“Millennium Development Goal 3 and the role of the media”PANEL: case studies from civil society

Rome, 26th November 2009

ActionAid – HungerFree Women

Beatrice CostaPolicy Officer – Women's Rights Programme

Outline of the presentation

ActionAid & Women's Rights Programme

A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out

Challenges and opportunities to engage Media on W'sR

Issues for reflection and debate

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AA & Women's Rights Programme_1

“We believe that eradication of poverty and injustice will not be possible without securing equality and rights for

women.” - Strategy 2005/2010 Rights To End Poverty -

“Gender inequality in and of itself without intersecting with poverty is an injustice that we must fight”

- Women's Rights Strategic Plan 2005/2010 -

CORE INTERVENTIONS awareness and critical consciousness advocacy & campaigns for laws/policies W's organisations/movements and broader

alliances W's leadership

APPROACH Focus on challenging and changing power

relations Gender mainstreaming and standalone

interventions INGO supporting strategic alliance building

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AA & Women's Rights Programme_2

AREAS of WORK Violence Against Women/Girls Access & Control over land HIV & AIDS Political participation

HISTORY of the THEME 1999/2004: gender equality as one of the priorities.

Piloting work in Kenya, India, Uganda, Nepal. Work on HIV & education. International/regional working groups/posts.

From 2005 on: repoliticizing our work with clear strategy & political framework → focus on power relations. Consolidation, deepening and expansion. Partnership with feminists and movements. Built staff capacity with dedicated officers in most of countries.

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THE CONTEXT HungerFree is AA's global campaign forcing governments to deliver on

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A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out

their commitment and halve hunger. Hunger results from unequal distribution of food, and the lack of access to/control over resources. HF fights to out the issue of hunger to the top of the political agenda.

THE ISSUE: MDG3 & MDG1Women make up 60% of the chronically

hungry and food crisis hit them the Hardest. Women farmers produce 60-80%

of the food in poor countries but only own 1% of the land, receive less than 10 percent of credit

and are excluded from associations, services, know-how. Rural women are often far from the centers of power &

decision making. Every year 115,000 maternal deaths worldwide are caused by malnutrition.

What we did around the world_1

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ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS

Some 80.000 women farmers in Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, The

Gambia, Haiti, Nepal, India, Ghana, Mozambique, Brazil, South Africamarched demanding the right

to own/inherit land. As a result of the campaign

120 Dalit women have been granted title deeds to one acre of agricultural land in the Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, India. In Nepal, there is a commitment from key politicians to enshrine women’s land rights in the new constitution. In The Gambia, 3,000 women received land. Local chiefs and district governors made concrete commitments to women on land. In Northern Malawi, 300 women have successfully managed to convince traditional leaders to allocate them land.

What we did around the world_2

6Women marching to campaign for a HungerFREE World between October 2008 and March 2009

How to communicate that?_1The HungerFree Women Speak Out

PHOTO EXHIBITIONTo celebrate their journeys and successes achieved AA launched HUNGERFREE WOMEN SPEAK OUT - photo exhibition that is and will travel globally, to raise awareness about women's right to land

How to communicate that?_2The HungerFree Women Speak Out

FILM GALLERY & TRUE STORIES

We produced VIDEOS of the marches and a film collecting best evidence of the mobilisation around

the various countries

We released the STORIES of some remarkable women met during the campaigns and/or featured

in videos/photos. 8

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Two of ActionAid’s European associates have launched

fundraising initiatives linked to HungerFREE Women.

NIZA (Netherlands) recently launched a public awareness-raising and FR initiative called ‘Sisters’. It has a website, a link to Facebook, and door-to-door fundraising activities.

MS (Denmark) launched a FR product called "Give land

to Mama!" with the aim of raising funds to improve

women's access to land. The launch included videos with

Danish comedians, a website, competitions and

more.

How to communicate that?_3Linking FUNDRAISING with

campaign

How to communicate that?_4Linking MOBILISATION with

campaing

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TOOLKIT

CASE STUDIES

How to communicate that?_4Linking MOBILISATION with

campaing

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BANNERS

&

LOGOS

GADGETS

PLATES

VEHICLES for

JOURNEYS

Challenges in working with Media on W'sR

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Stereotypes in action “The media do not merely represent; they also recreate themselves

and their vision of the world as desirable, salable. What they reproduce is chosen, not random, not neutral, not without consequence.” Patricia

J. Williams [1995]

a) rethoric of victimisation and/or women if “tool” of development; b) women in the South conceived as a whole with no differences/intersectionalities;c) lack of knowledge of women's leadership/movements/issues...

Do women’s stories sell?

Timely and quick please! empowerment of women is a long process

Linking marginalised women to women on the spotlight (let’s guess next Hillary Clinton’s travel!)

Women usually activate: give solutions/actions to what described in a news.

More and more expensive to produce materials for media and different channels/target audiences (video, case studies, briefs, photos, interviews, news for social networks) but few funds for women’s rights programmes

Issues for Reflection & Debate

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Do Italian media act as watchdog on W’sR? Eg. holding governments accountable to many of the international and regional women‟s rights conventions and instruments they have signed (CEDAW, BPFA…)

CEDAW requires that: “State parties shall take all appropriate measures:… To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the ideas of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.”

Are media ready to look deeply at their inner power relations&contraddictions? Eg. Governance within media holdings: who makes the news.Sexist adv VS. articles on gender equality Women are a large market for the print media: which accountability?

Is there somebody ready to listen to the most marginalised women in the world? It’s a matter of justice and equal representation.

Do women’s violations & rights still to be considered women’s issues?Rethinking the whole system from a gender lens.

Take time to have a look. The importance of immersions and visits in countries where NGOs work.

Next Test

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Help us in promoting this campaign on CEDAW BROCHURE

WEBSITE

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Thank you!