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Features OUR SPACES Claiming space is a critical organizing strategy among women's groups throughout the world. Access and control over public space reflects the accomplishments of grassroots women's groups and provides a base for their community building activities. Women controlled spaces help women organize around their practical needs, access resources, and gain and maintain institutional recognition. During times of crisis, such as wars and natural disasters, women owned centers such as communal living rooms and mother centers provide shelter, help plant the seeds of social cohesion and inclusion in the community, and place women at the center of rebuilding their communities. Featured at the World Urban Forum III, the Our Practices - Space exhibit highlighted the importance of women's access to and control over space and showed that claiming space is a critical organizing strategy among grassroots women's groups throughout the world. For grassroots women to realize their potential and vision to improve their lives and their communities, "opportunities must exist, resources must be available and the institutions of society must legitimate and promote their actions, though not without struggle" (Leavitt and Saegert 1990). The Space exhibit was comprised of 38 2x2 panels reflecting the accomplishments of 17 grassroots women's groups. Download the full exhibit in PowerPoint here Coming Soon... For more information, contact: Nicole Ganzekaufer WIN:WIN::Local:Local* Huairou Leader Speaks for Women at World Urban Forum Addressing the Closing Plenary of World Urban Forum II, Huairou Commission member Esther Mwaura Muiru summarized issues raised by women in networking sessions, dialogues and women’s caucuses. While the women’s calls for adequate housing, water, sanitation and other basic services for all (especially women and children) were familiar, the speech implied an significant shift in means for accomplishing these universally agreed upon goals: It itemized the ways in which local authorities could – and should - engage the work of women, community, and citizen networks as full partners in the effort. Read the document on which the speech was based > Chinese Women Read About Kenyan Grassroots Grassroots women’s organizations may be creating a remarkable variety of practices to deal with the most urgent of community problems (and they are) but because their work is on the ground, their innovations are not often noticed by the international press. Encouraged and supported by CORDAID, Huairou invited young journalists from around the world to practice their craft during the Grassroots Academy and World Urban Forum in Barcelona. Alfred Cheng Jin’s piece on Kenyan women dealing with AIDS is just one of many articles which came out of the project. Working with Mr. Patralekha Chatterjee of New Delhi, India, other Young Journalists besides Mr. Cheng Jin were Sophie Koers, Netherlands; Gazellah Bruder Lagaia, Media Niugini & EMTV,Papua New Guinea; and Dorothy Akinyi Otieno, East African Standard, Kenya Read the article in Chinese >  Read the article in English >  Huairou’s Strategic Plan 2003-6 The plan features grassroots women’s campaigns in Engendering Governance, Transforming Disaster into Development, Responding to AIDS in Africa, Land and Housing and Peace Building. Internally, it will review and restructure its governance and administrative systems. Learn more> |
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