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Information
about the meeting of WIDF's Executive Committee
From 24th to 26th of November were congregated in
Rome, at Casa Internazionale delle Donne (International Women’s House), the
WIDF Executive Committee.
Dear friends:
From 24th to 26th of November were congregated in
Rome, at Casa Internazionale delle Donne (International Women’s House), the
WIDF Executive Committee.
Following organizations from countries members of WIDF attended the
meeting:
For Americas: Brazil, Cuba and Ecuador and Argentina. Invited Country:
Venezuela
For Asia: Vietnam and Japan. Invited Country: North Korea
For Europe: Cyprus, Portugal, Iceland and Greece. Invited Country: Italy,
Spain, England and GUE/NGL Group of the European Parliament representative
For Africa: Angola. Invited Country: South Africa
For Arab Countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Syria
Mayada Abbassi, Mexico, Djibouti, India and Russia presented their
apologies because they could not attend this WIDF meeting.
I express my gratitude to Barbara Switzer and Ute Navid who collected the
reports of the work commissions supporting this report on meeting
conclusions.
1 - The first part of the WIDF meeting was dedicated to
Solidarity Campaign to Lebanon and Palestine.
The friends Linda Mattar from Lebanon, Ferial Salem from Palestine
and Emily Naffa from Jordan, beyond me, for the WIDF presidency, did
speeches rescuing the Lebanese women’s fight in the recent aggression
suffered by the Lebanese people for Israel with the total support of Bush,
as well as the solidarity that we all have had in the fight of Palestinian
nation and for the cease of the conflicts and aggressions against
Palestine.
A video about the situation in Palestine was exhibit.
With great enthusiasm, we commemorate the recent defeat of Bush in
the American elections for the parliament and how much this encourage the
democrats and peace loving in the whole world and our struggles against
conflicts, state terrorism, aggressions and economic blockades perpetrated
by Bush.
We affirm that it is an excellent moment to continue demanding the
immediate withdrawal of the American troops from Iraq and this way, to get
Bush still weaker.
We rescue the role of WIDF members in that period, the success of
the solidarity campaign to the cities and districts affected by the War and
many organizations handed in a very moving ceremony their financial
contributions so that the friends from Lebanon League can give scholar
assistance to the children hardly affected by the war.
2 - The two following days were dedicated
to the preparation and organization
of the XIV WIDF Congress in April 2007 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Through the meeting of five work commissions, with the
participation of all organizations, a series of organization proposals and
finances, were defined for the accomplishment of a great Congress.
The work commissions were:
1- Finances and Logistics
2- Organization, mobilization and communication
3 – Rules and Regulations
4 - Theses
5 – Action Plan
In this report I will introduce some decisions that we assumed as
commissions proposals so that all of us can start immediately with the
nomination of delegates and present our lists of invited persons for the
Congress.
Our final call for the Congress was approved as: Women of the World - A
vital force against neo-liberal globalization, state terrorism and
imperialist wars - For Equality, Economic and Social Justice and Peace. It
was also approved a small slogan: Women in Struggle.
3- About
THESES proposals for the Congress.
Emily Naffa of Jordan coordinated this commission and Barbara Switzer of
United Kingdom was the reporter.
The WIDF Presidency will cooperate also with the working papers, within the
stated period.
The issues defined in the EC of Portugal were reaffirmed with some changes
and the working papers will be written as follows:
THEME 1: The (negative) impacts of neo-liberal globalization on
women.
Responsible - Jordan
THEME 2: The impact of state terrorism and imperialists wars on
women.
Responsible - Palestine and North Korea
THEME 3: The trafficking and merchandising of women and children
(with special reference to the sexual exploitation of migrant, refugee and
displaced women).
Responsible - Latin America and Europe
THEME 4:
Building international solidarity against political repression and all
forms of violence against women.
Responsible - Vietnam and Syrian
THEME 5: Defending indigenous women’s rights to their culture and
for equality.
Responsible - Latin America and Greece
THEME
6: Advancing women’s equal social rights to: a) work, b) to
reproductive and sexual health, education, social security, food and
others.
Responsible – a) Greece and b) Latin America
THEME 7: Changing the negative role of the media in its presentation
of women.
Responsible - United Kingdom and Europe
THEME 8:
Women in power and political decision-making positions.
Responsible - South Africa
THEME 9: The history and role of WIDF in defending women’s rights,
national independence, social justice, democracy and peace.
Responsible - Cuba, with support of Europe and Russia, and all that have
WIDF material to direct to Cuba.
THEME 10: The WIDF, Feminism and the Gender Theory.
Responsible - Latin America and Spain
UP TO 1st February 2007 - all the written papers must be
sent to WIDF Presidency.
