New York, August 20, 2010- From September 20th-22nd (Monday to Wednesday), the United Nations High-level Plenary Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals will be held at UN Headquarters in New York.

In preparation, WEDO has put together a “Quick Guide to the 2010 MDG Summit” to provide you with essential information about the meeting and civil society participation.

Please check back here over the next few weeks for further information and updates.

Bonn, Germany, August 6 2010 — WEDO has been an active participant at the UNFCCC climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany throughout this week: attending an array of meetings and events, meeting with delegates, speaking with the press, delivering interventions and working closely in coordination with other members of the Women and Gender Constituency to the UNFCCC.

The Constituency together delivered 2 interventions this week and prepared a gender statement.

• LCA Intervention on the need to move forward with substantive issues and recognize the importance of gender equality in full achievement of any climate outcome: Delivered by Sandra Freitas of WEDO at the opening plenary of the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA)
• KP Intervention on the critical need to establish reference levels that reduce emissions, to clearly define forests and address land use issues in a way that responds to the role of women in the forest sector and to ensure the CDM does not reward harmful activities: Delivered by Sabine Bock of WECF at the closing plenary of the Ad hoc Working Group on the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP)
• A Constituency Gender Statement Press Release went out at the close of the meetings today: “Climate negotiations more effective if guided by long-term vision – this must include social and gender justice“

Bonn, Germany, August 6 2010 — In an interview published yesterday by IPS, WEDO’s Sandra Akpéne Freitas clearly outlines why women are critical participants in global climate policy and why women’s role at all levels (global to local) must be recognized.

The full article, “Incomprehensible” Absence of Women in Global Environment Policy, is available at IPS.

Excerpts from the interview follow:

“Women offer a huge potential as actors in local environmental policy. It is women who administer water in the local communities, who are in charge of the generation and preservation of energy, and who exploit and care for bush and jungle areas.

All of these aspects — water, energy, forest management — are simultaneously threatened by climate change, and their preservation and administration are essential to combat the phenomenon.”

“Furthermore, we [WEDO] recommend that specific measures on training for women should be given priority at the national and international levels in the framework of climate change policy, in order to strengthen the capacities that women already have with respect to the sustainable use and conservation of natural resources like water, energy sources, and forests.”

New York, August 3 2010 — Representatives of the GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture Reform) Campaign, including Rachel Harris (WEDO), Charlotte Bunch (CWGL – Center for Women’s Global Leadership) and Bani Dugal (BIC -Baha’i International Community), talk about the GEAR Campaign’s role in the recent UN Resolution establishing UN Women/ONU Femmes.

Watch the video.

New York, July 30th 2010 – WEDO representatives are on their way to Bonn, Germany for the next round of UNFCCC negotiations. As always, our advocacy team will be hard at work ensuring gender equality is mainstreamed throughout the negotiating text.

Please click below for a compilation of the gender equality texts retained in the LCA Chair’s “Text to facilitate negotiations among Parties” dated 9 July 2010.

Women and Gender Equality in AWG-LCA Chair’s Text to Facilitate Negotiations-Second Iteration

New York, July 28 2010– Today, in a historic moment for humanity the UN affirmed the right to water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. The resolution passed with 124 states voting in favour and 42 abstaining.

Click here for more details on the historic vote.

Also, click here for an article by WEDO Board Member, Roberto Bissio entitled “El derecho humano al agua“, which outlines the importance of this resolution.

New York, July 26 2010 — WEDO’s Rachel Harris will be facilitating a panel today on the MDGs and the Human Right to Water. A UN General Assembly Resolution titled “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”, co-sponsored by at least 23 Member States of the United Nations and presented by the government of Bolivia, will be voted on Wednesday, July 28th.

Information
Briefing on the MDGs and the Human Right to Water
Monday, July 26, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Conference Room 6
North Lawn Building, United Nations, New York

Speakers:
Pablo Solon, Bolivian Ambassador to the United Nations
Catherine Ferguson, Coordinator, UNANIMA International
Maude Barlow, Chair of the Board of Food & Water Watch, Chair of The Council of Canadians, Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly

Facilitated by:
Anil Naidoo, Blue Planet Project, and Rachel Harris, Women’s Environment and Development Organization

New York, July 23 2010 — This week marks an historic moment: a UN General Assembly Resolution titled “The Human Right to Water and Sanitation”, co-sponsored by at least 23 Member States of the United Nations and presented by the government of Bolivia, will be voted on Wednesday, July 28th.

“This is the first time the General Assembly has been asked directly to deal with this issue and presents a huge test for the world,” says Maude Barlow, who served as Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the UN General Assembly.

Gender and Water
The right and access to clean water is intrinsically linked to gender equality. In many cultures, women and girls are responsible for collecting water for cooking, cleaning, drinking, hygiene, and growing food. However, decisions made about water and sanitation services continue to neglect gendered needs and concerns – largely because women are regularly left out of those policy-making spheres.

Women often have to travel long distances to collect water for their communities. Studies show that women in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km. This adds an incredible burden to women, particularly limiting the amount of time they have to spend on education. Traveling to collect water, often to remote areas, also puts women at risk for physical and sexual violence, along with added strains on their physical health. 

Climate change and biodiversity loss have caused huge changes in our water resources with increased droughts and floods, while at the same time reducing water access and quality. This has put further stress on women’s role as resource managers and increased the time devoted to collecting and managing water.

Importantly though, women have shown strong leadership both in terms of advocacy towards the protection and conservation of natural resources as well as innovation in the water sector. For example, in India, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union of 250,000 poor self-employed women, launched a ten year campaign to revive water sources in drought prone districts of Gujarat, India which resulted in better irrigation for drinking water and decreased soil salinity.

ACT NOW
For the first time since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 60 years ago, the UN General Assembly is finally poised to recognize the Human Right to Water and Sanitation.
To mark this event, international and community groups are kicking off a Global Week of Action for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation from July 21st until the historic vote on July 28th. Actions include: sign an open statement from elected representatives in support of the human right to water and sanitation, send letters directly to UN missions, and, perhaps most importantly, contact your government to urge them to support this historic Resolution.

To find resources for all the above action items and to get more information on how you can help, WEDO urges to you visit the website of our partner, Blue Planet Project

About Blue Planet Project
The Blue Planet Project is an international civil society movement begun by The Council of Canadians to protect the world’s fresh water from the growing threats of trade and privatization.

They work with organizations and activists in both South and North, and are affiliated with international networks including Friends of the Earth International, Red Vida (the Americas Network on the Right to Water) and the People’s Health Movement.

WEDO’s July 2010 newsletter celebrates the launch of UN Women and highlights the next steps for the GEAR Campaign and civil society in leading ’A New Era for Women’. The newsletter also includes highlights on WEDO’s advocacy within the UNFCCC negotiations, training on gender and climate change in Viet Nam, and features an interview with our newest Board Member, Sayida Vanenburg!

WEDO News and Views July 2010

New York, July 9 2010 — It’s official! Christiana Figueres began her tenure as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) yesterday, July 8.

WEDO, along with our partners and allies, looks forward to working closely with Ms. Figueres and the UNFCCC to secure a just and gender-responsive climate agreement.

See the UNFCCC announcement, “Christiana Figueres takes the helm at UNFCCC” (http://unfccc.int/2860.php)