Government budgets can either promote women’s equality or exacerbate women’s inequality...

Grassroots Women’s International Academy (GWIA)

Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS)
& The World Urban Forum (WUF)

Did you know that …

  • UNPAC’s Gender Budget Project was profiled at the World Urban Forum in Vancouver in June 2006 thanks to GROOTS Canada?
  • We (UNPAC Manitoba) spent a week talking with women working at the grassroots level from around the world?
  • We (UNPAC Manitoba) met gender budget experts from other countries?
gardens at University of British Colombia - a welcome retreat
gardens at University of British Colombia — a welcome retreat

We were thrilled and honoured to receive an invitation from Grassroots Organizations Operating Together in Sisterhood (GROOTS) to profile our “Best Practices” at the World Urban Forum (WUF) taking place in Vancouver in June 2006. Even more exciting was being invited to fly to Vancouver a week before the forum to participate in the Grassroots Women’s International Academy (GWIA). UNPAC had three representatives at these events. Project Coordinator Jennifer deGroot attended the GWIA, Communications Coordinator Becky Thiessen attended both the GWIA and the WUF, and Coordinating Committee member Gisèle Saurette-Roch attended the WUF.

Grassroots Women’s International Academy (GWIA)

Gloria Gallant, President of GROOTS Canada, and Jennifer
Gloria Gallant, President of
GROOTS Canada, & Jennifer

GROOTS International, with support from the Huairou Commission, organizes GWIAs before international conferences like the WUF both to enhance grassroots women’s participation and voice at world conferences and to offer women working at the grassroots an opportunity to share experiences, strategize, network regionally, nationally, and internationally, and learn from each other. We gathered with 150 women from across the globe and for five days we brainstormed and sang, listened and laughed as we shared our knowledge, skills, priorities, and partnership principles.

GROOTS International and the Huairou Commission network were born out of the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, from which UNPAC was also born. Huairou is a unique experiment in global democracy. Driven by grassroots women’s organizations from around the world, this network partners with individuals and organizations who support the belief that it is in the best interests of local and international communities for grassroots women to be full partners in sustainable development.


A hopeful, empowering smile!
A hopeful, empowering smile!
BECKY: “We heard heart-warming stories of caring and community development including struggles of re-building homes and businesses where natural disasters devastated and destroyed so many communities. We talked about the continuous effort of women who work so hard to keep healthy homes for their families and friends when it is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet. We learned about successful stories of economic empowerment and sustainable livelihoods from income-generating projects to marketing of products and micro enterprises. As we listened and talked and laughed together it was clear that these women have so many answers to the unjust and unmerciful lives they know. Their knowledge and methods were astounding.”
Athanasie from Rwanda and Benter from Kenya
Athanasie from Rwanda & Benter from Kenya
JENNIFER: “I have travelled and worked in many different countries and it was incredible to meet women from countries I have visited — all together in one room! I participated in a small group with African women and in another of mostly Spanish speakers. One of my most memorable experiences was speaking with Benter, a 28-year-old mother from Kenya who has several children of her own and also cares for three orphans. She is part of a group trying to find ways to support the more than 20 orphans in their care. Sixty per cent of the group is HIV-positive. Benter describes herself as a fishmonger; she and other women in her group are currently recycling skins and other fish parts from the local fish plant to make human and animal food. They are looking into raising chickens for additional income. Many conferences leave time for only academic discussions but with grassroots women it is clear that women are closely tied to local communities and neighbourhoods and our personal lives are closely entwined with our advocacy work.”
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Becky with Beth from Zimbabwe
Becky with Beth from Zimbabwe

We were honoured and humbled by the opportunity to use our facilitation skills to co-facilitate one of the five learning tracks. Together with Beth from Zimbabwe and Brenda from New Brunswick, we facilitated the “Advocacy and Policy Change Learning Track” for 2 1/2 days. We were among the youngest women there; the other women had vastly more experience than we did. We wanted to make the most out of our limited time together and give each other the maximum time to listen and to be heard. We are grateful to all the women in our group for trusting us and for offering their expertise at key moments.

Several gender budget experts, whom we had previously read about, were in our group. We heard Patricia from Brazil explain the process her municipality uses to incorporate public feedback in budgetary decisions. Tessie, from the Philippines, also explained the work her group does at the national level. Their government sets aside 5% of all budgets for projects that contribute to gender and development.


Florence from Uganda
Florence from Uganda
JENNIFER: “I was impressed with how open the organizers were to our ideas, desires, and full and honest participation. I learned so much about how to organize meetings in a participatory manner. As an organizer it seems easiest to just announce how things are going to happen but that easily leaves some people disgruntled. The organizers of the GWIA encouraged people to take responsibility to have their own needs met. The mantra was: “No proteste sin propuesto” (No complaint without a suggestion.) There were flipcharts on the wall encouraging women to list needs that, if met, would enhance their participation in the week’s activities; women named things like herbal tea or a phone call home to check if a daughter had given birth. Many sessions began with a ‘temperature-taking’ which provided an opportunity to share: appreciations (“I liked hearing the women from Uganda talk about their project.”), puzzles (“I am puzzled by how much food we are being served.”), and problems with resolutions (“I am concerned that not everyone is understanding what we are saying so I suggest we all talk a bit slower so the translators can keep up.”)”

“As Grassroots women and their supporting partners, we care for our communities and are grounded in the local realities of our unique places. Our work is based on principles and values that cross cultures and borders. We promote an alternative model of development that places families and communities at the center of focus and believe in local solutions to human needs.

