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Actionable Ideas Developed at
Grassroots Women’s International Academy

led by…

Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS International)

& presented by the

Huairou Commission at the World Urban Forum 3 (WUF)

Vancouver, Canada
June, 2006

Women are ever more present in the struggle to make our cities sustainable. As administrators, academics, business women, technicians, activists, community members, and mayors and other politicians, we are involved in the effort to transform our world. Thanks to the strategy of inclusion of the organizers of the World Urban Forum III, and UN Habitat, we are experiencing an historic moment where many grassroots women, marginalized in the past, have been high-impact participants in this event.

Prior to WUF, many of us (150 women) participated in the Grassroots Women’s International Academy, representing over 30 countries and hundreds of thousands of people. There, we learnt from our peers and will take the exemplary practices home with us to our communities.

Strengthened, we arrived at WUF, to share our expertise with partners including government representatives, professionals, academics, different sized NGOs and donors. We interacted, and they listened to our voices, not as beneficiaries, but as leaders, thinkers, innovators, teachers and committed people.

If you pay attention to us and include us as equals, we will achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and much more*.

Based on our experiences, we suggest the following actionable ideas:

1. Consult grassroots and indigenous women as key experts

   
   Tessie from the Philippines summarizes
   the Advocacy and Policy Change Learning Track

   
   

   Given our longstanding contributions and demonstrated knowledge and skills in improving the quality of life and building democracy, grassroots women must be represented as experts in all global, regional and national dialogues.

   The areas of expertise include sustainability, housing and land, post disaster and conflict recovery, HIV AIDS, caring communities, and economic development.

   Community focused indigenous women and women-led slum dwelling groups are among the most innovative, yet they are also the least recognized and consulted.

   
   

   We pledge our own networks, and call on donors and other partners to help us mainstream our expertise in upcoming opportunities that include:

   → Global AIDS Meeting, Toronto, August 2006
   → Afri-Cities, Kenya, September 2006
   → WUF 4, China, 2008

2. Establish new funds for grassroots women’s Peer Exchanges, public spaces and organizing

   → Peer Exchanges transfer effective skills and knowledge.
   → Grassroots ownership and management of public space sustains women’s participation in public affairs, from planning and governance.
   → Expanding community organizing builds long-term movements.

3. Donor Dialogues: International aid agencies should schedule dialogues with grassroots women leaders and local authorities to redirect funds & programs.

   Funding to address the HIV AIDS pandemic in Africa is one area where aid agencies should unite to hold formal consultations with grassroots women’s groups working in conjunction with local authorities to provide care, treatment and prevention. Global funds have bypassed the grassroots and established top down processes while claiming to be participatory and transparent.

   Funding priorities and delivery systems, to respond to post disaster relief and recovery and to the provision of low-income housing are also skewed in ways that limit grassroots women’s opportunities and community development.

   Grassroots women’s groups have been filling the gaps and working with their local authorities to access and redirect resources for effective local problem solving.

   Donors need to hear these priorities and approaches and redesign aid streams to reflect them.

   
   sessions at the World Urban Forum (WUF)

4. Support grassroots and local authority collaborations and Local-to-Local Dialogues to sustain women’s participation in local decision-making.

   The Huairou Commission and United Cities and Local Government are seeking resources for a 3-year joint program to sustain women’s representation in local decision making and stave off burnout and turnover.

   Local to local dialogues are locally designed strategies whereby grassroots women’s groups initiate and engage in on going dialogues with their local authorities for

   → Negotiating issues and priorities
   → Joint planning
   → Developing on-going partnerships

   *They should be resourced and replicated.

Event support generously contributed by AECI, American Jewish World Service, Commonwealth Fund (GROOTS Africa), Cordaid, Ford Foundation(GROOTS), Government of Canada, UN-HABITAT, AECI and UNIFEM (Women & Habitat-LAC)