From 1st March 2007 - the WIDF Presidency will send the
written papers printed for all the affiliated organizations and guests.
4- About Rules and Regulations.
The friends of this commission that was coordinated by Magalys Arocha
from Cuba have based themselves on the current Rules approved on the
Congress in Lebanon and in last Regulations used by WIDF for its Congress
in 1991.
Any suggestions of changes will be presented for the WIDF EC members until
December 15th, so members can make their suggestions and return
it to us up to January 15th. With the proposals of WIDF EC
members incorporated, we will send the Rules and Regulations proposed for
all WIDF members until February 20th.
5 – About Finances and Logistics.
In the meeting
we defined the actions that we need to develop in the next five months to
have necessary finances for the Congress. Luzia Inga of Angola coordinated
the finances and logistics commission.
The Venezuelan friends, presented all long WIDF meeting, participated in
all work commissions, informing us about all that had already been made in
Venezuela for the accomplishment of the Congress. Through a video about
Venezuela, the host country showed us the venues where we will carry
through the WIDF Congress.
A long time ago WIDF did not prepare its congresses with this kind of
logistics.
Throughout the meeting we had the chance to congratulate the Venezuelan
friends for their role in favor of President Hugo Chavez re-election on
December 3rd.
a) Venues of the Congress.
-The Opening and the Plenary Sessions of the WIDF Congress will be
held at -Theater Teresa the Carreño, the most important theater of
Caracas.
-The Nations Festival, Books Fair, Handwork Fair of the WIDF
affiliated and friends organizations and the World Show Women for
Peace, as well as the debate groups of the WIDF congress will be
carried through in halls and meeting rooms of the Hilton Hotel and
Central Park.
-Lodging of the delegates will be at Hilton Hotel and Anauco Hotel in
Caracas.
-All the dependences that will be used for the Congress are very close
one to another and internal transport is not necessary.
-The Venezuelan friends are in contact with the Venezuelan authorities
in order we can have the necessary support for the Congress.
b) Publicity Material and Mobilization.
The Congress will count with its spot, poster, folder, invitation,
newsletter, video, newspaper and WIDF site. These materials will have
its layout approved in the next meeting of the President and Vice
presidents, with the presence of the Venezuelans of the National
Preparatory Committee in Venezuela, on December 19th to 20th,
in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
c) About the Delegates to the Congress.
-Each WIDF affiliated organization will
be entitled to have in the
maximum 05 delegates for the Congress; each organization has one vote.
-Each delegate will pay a registration fee of 30 dollars for the
Congress.
-Each delegate to the Congress will receive one briefcase, cap, block,
pen, t-shirt, echarp, and a video about the WIDF history.
d) About the annuity of the WIDF affiliated organizations
The WIDF affiliated organizations that are up to date with its
annuities will be entitled to vote. Each WIDF affiliated organization
will have to do the update of its quotas payments taking care of the
following criteria:
-Organization that had not paid its annuity since five years or more
will have to pay two quotas.
-Organization that had not paid its annuity since two or three years
will have to pay one quota.
e) About Financing for the WIDF Congress.
The WIDF Executive Committee is presenting many initiatives to raise
financial funds for the participation of delegates to the Congress in
Caracas.
-The Books Fair and the Handwork Fair will be result of books and
handiworks that with priority, the WIDF affiliated members and friends
will bring for the Congress to be sold to the participant women and to
the Venezuela’s people. With a percentage (50%) of proceeds going
towards meeting congress expenditure and the other 50% going towards
the organization member.
-The Nations Festival Party will have Stands from Countries that will
present the performance of the institutions in areas like Public
Politics for Woman. The spaces for the works presentation will be
sold. As soon as possible we will send detailed information about the
Stands, size, price list, etc.
-WIDF will organize sale of echarps, t-shirts, caps, agendas and
videos about the WIDF history during the Congress. Proceeds will go
towards meeting congress expenditure and WIDF.
-It is suggested that affiliated and friends organizations in their
countries accomplish beneficent dinners, asking for donations of
important artists of works of arts and paintings to sale in the
Handwork Fair. It is also suggested one competition of local cookery
with the people paying admission ticket for funds.
-In the WIDF site -
www.fdim-widf.com.br – you can
find a project for the WIDF Congress (in Portuguese, Spanish and
English), that can be used for each country to rise financial funds to
support the air tickets to Venezuela. In this project for the
Congress, if you consider interesting, you can add other pages
including the work of the affiliated organization and local friend.
This can facilitate the financial support for the congress, when the
partner that we look for can know more about the organization and the
work developed in its own country.
