Reports
The following are reports of seminars and round table discussions held by the the DNW. Please email us if you would like a report emailed to you (otherwise you can save the word documents on your computer by opening it and clicking on 'save as'. Please acknowledge the DNW if you use the reports in any way). HIV/AIDS and the Workplace: Challenges for donor support to partner NGOs and CBOs 19/06/06 Working with Men 06/06/2005 Global Words, Local Action Sharing Strategies for Gender Rights in South Africa 17/03/2005 Gender Budgets and the Eradication of Violence against Women 07/12/2004 Ten years into democracy what is our experience of South African women's movements? Lessons for the future. How do women's interests shape popular South African social movements? 18/03/2004 Donor Responses to HIV/AIDS in the Context of Gender Inequalities and Challenges Facing Girls and Women 06/11/2002 Addressing Sexual Violence Against Girls in Schools23/04/2002 Men, Girls and HIV/AIDS 13/11/2001 HIV/AIDS and Women - Challenges for Donors25/04/2001 Managing Change: Strategic Management for Women Leaders in NGO's 08/07/99 Challenges facing grant-making Trusts focusing on Women's Development and Gender Equity issues in South Africa 20/03/99 Should a Gender Perspective be integrated into Organisational Development Practice? 19/10/98 Women and the Economy 10/05/98
This seminar was facilitated by Allan Moolman and Laura Washington, of Project Empower in KwaZulu-Natal, and hosted by the Ford Foundation. For the past three years the Donor Network on Women has been meeting around the issue of HIV/AIDS, with the main focus being on what the donor community is doing. It was felt that within the development scenario, it was now time to revisit this issue, but from the perspective of partner realities and experiences on the ground, and use this information to inform future programmes of work. The report on this seminar relates the content of three presentations from Project Empower, the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Social Awareness and the Tshwaranang Legal Centre, as well as the discussions following the presentations.
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Development debates about ‘integrating men’ in ‘gender programmes’, particularly those addressing violence against women, raise complex questions about ‘working with men’. Against this background, the Donor Network on Women, with the support of AusAID and the Ford Foundation, agreed to hold a round-table discussion to engage with a research initiative conducted by Tina Sideris, and assisted by Rachel Nkosi of the Masisukumeni Women’s Crisis Centre in Mpumalanga. The research, and the film documenting the project, were supported by AusAID, and the Foundation for Human Rights. The research was conducted during the period when Tina Sideris was hosted as a post-doctoral fellow by the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER).The aim of the round-table was to share information about the research project, which focused on a group of men who are changing their practices in their intimate relationships with women and children. With a view to thinking about how the approach might be replicated elsewhere, the round-table provides a space in which to reflect on the research and its outcomes, as well as providing an opportunity for donors to highlight potential gaps and share their perspectives.
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The seminar took place at Constitution Hill inJohannesburg, the focus was on the Beijing +10 stocktaking at both a global and regional level, with a special interest in the rights of girls and education. The idea for the seminar was shaped by 2005 being a year of major review of Beijing +10 and the Millennium Development Goals. DNW wanted to put the spotlight on both these global processes and examine them in the context of donor responses, projects and programmes in South and Southern Africa. The seminar programme was put together by a planning team comprising representatives of Oxfam GB and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, both of whom sponsored the event. Presentations were made by Everjoice Win (ActionAid International, Mmabatho Ramagoshi (Department of Education) Cardinal Uwishaka (Mozambique Country Programme Manager, Oxfam GB) with comments from Shamim Meer.
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The seminar was convened by the Heinrich Böll Foundation as part of the Donor Network on Women to focus on the role of gender budgets as a tool to eradicate violence against women. The seminar took place within the framework of the 16 Days of Activism and World Aids Day. Presentations were made by Penny Parenzee and Vuyokazi Nginingini (Using Budgets to examine State responses to violence against women in South Africa. Insights and lessons from an Action Research Project in Khayelitsha) and Nomthandazo Jones(Experiences from Zimbabwe of using gender budgets as a tool to examine the government’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its interface with the struggle against violence against women)
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The Chairperson of this seminar was Sheila Meintjies and guest speakers were: Shireen Hassim; Mbangi Dzivhani Nomaza and Nkopane, with Mmatshilo Motsei responding to the presentations made. The discussions focussed on the women's movment in South Africa - past and future.