Living and working in our communities, we respond to the immediate needs of our communities in a holistic, inclusive, non-thematic, non-programmatic way. We value peer learning and learn best by seeing. We know what is happening in our communities — the strengths, challenges, and needs.”

— from the Caring Community Development Learning Track


Becky and friends from the Somali Women and Children Support Network
Becky & friends from the Somali Women
and Children Support Network
BECKY: “I listened and learned from Farhia, founder of the Somali Women and Children Network in Toronto, and Faye from Edmonton of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal women, and Arlene who runs the Yellowknife Women’s Centre. I also took note from Elena from the Slovak Republic who directs the Slovak Mother’s Centre, and Quazi from Bangladesh who advocates for the Participatory Development Action Program. I talked to Ndinini from Tanzania about the Maasai Women’s Development Organization, and heard stories from Mirelle director of the Ntankah Village Women Common initiative group in the Cameroon. As I laughed with Lana from the Sistren Theatre Collective in Jamaica it was clear to me that these women did not need to be empowered. They are powerful!”

When the work felt too heavy the Jamaican women helped us out by breaking into “One Love” along with dancing and clapping. Several times we greeted each other — out loud and altogether — each in our own language. What a sound!

Read the full report on the 2006 Grassroots Women’s International Academy

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The World Urban Forum (WUF)

The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations to examine rapid urbanization. WUF3 was hosted by the Government of Canada in partnership with UN-HABITAT and welcomed 10,000 people to Vancouver. Half of the world’s population lives in cities and it is suspected this number will rise to 2/3 of the population in 50 years. Most of this urban growth is taking place in developing countries where the major challenges are poverty, basic shelter, clean water and sanitation. Cities in wealthier nations also face problems of urbanization such as crumbling infrastructure, smog and social exclusion. For cities North and South the challenge is to find solutions that alleviate poverty in cities, reduce pollution and facilitate urban sustainability.


Quazi from Bangladesh
Quazi from Bangladesh
GISÈLE: “We were told that when people left the first World Urban Forum (held in Vancouver in 1976) they felt a sense of hope that with new technologies and globalization the challenges related to urbanization such as potable water, sanitation, energy and economic sustainability would be managed effectively and that this would ensure a greater equity among nations and classes. Needless to say, the exponential growth of ghettos and slums around most urban centres all over the world and the growing canyon between the rich and the poor festers many unplanned tragedies and social problems.”

Because of women’s hard work, both during and before the GWIA, grassroots women were well represented at the WUF3. It was strategic. Every morning at 7:30 am, before the sessions had begun, there was a women’s caucus. This was a place to reconnect, debrief and strategize for the coming day. There was also a women’s round table that continuously had to be reorganized and moved to different locations because more and more people wanted to hear what the women were saying. A 400-person dinner reception was held for grassroots women. The Huairou Commission set up a location where women could meet and relax and chat and stay connected despite the 10,000 people and the overwhelming grandness of the Forum. The list of Actionable Ideas developed at the GWIA was made available to all participants in the WUF.


BECKY: “At the plenary sessions, which held over 300 people, instead of a panel of experts at the front, embedded experts were sitting amongst the crowd. The host would direct different questions from the audience to different experts. This method was used to balance out the voices heard. Almost every plenary session had a grassroots woman as one of the embedded experts.”
Women from Malaysia at the GWIA
Women from Malaysia at the GWIA
GISÈLE: “One focus group attempted to address the issue of security in terms of natural disasters alongside the more common issues of criminality and violence. A participant observed that people in developing countries often suffer far greater losses than communities in the North as a result of “acts of God” such as earth-quakes or flash-floods. Another participant asked: “Is a mud slide really an ‘act of God’ when it is caused by clear-cut logging practices?”

What is the role of the international community in protecting the most vulnerable citizens?

We learned that communities struck by tragic circumstances are likely to fare with greater resilience had they organized as a community before the cataclysmic event. It is usually women’s groups who take the initiative to pick themselves up and problem-solve. When the community is very organized and even the youth have their place of trust, there is likely to be far less looting and violence. Community development is a great inoculation against adversity, natural or man-made.”

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Huairou also organized a large display highlighting the work of grassroots women. UNPAC was one of 30 organizations chosen to showcase our “Best Practices”.

Our panel at the World Urban Forum (WUF)
Our panel at the
World Urban Forum (WUF)

UN Platform for Action Committee (UNPAC) — Manitoba, Canada

Sub Theme: Claiming Space

Key Messages: We use popular education to educate and empower women on the provincial budget process. We make the budget accessible to a diversity of grassroots women. After attending one of our workshops a participant said, “Every woman should know about the provincial budget. I had no clue. Now I know more and am confident to mention it to others.”

We listen to women talk about their priorities for government spending and revenue. We encourage women to contact their elected representatives and lobby for their budget priorities. We take women’s concerns to our own meetings with government. One workshop participant said: “I had no idea that anyone was interested in what women have to say.” Another said, “I don’t have to accept the status quo. I can make a difference by standing up.”

our panel at WUF

We use humour and creativity to challenge media, government, and the general public to consider how the budget can better contribute to women’s economic equality. Our Femme Fiscale flew into the Legislature on Budget Day to ask about the impact of the budget on women.

We make the promises made at the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing and at other UN conferences alive and real for women in Manitoba while making links with women around the world.

Read the full report on Women at WUF3

BECKY: “It is with high hopes that we entreat the world’s decision makers to seek out the wisdom and action of grassroots women. Talk to a woman walking downtown, pushing a stroller with a broken wheel on a snowy sidewalk, riding the overcrowded bus, or paying unjust rent for a dilapidated house and she will give you insight that you will never find at the treetops.”
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