-The WIDF
Presidency is asking for the international organisms as UNIFEM, ILO,
UNFPA, WHO, requests for air tickets to the affiliated countries in
all range areas of these organisms. All these requests together make
us possible to reach 94 countries. Very soon we will give more details
to WIDF Regional Offices, WIDF Executive Committee members,
organizations affiliated about these requests, and how we can act
together with these organisms in order to guarantee the air tickets.
We have all the responsible names, addresses, e-mails and telephones
of these international organisms and as soon as possible we will send
to you.
-The
initiatives for the Congress preparation will be given soon on the
WIDF site, so that all can have ways of organizing themselves and
raising funds for the air tickets.
6 - Organization, Mobilization and Communication.
The commission was coordinated by Skevi Koukoumas from Cyprus and reported
by Ute Navid from United Kingdom.
The commission presented an organization proposal for the congress that
foresees one day for the work groups (10 work groups), one day for plenary
session about general subjects, the Opening Session with the World Show
Women for Peace and the inauguration of parallel activities as Nations
Festival, Books Fair, Handwork and Solidarity events.
The organization of the congress will be detailed in the meeting of
December 19th and 20th with WIDF Presidency and
Vice-presidents, when all the logistics subjects need to be defined, as far
the mobilization. Soon we will detail better this question.
The Congress will be held on:
April 16th
Meeting of the WIDF Young Woman
April 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th
XIV WIDF Congress
Parallel Activities
April 11th, 12th and 13th
I National Conference of Venezuelan Woman
April 13th
Solidarity to Venezuela
April 14th
and 15th
WIDF Executive Committee
-The WIDF EC
will edit in five languages the Book of the WIDF History basing itself on
historical documents of WIDF archives, materials that some countries have
and the donation of the materials about the WIDF history from the Russian
friends.
-Edition of the WIDF magazine.
-The strengthening of the WIDF
site with the regions/countries sending articles, news, photos to
illustrate the site.
7) Action Plan
The Commission of the Action
Plan was coordinate by Linda Matar of Lebanon. This Commission met and
after it discussed the objectives of the WIDF, it proposes for the Action
Plan the following points:
1st Women's rights
- Rights to
education
- Rights to
employment
- Rights to
health
2nd Democracy and Freedom
- Equality
- Equal
participation in decision-making
- Immigrant
women's rights
- Disabled
women's rights
3rd Violence against
women
- Domestic
violence
- Violence at
work
- Trafficking of
Women
- Violence in
armed conflicts
4e Images of women in the
media
- Give a positive image of
woman in the written and audio-visual means of social communication
- In publicity
5th Children's rights
- Application of
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Application of
the ILO Convention on Child Labour
6th Independence and
sovereignty
- Solidarity with peoples
fighting for their independence and their sovereignty
- The people's rights to
organize their resistance to free their Occupied Territories
- The fight
against state terrorism
7th To establish Peace in
the world
- Apply Resolution 1325 of
the UN Security Council to the participation of women in conflict
prevention and the construction of peace
- Prohibit nuclear weapons,
weapons of mass destruction, mines, biological and chemical weapons
- Fight against
the military bases
8th Contacts necessary to
widen the WIDF
- Strengthen the presence of
the WIDF in all the international institutions, at all levels
- Make the regional Centers
responsible to widen the relations with the NGOs at national and regional
levels
- The need to publish the
review "Women of the Planet", at least twice a year
- Distributing by all the
means the biographies of pioneering women’s struggles for women's rights
and for peace
- Enrich the WebPages of the
WIDF with new information of the various regions
- Establish actions, which
are common like, for example on 8 March, with precise dates and common
content.
-
Fight for
the application of the Convention (CEDAW)
8) – Declarations of
Solidarity
ARAB WOMEN
Members of the Women’s
International Democratic Federation representing five continents,
participating in the Directions Committee meeting in Rome from 24-26
November 2006,express their solidarity with the people of Palestine,
Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and all those who are suffering from occupation,
aggression and state terror.
The current situation in the
Middle East is worsening. The facts on the ground indicate that the US and
NATO countries are behind the new war crimes and are perpetuating
conflicts. Their ultimate goal, other than complete domination, is to sell
weapons and increase military spending in the region.
The US Administration declared that it will
redraw the geopolitical map of the region under different projects, the
“Greater Middle East” lately the “New Middle East”, in order to have the
upper hand on oil, to strengthen its hegemony and global policing and
continue to impose its “new global order” by militarizing globalization.
The Israeli aggression on
Lebanon, that took place between 12 July and 14 August, was premeditated
and constituted part of the US- NATO plan known as “The Democratization of
the Middle East”; a plan drawn up by the Pentagon and approved by the EU,
which caused destruction and more than 1000 deaths and disaster.
