PLATFORM NEWSLETTER
The Northern Ireland Women’s European
Platform
Working
towards equality and peace for women on a local, national European and international level
58 Howard Street, Belfast BT1 6PJ
niwep@btconnect.com
www.niwep.org.uk
Local/National
UN Security Council 1325 – Women,
Peace and Security
Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform is to host a roundtable conference in January with senior officials
from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development and the Ministry of Defence.
The roundtable discussion will seek to share the work of the UK at international levels in delivering and implementing policy and programmes
on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security.
This conference is important in showcasing the contribution which women have made to peace
building work in Northern Ireland. Developments in Northern Ireland
could be models of good practice which could be offered to other conflict areas in developing their national action plans
which are facilitated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The fact that this
event has the support of the Secretary of State is indicative of the importance attached to this UN Resolution. While women in Northern Ireland
have achieved much it is vital to press ahead with the full implementation of the resolution and ensure that women are full
and equal participants in the all areas of policy and decision-making.
A report will be compiled following the event and will be available in the future on NIWEP’s
website www.niwep.org.uk
Northern Ireland CEDAW Shadow Report
Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The UK
government will be submitting the updated report from 2003 to the CEDAW Committee for presentation in January 2008. The Platform has been updating the submission of the shadow report which was
prepared by NGOs in 2003 and will be consulting in February with the groups who contributed to the report for updates and/or
changes.
The Platform will also be holding a conference on the 29 March 2007 in partnership with
Women into Politics and one of the workshops will be an opportunity for women to contribute to the final draft shadow CEDAW
report to be submitted to the CEDAW Committee.
If you are interested in the conference or information on the shadow CEDAW report please
contact niwep@btconnect.com
Regional
Consultation with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
NAWO (the National Alliance of Women’s
Organisations) invited the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Ertük Yakin to a consultation in London which took place over 3 days. Ms Yakin
met with women’s NGOs representatives from the UK
and the European Region, including a large number of representatives from the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) European
Observatory on Violence Against Women (VAW) and EWL Board members. Margot Hesketh
represented the Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform.
The meeting was the occasion to present
the EWL report “Reality Check: when women’s NGOs map policies and legislation on VAW in Europe”,
which is the result of the mapping exercise carried out with experts of the EWL Observatory on Violence against Women. The
report will be finalized and released in February 2007.
Information on the event can be found at www.niwep.org.uk
Hanna's House Seminar on Women and Peace Building
This event will be to explore the relevance of a feminist analysis to peace building in Ireland and will take place Friday 23 February 11 am – 3pm at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Temple
Court, 39 North Street, Belfast. Speakers are Margaret
Ward is a feminist historian who has written a biography of Hanna Sheehy Skeffington. Joanna McMinn is the Director
or the National Women's Council of Ireland and Cynthia Cockburn is a feminist researcher and writer working at the intersection
of gender studies and peace/conflict studies.
For further information contact margaret.ward@wrda.net
European
EU Council annual report on Human Rights
The European Union Council recently published its annual report on Human rights and stresses that they cut across
all action and women's rights should be at the heart of all EU action. Speaking
on the behalf of the Finnish Presidency, on 19 December, Finnish foreign minister Paula Lehtomäki stressed that women's rights
should cut across all of the Union's policies.
Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner welcomed the fact that human rights have been integrated into the 2007-2013 financial
perspectives, and that the human rights clause included in agreements with third countries allowed "new forms of dialogue".
It was now necessary, she said, to concentrate on certain specific points,
dealt with in two Commission communications, namely the Roadmap on Gender Equality and the new Strategy on Children's Rights.
Direct Link to the EU Annual Report on Human Rights 2006 http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/human_rights/doc/report_06_en.pdf
Migrant Women In Europe Speak Out!
EWL organised a 3 days-event in Brussels
“Equal Rights, Equal Voices – Migrant women in the European Union” on 19-21 January 2007. The main purpose
was to give migrant women in Europe the opportunity to speak out, make their own voices be heard and not least to explore
ways of translating the challenges that migrant women face in their everyday lives into concrete recommendations to EU decision
makers. The event gathered migrant women activist, identified with the support of national co ordinations of EWL, from all
EU Member States
The public seminar on the 19 January
included keynote speakers Anna
Deutelmoser, (Office of Maria Böhmer, Minister of State and German
Federal Government and Commissioner for Migration, Refugees, and Integration), Emine Bozkurt (Member
of the European Parliament) and Sandra Pratt (Deputy Head, Immigration and Asylum Unit,
DG Justice, Freedom and Security, European Commission). In the second part of the session, a roundtable
“What tools for advocating migrant women’s rights at European level?” draw some proposals with the support
of researchers and key NGOs concerned: the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and the Platform of International Cooperation
of Undocumented Migrant workers (PICUM). All speakers welcome EWL initiative and insisted on the need to develop gender mechanisms
in the field of immigration at EU level.
During the closed workshops which
followed on the 20th and 21st, the migrant women activists worked in closed sessions, discussing issues
that are particular relevant to their situations and exploring ways to organise themselves at European level, to have their
own space to advocate their rights. They agreed on a roadmap for migrant women’s
rights, with concrete actions to be taken forward over the coming months. The roadmap includes strengthening
partnership between migrant women NGOS and EWL co-ordinations at national level in order to mainstream more actively migrant
women concerns in the feminist movement and to work toward the setting up a European migrant women lobby.
“ This 3 days event is not a means to an end, but a milestone, marking the beginning of a new route towards
gender equality and the advancement of the fundamental rights of migrant women in Europe” concluded EWL President Kirsti Kolthoff at the Public seminar.
A report will be available in March and can be accessed through NIWEP’s website www.niwep.org.uk
International
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – 51st Session
The
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. It is the principal global policy-making body. Every
year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New
York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate
concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
The
next session of the Commission (fifty-first session) will take place from 26 February to 9 March 2007. In accordance with
its multi-year programme of work for 2007-2009, the Commission will consider “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence
against the girl child”
as its priority theme.
NIWEP
is at present seeking funding to send up to 4-6 young women along with 2 adults to this event.
Young girls can get involved and have their voices heard – see the forum below seeking comments. The newsletter is available on NIWEP’s website www.niwep.org.uk
Dear Friends,
Girls, their rights and their concerns, will be the focus of the 2007 meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of
Women (CSW). The Commission, which will meet in New York
from February 26 to March 9, will discuss what governments and citizens can do to end all forms of violence and discrimination
against the girl child.
The Working Group on Girls wants to ensure that girls everywhere have a chance to participate
in the discussion. We are working with UNICEF to gather the voices of young people and to prepare a Youth Report to
be presented at the CSW meeting.
We are inviting young people to consider recommendations that experts
will put to the CSW and to respond with their own suggestions about what we can do to put a stop to discrimination and violence
against girls. The forum, Stop violence and discrimination against girls, will be open from December 1 to January 15.
Details will be available on UNICEF’s Voices of Youth, www.unicef.org. We hope to hear from young people throughout the world.
In preparation for the forum we have prepared an educational newsletter,
The Girl Child Today, which can be used in the classroom, with gatherings of young people, and by interested individuals.
It includes basic information about the CSW, as well as background on the Beijing
Platform for Action, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Special session on Children. You will also find
the stories of several young girls who have experienced violence and discrimination in their lives. This information
will be a key element in preparation for the UNICEF Forum and the CSW meeting itself.
