campaign
ACHIEVEMENTS
ACHIEVEMENTS
ACHIEVEMENTS
ACHIEVEMENTS
120 Dalit women have been granted title deeds to one acre of
agricultural land in the Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
In Nepal, there is a commitment from key politicians to enshrine
women’s land rights in the new constitution.
In The Gambia, 3,000 women received land. Local chiefs and district
governors made concrete commitments to women on land.
In Northern Malawi, 300 women have successfully managed to
convince traditional leaders to allocate them land.
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What we did around the world_2
Women marching to campaign for a HungerFREE World
between October 2008 and March 2009
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How to communicate that?_1
The HungerFree Women Speak Out
PHOTO EXHIBITION
To celebrate their journeys and successes achieved AA launched
HUNGERFREE WOMEN SPEAK OUT - photo exhibition that is and will
travel globally, to raise awareness about women's right to land
How to communicate that?_2
The HungerFree Women Speak Out
FILM GALLERY & TRUE STORIES
We produced VIDEOS of the marches and a film collecting
best evidence of the mobilisation around the various countries
We released the STORIES of some remarkable women met
during the campaigns and/or featured in videos/photos.
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How to communicate that?_3
Linking FUNDRAISING with campaign
Two of ActionAid’s European associates have launched
fundraising initiatives linked to HungerFREE Women.
NIZA (Netherlands) recently launched a public awareness-raising
and FR initiative called ‘Sisters’. It has a website, a link to
Facebook, and door-to-door fundraising activities.
MS (Denmark) launched a FR
product called "Give land to
Mama!" with the aim of raising
funds to improve women's access
to land. The launch included
videos with Danish comedians, a
website, competitions and more.
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How to communicate that?_4
Linking MOBILISATION with campaing
TOOLKIT
CASE STUDIES
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How to communicate that?_4
Linking MOBILISATION with campaing
VEHICLES for
JOURNEYS
BANNERS
&
LOGOS
PLATES
GADGETS
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Challenges in working with Media on W'sR
Stereotypes in action
“The media do not merely represent; they also recreate themselves and their vision of
the world as desirable, salable. What they reproduce is chosen, not random, not neutral,
not without consequence.” Patricia J. Williams [1995]
a) rethoric of victimisation and/or women if “tool” of development;
b) women in the South conceived as a whole with no differences/intersectionalities;
c) lack of knowledge of women's leadership/movements/issues...
Do women’s stories sell?
Timely and quick please! empowerment of women is a long process
Linking marginalised women to women on the spotlight (let’s guess next Hillary
Clinton’s travel!)
Women usually activate: give solutions/actions to what described in a news.
More and more expensive to produce materials for media and different
channels/target audiences (video, case studies, briefs, photos, interviews, news
for social networks) but few funds for women’s rights programmes
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Issues for Reflection & Debate
Do Italian media act as watchdog on W’sR?
Eg. holding governments accountable to many of the international and regional
women‟s rights conventions and instruments they have signed (CEDAW, BPFA…)
CEDAW requires that: “State parties shall take all appropriate measures:… To modify the social
and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of
prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the ideas of the inferiority or
superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.”
Are media ready to look deeply at their inner power relations&contraddictions?
Eg. Governance within media holdings: who makes the news.
Sexist adv VS. articles on gender equality
Women are a large market for the print media: which accountability?
Is there somebody ready to listen to the most marginalised women in the world? It’s a
matter of justice and equal representation.
Do women’s violations & rights still to be considered women’s issues?
Rethinking the whole system from a gender lens.
Take time to have a look. The importance of immersions and visits in countries where
NGOs work.
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Next Test 
Help us in promoting this campaign on CEDAW
BROCHURE
WEBSITE
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Thank you!