The aggression on Lebanon comes
on the heels of Israel’s invasion and reoccupation of large parts of the
Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, at a time when the
occupied Palestinian territories are experiencing a decline at all levels
including the political, social, economic and cultural levels which has a
negative impact on the living conditions of Palestinian women and people as
a whole, the bulldozing of homes the burning of agricultural lands,
partition of territories and construction of the apartheid wall; the
massacre that was lately perpetrated in Bait Hoon, contributed to the
disastrous situation. The imprisonment of around 11,000 civilians among
them women and children in West Bank and Gaza is unacceptable and criminal.
The WIDF Executive Committee
strongly condemns the American and Israeli aggression and occupation and
demands:
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The immediate withdrawal of
Israeli troops from all occupied lands in Palestine, Syrian Golan
Heights and Lebanese territories including Sheba farms.
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The immediate withdrawal of
American armies and its allies from Iraq.
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The complete dismantling of
settlements, the demolition of the apartheid wall as well as the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem
as its Capital.
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The solution of the refugee
issue ensuring their return to their homeland based on UN resolution
No 164.
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That the UN exert pressure
on Israel to implement resolution 1701 and stop its violation of
Lebanese land, sky and sea and secure financial compensation for the
damage and losses caused by military operations.
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Provide Lebanon and
Palestine with humanitarian assistance immediately and the immediate
reconstruction of the war torn country.
KOREA:
Today, the situation on the
Korean Peninsula is extremely aggravated owing to the US vicious hostile
policy and reckless aggressive war moves against the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea.
The sixty-odd-year-long
political domination and military occupation of South Korea has been an
infringement of the national sovereignty and rights to existence and
immeasurable misfortunes and sufferings for the Korean people.
Withdrawal of the US troops from
the Korean Peninsula and realizing the Korean national reunification poses
itself as an important task in preserving peace and security on the Korean
peninsula and further in the world.
The WIDF, expressing its strong
solidarity with the Korean people and women in their just cause for
national independence and world peace, extends ready support to, and
solidarity with, their righteous struggle for the withdrawal of the US
troops from South Korea and to achieve the national independent and
peaceful reunification by the Koreans themselves, under the June 15
North-South Joint Declaration, the great programme for the reunification.
The WIDF also condemns and
denounces the US policy to isolate and suffocate the DPR Korea through
beastly moves of sanctions and blockade.
CYPRUS:
We continue to support the
people of Cyprus in their struggle for a solution to the Cyprus problem. A
solution that will be based on the UN Resolutions, the High Level
Agreement, the International and European Law. For a viable and factional
solution that will be accepted by the Greek/Cypriot and
Turkish/Cypriot communities. A solution that will guarantee the withdrawal
of the Turkish troops and all the foreign troops from Cyprus. A solution
that will reunify Cyprus and its people, Greek/Cypriots, Turkish/Cypriots,
Armenians, Latins and Maronites.
VENEZUELA:
The Bolivian Revolution has
acquired an international importance and prominence. The permanent
victories of the Venezuelan peoples over the attempts of imperialism to
stop the revolutionary process have made their country a point of reference
for discussions at meetings of progressive, anti-imperialist and democratic
movements.
The recent victories of
progressive governments in Latin America and the Caribbean region that is
today in the vanguard of the fight against neo-liberalism and imperialism
are the elements that have caused the enemy to out line its interventionist
plans against Venezuela and the region. At the moment we see an imminent
danger for the political stability of the nation. It is for that reason
that we make a call to denounce and fight against the aggressions of the
imperialism that tries to dominate the world. To urge the revolutionary and
anti-imperialist units that defends the sovereignty of their towns, so that
the domination does not succeed. We support the demand for respect of the
autonomy of their towns. The sovereignty lives! Down with terrorism!
CUBA:
We women of the world are amazed
by the imperialist North American Arrogance; disrespectful of the 183
representatives of the UN Assembly, who demanded the end of the economic
and political boycott, imposed on the Cuban people by the US. This action,
together with the illegal and unjust condemnation of the five Cuban
patriots in US prisons and call for the opposition by world public opinion.
This opposition is expressed especially by those women who, like us, are
engaged in the cause of justice, sovereignty, peace and dignity all people.
For these reasons the WIDF
Executive Committee reaffirms its solidarity with Cuba and it people,
especially our Cuban sisters
COLOMBIA:
We express solidarity with the
Colombian people, especially with the thousands of displaced and refugee
women who are suffering the consequences of armed conflicts and the
implementation of the imperialist “Colombian Plan”, a strategic plan of
which its real aim is to declare war and death on our Colombian brothers
and sisters.
Marcia
Campos
WIDF - President
São Paulo, December 6th , 2006.
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