Women's Tent at Johannesburg - WSSD
2002 Summit

Dear friends:

The following is an idea that came out of WSSD PrepCom II. Several of you
have contributed to this proposal, and now we ask that you distribute it to
as many women's organizations and networks worldwide. The Women's Tent at
Johannesburg will be a space for issue/regional meetings, exhibitions,
workshops, music and art, and there is room for organizations to bring their
own workshop/exhibition ideas. Please help us get the word out so we can
make this a dynamic and inspiring event!

Warmly,
Rebecca Pearl
WEDO

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All Women's Voices Tent - United in our Diversity
Proposal for the World Summit on Sustainable Development

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in
Johannesburg in August-September 2002, 65,000 delegates from around the
world will come together for the largest conference ever held on the African
continent. This event will be an important catalyst for implementing the
global commitments to sustainable development made at the Rio Earth Summit
in 1992. This is especially significant for women, who make up more than
half of the world's population, are the poorest in the world alongside
children, and are underrepresented in most decision-making bodies.

The purpose of the WSSD is to revisit the commitments made in Rio ten years
ago, evaluate progress, and prepare for future actions toward sustainable
development. As in Rio, women need to be central to the decision-making
process in Johannesburg.

It is imperative that women from diverse segments of society participate in
the WSSD in unprecedented numbers, because the policies and approaches being
discussed by the world's leaders will have a major impact on the lives of
grassroots women, poor women, and women of color. As one of the nine major
groups, women must take advantage of this opportunity to have a strong and
visual presence, organize for effective advocacy and concrete partnerships
with all actors, and prepare for direct negotiation with government leaders
during the multi-stakeholder dialogues.

At the second Preparatory Committee of the WSSD in New York, women from all
regions and sectors came together to strategize about how to make our voices
heard at Johannesburg. The idea of the All Women's Voices Tent follows on
the success of Planeta Femea at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 - women's
organizing to mainstream gender into the final Agenda 21 document resulted
in 172 references to women, Chapter 24 devoted to women, and recognition of
women as a major group.

A number of priority issues emerged from the initial meetings of the WSSD
women's caucus, both in response to government deliberations and in creating
women's own vision of a sustainable future. The women's caucus notes the
lack of a gender perspective and human rights framework in current
deliberations - for example, discussions on water, energy and food
security/agriculture/rural development should be linked to gender and human
rights. There is a need for greater commitments and concrete actions on
issues of governance, including women in decision-making; globalization;
peace and demilitarization; sustainable consumption and production,
including global public goods; health, including HIV/AIDs and reproductive
health; education; earth values; and Financing for Development. The women's
movement is creating a new and common vision of a healthy and peaceful
planet through the drafting of Women's Action Agenda 2015, and the women's
tent at Johannesburg will follow this framework.

The All Women's Voices Tent will be a space to share experiences, network,
strategize, and ensure that the WSSD's vision of sustainable development
integrates a gender perspective and reflects the voices of women..

Purpose:
To organize and facilitate the All Women's Voices Tent at the WSSD in
Johannesburg, August 24 - September 5, 2002, in order to offer women from
all corners of the globe a place and common ground to voice their concerns
and strengthen their networks, partnerships and activities. The activity
should promote women's empowerment, contribute to engendering the WSSD and
result in a series of practical follow-up activities.

Project Description:
The All Women's Voices Tent will be a permanent physical space close to the
central UN and media conference center - for the following purposes:
* the women's caucus will meet regularly to organize its own
vision and advocacy strategies for WSSD, and discuss emerging issues from
government deliberations and the NGO Forum;
* women will "testify" about the state of sustainable
development from the grassroots and policy perspective - "we were rich
before, now we are poor";
* various women's organizations and other civil society groups
will have a space to organize workshops and meetings about a shared issue or
region, and invite government delegations to meet with them;
* the tent offers a creative space where representatives from
all continents will organize cultural and spiritual events, exhibitions,
music, art, and celebrations;
* an information clearinghouse on gender mainstreaming
activities and tools, accessible to the media, government delegations, and
NGOs;
* an educational space for women mirrored on the GROOTS
grassroots academy - with workshops on interlinking topics as diverse as
poverty, HIV/AIDS, water conservation, and peace;
* the final destination of the women's peace train, which will
carry hundreds of women to Johannesburg from Uganda to South Africa, joined
by women from around the world

Organization:
The All Women's Voices Tent is being organized by a steering committee of
women's organizations participating in the WSSD process, chaired by WEDO
(Women's Environment and Development Organization) and a South African
Women's Coalition/Johannesburg Secretariat (facilitated by Mandisa
Monakali).

We expect that at least 10 international women's organizations will organize
special events in the Tent, including: WEDO, REDEH (WAA2002), GROOTS,
Ecumenical Team, DAWN, WILPF, WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future),
WEN (Women and Environment Network), Council of World Women Leaders, South
African Women's groups, and regional networks. Each of these will be the
lead for one or more activities in the women's tent and follow-up.

Participants:
Every day several hundreds of women and men, from all major stakeholder
groups as well as government and inter-governmental delegations, will
participate in the women's tent.

Preparations/staffing:
A team of two part-time people will work from April to October to organize
the event, all logistics, and prepare informational material.

During the Summit a team of junior and senior on-the-ground organizers, a
women film team, and reporters will operate.

Follow-up:
A series of partnerships on sustainable development and gender, based on the
issues discussed and the organizations participating.

Budget:
* organizing staff: 2 x 0.6 positions for 6 months
* organizing committee (teleconferences and overhead)
* informational material
* reserve location
* tent logistics, including audiovisual equipment, tables,
chairs, etc.
* catering
* exhibition (materials)
* team: on-the-ground organizers and reporters, film team
* workshop budgets: 20 workshops x _____
* travel costs for a select number of participants (20???)

To be determined:
* final budget, funding, logistics, timeframe, organizational
responsibility for various activities/workshops
* registration with Johannesburg Secretariat (via Mandisa
Mokakali, SA women's groups)
* publication, communications, and material outputs
* follow-up activities

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For additional information, please contact Rebecca Pearl at [email protected]

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