WECF, 2003 1

WECF Women in Europe for a Common Future

“Effective Advocacy

for Health in Europe”

Riga Conference, Latvia 2003

WECF - International Network of Women for

Health, Environment and Sustainable Development

Annemarie Mohr Burkhard

Eastern Europe Director, WECF

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What is WECF ?

An international network which brings together women's initiatives from different parts of Europe and the CIS in joint projects on sustainable development, poverty alleviation, environment, health, social justice and participatory democracy

WECF promotes participation of women in policy making at local, national and international level

WECF emphasizes the role of women in sustainable development and the importance of a gender approach

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What does WECF do?

Practical aid projects with partner organizations in Western and Eastern Europe (incl. CIS)

Advocacy at local/regional, national, and international (European and UN) level

Provision and exchange of information and expertise in the field of health, environment and sustainable developmentPractical project:

working with children in the Aral Sea region

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How are we organised WECF was founded after Rio 1992 Earth Summit

WECF has 2 offices, in Netherlands and Germany

WECF has 50 members in 20 countries in East and West

WECF works in close cooperation on practical projects with many of its members, health, human rights and women’s organisations

These projects are in field of Women’s health and environment, women and healthy food production, safe and sufficient drinking water, fight radiation and chemical pollution

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How are we organised (2)

WECF’s partners are based in Latvia, Bellarus, Poland, Greece, Tadjikistan, UK, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan…

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Clean Drinking Water Campaign Ukraine (1)

partnership project of WECF and MAMA-86, based in Kiev, Ukraine and 5 local grass-roots organisations

Partner since 1996, started with women-health-environment project Based on work with 12 local groups: drinking water selected as focus

Define problemSurvey on drinking water contamination, 1600 peopleWater tests show contaminationDiscuss results with experts, local authorities, water companiesLobby improvement on the selected issue

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Clean Drinking Water Campaign Ukraine (2)

Local projects in 12 cities under one umbrella project Strategy: analysis of problems awareness raising public

hearings - media campaign lobby - pilot project Sevastopol, Mariupol: water treatment unit for infectious diseases

hospital and children’s sanatorium Yaremche: polluted water in wells awareness raising well desinfection Poltava: high nitrate contamination awareness raising short term and long term solutions Kiev, Odessa: waste of water water meter installation in apartment buildings education saving water

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Effective strategies and ways for action for women to use for sustainable development

Discussion with women on local situation:

Main concerns of local population Define Sustainable Development locally Long term goals - Short term steps Motivate local society to take action Support local activity Bring it to regional, national, international level

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Methods for enhancing grass root involvement

Focus on one or two central issues

Select issues that are priority concerns for women in the region

Capacity Building of the group on this issue

Local priority: within the framework of a project each group selects its own priority

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Local action for enhancing grass root involvement

Establishing action plan on selected priority

Empower local community by education Awareness raising and detailed information on the

selected priority Actual situation of the priority issues also in other

places, countries: regional, national, international conventions, treaties existing

Legal basis local, national, international - what are the rights and possibilities of the civil society

Capacity Building , join forces

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Sustainable Chimbay -Healthy food for the children of the Aral Sea (1)

Aral Sea is dying - ecological disaster area Desertification - salinization - pollution - poverty Crisis affects health of mothers & children

Pilot project at Kindergarden: fruit & vegetables gardens

Improved diet, income and health Has resulted in 2.000 family gardens in 6 villages Empowerment of women for other activities for LA-

21 (energy, water, organic farming)

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Sustainable Chimbay -Healthy food for the children of the Aral Sea (2)

On 10 hectares women grow organic fruit & vegetables to improve their children’s health

% of the harvest used to feed the children in the local kindergarten, other % for income

WECF supported local NGO ‘Center-Perzent’ to develop this project with funding of EU TACIS

WECF’s expertise on this area used

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WECF’s strategy

Women should choose what is important in their communities, where they can reach results

Our strengths: giving LOCAL projects a voice at the international level

But only effective if we cooperate at regional, national and international level

Grass-root work and empowerment is the basis, but join forces for effective lobbying

Example: European Women’s Conference in preparation of WSSD, March 02 Prague: worked together on 8 themes, local groups, under umbrella of Sustainable Development