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The role, attitudes and behaviour of men were of particular significance in this seminar. Issues arising from the seminars included gender inequalities, sex and power and HIV/AIDS, the issue of how masculinity is interpreted and perceived, and ageism and the role and struggle of elderly people in the context of the pandemic. Presentations were made by: Mary Crewe, Director: Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria; Angelica Pino, Heinrich Boll Foundation; Sharon Ekambaram, Advocacy Officer, AIDS Consortium and informal presentations were made by: Afsaneh Tabrizi, Umsobomvu Youth Fund; Moira Mbelu, C.S. Mott Foundation; Arif Khan, Oxfam Great Britain; Amanda Gillett, AusAID
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This meeting was co-sponsored by AusAID and the Open Society Foundation. Amanda Gillett of AusAID opened the meeting, reminding the meeting that the Donor Network on Women felt that it was timely to look at the situation of girls in schools in more detail, and to participate in the wider process taking place in the country of looking at child abuse generally. Speakers were: Dr Heather Brookes of the National Research Programme on Child, Youth and Family Development at the Human Science Research Council; Mmabatho Ramagoshi, Director of Gender Equity Programmes at the Department of Education; Lisa Vetten, Manager of the Gender Unit at the CSVR; Bheki Zulu, a researcher in the CSVR's Youth Programme and Luke Lamprecht, Clinic Manager of the Teddy Bear Clinic
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The Seminar was chaired by Moira Mbelu of the C.S. Mott Foundation. Moira outlined some of the issues raised in the April seminar, such as the powerlessness of women to negotiate safer sex in a society where men dominate at every level of society. She said it was important for the donor community to be informed and receptive to new recommendations on how best to support initiatives responding to the HIV-AIDS pandemic. The three speakers were introduced to the meeting. Ndivhuwo Masindi, Women's Health Project, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand Ozee Phiri, Counsellor, Men for Change Lauren Jankelowitz, Project Manager, Community AIDS Response (CARE)
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Organisations represented at this meeting were primarily organisations working on HIV-AIDS and women. Presentations were made by: Musaso Njoko, Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria; Dr Julia Kim, Department of Community Health, University of the Witwatersrand, and Health Systems Development Unit; Mzikazi Nduna and Nwabisa Jama, Medical Research Council Gender and Health Group. Presentations were diverse - from a personal experience of being HIV positive, to a report on research done, to changing risk behaviours.
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The two guest speakers, Marie-Louise Strom and Safoora Sadek, started their presentations by speaking about their own expereinces as women leaders of NGO's. Livley discussions followed these presentations, echanging views, experiences and suggestions for support and intervention for women in management of NGO's
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Opening the discussion, Christa Kuljian explained that this meeting was very different from the popular seminars addressing different issues impacting on women, for which the DNW had become known. The purpose of the meeting was to allow for a smaller group to engage with focused discussion on the issue of women's funds in South Africa. Everyone at the meeting shared an interest in the potential of a women's fund, and a concern to ensure that resources reached small women's community organisations.
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This meeting aimed to bring together people representing the two streams of Organisational Development practice– those who work with organisations as Organsiational development practitioners, and those who work with individuals and organisations, and call themselves Gender Consultants - to explore what organisational change really means in terms of being effective, efficient, and just. The seeds of this discussion arose out of an event convened by the Zimbabwe Women’s Network in which the similarities and differences in the language and approach used by the two different kinds of developmental practitioners, and the potential for crossover, were highlighted.
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With presentations from Sbongile Nene, Dr Devaki Jain, Namane Magau, Sharda Naidoo, Seloane Motoase, Veronica Moroke and Thabi Shange this meeting focussed on women's participation in the economy - with discussions on the challenges, good practices and strategies.
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