Tuesday, January 31, 2017

4. UTILIZE FEMINIST LEADERSHIP A S A DEFINING MODEL OF YOUR ADMINISTR ATION AND THROUGHOUT THE UN SYSTEM


There are two primary areas for action here: increasing the numbers of women and feminists in UN leadership, and protecting women’s rights across the system. On leadership, despite evidence of the value of, as well as ambitious goals for, equitable representation of women at all levels of the UN, the numbers remain disheartening, and progress remains slow. It took a decade for an increase in the overall representation of women by a mere 5 percentage points. Patriarchal and unwritten rules perpetuate a culture within the UN system of colonialism, racism, sexism, and ageism. Gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse have been poorly addressed throughout the system, including when perpetrated by and against UN staff, as well as in its programmatic and operational activities. In the absence of a robust, efficient, credible and fair justice process, UN staff members – particularly women who are junior and administrative staff and gender non-conforming staff members – are left in the same kinds of vulnerable situations that the UN is supposed to help countries change. The UN has a wide set of existing policies to ensure that equal access and representation within the UN system, but many are not followed. The new Secretary General must articulate internal processes to uncover, document, and transform this culture, setting-out time-bound goals that will be implemented in every UN agency and body, and reported on publicly:
  • Š On day 1, use the opportunity of the resignation of all ASecretary Generals/USecretary Generals to change the status quo and achieve parity.
  • Establish gender parity in the Cabinet: the Senior Management Team, members of the Policy Committee, and in the members of the Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) should all be gender equal (in particular the Deputy SecretaryGeneral, the Chief of Staff, the Spokesperson, the chief Speechwriter, the Political Advisor and the members of the Senior Appointments Unit). Š 
  • Call for nominations for strong female, feminist candidates ahead of upcoming agency leadership transitions for the World Health Organization and UN Population Fund, as well as UN treaty bodies. Š 
  • Within 100 days, announce a set of gender-equitable employment practices and respect for care work system-wide, including flexible working hours, realistic expectations of work hours and work-life balance, paid family leave for people of all genders, and zero tolerance for sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence at work, among others. 
    • Š  Articulate and implement employment pathways that do not rely on working at non-family duty stations, which disproportionately preference men. One idea would be instituting 6-month tours of duty in non-accompanied posts with support for child care in the home country. Š
  • On day 1, institute/update and enforce a zero tolerance policy for all acts of violence, not only sexual exploitation and abuse,2 committed by any UN staff, peacekeepers, etc. Š
    •     Ensure senior leadership is fully on board with the zero tolerance policy so that they both      enforce it and model good behavior. Senior leaders who fail to take action on or who cover up    GBV in their organizations or teams should be sanctioned. Š 
    •      Introduce performance monitoring for officers that is linked to the zero tolerance policy and show swift action in the face of any allegations. Š 
  • Immediately enforce policies that protect individual whistleblowers and/or agencies that create internal processes who denounce unequal hiring and promotion practices, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination broadly, as well as member state capture of staff positions. Š 
  • Within 60 days, appoint a high-level designee tasked an internal audit, compiling existing UN policies on human rights, equality, fairness, and non-discrimination, and create a framework for implementing them moving forward. Š
  •  Immediately institute a global commission of inquiry, rooted in the view of, and answerable to the people who have been abused. Š 
  • Within 30 days: begin an audit of UN justice systems and processes from a gender perspective. Use this to reform the system, strengthen protection and ensure confidentiality for staff members who experience sexual harassment or any form of gender-based discrimination. Š 
  • Within 90 days: Hold a town-hall meeting with UN staff to publicize existing polices, articulate enforcement and accountability measures, and disclose the results of the internal audit.

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Sunday, January 29, 2017

3. FINANCE FOR GENDER EQUALITY


Insufficient funds are committed to gender equality in programming by all UN agencies, as well as within internal system operations and processes. What funds do exist for gender equality are too often compromised by their origins or structure. Further, a series of traditions and unwritten rules dictate “ownership” of specific UN entities or roles by certain Member States based on donation levels. These practices benefit wealthier Member States, and lead to disproportionate representation throughout the system. The over-earmarking of funds also promotes undue influence among wealthier member states and has fostered the growing influence of private (both corporate and private foundation) funds in the UN system.

  • Š The Secretary General should commit to promoting greater transparency in spending by publishing how much the UN spends on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, economic policy, and adopt gender budgeting at the Secretariat and agency level. This should be housed at the Secretariat, but could be achieved by the UN System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (the gender SWAP)1 and should apply to all UN agencies and bodies, including the 5th Committee, and make that data publicly available on a central platform. Š
  •  In collaboration with UN Women, the Secretary General should convene an annual High Level Panel on Financing Gender Equality to analyzes and present the state of financing for women’s rights and gender equality within the UN system. Š 
  • Begin an active campaign to increase funding for UN Women to US$ 1 billion, the originally-targeted budget for the agency, both by encouraging member state contributions and by pulling from the core general fund, to ensure that it is able to fulfill its mandate. Š 
  • At the same time, commit to a pathway to full financial transparency in the UN by publishing funding sources for all agencies, positions and programs, and encouraging more member states to contribute to the general fund rather than earmarking their contributions to address this ownership issue. In addition to Member State contributions, publish contributions by private (corporate and foundation) funders. As an interim step, make publicly available via agency websites which countries provided funding but required hiring of their country nationals in return and make secondments within agencies public. Challenge member states who propose staff for the Secretary General’s key positions to ensure they put forward equal numbers of qualified women.
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Friday, January 27, 2017

2 .ENSURE FEMINIST IMPLEMENTATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE SDGS


The SDGs represent the single largest opportunity to both focus concerted effort on achieving gender equality and to mainstream a focus on gender across global, sustainable development efforts. However, the Goals currently lack a meaningful accountability framework and are in danger of losing or watering down their focus on gender. Express your full support for full implementation of Goal 5 and the mainstreaming of gender throughout the framework’s implementation, and tap a high-level designee for SDG implementation who:


  • Š Links the SDGs and their targets to theimplementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and ensures that the CSW has a clear mandate to oversee implementation of the Agenda. Š 
  • Links SDG implementation to CEDAW reporting, enables a feminist accountability framework where member states must report on their progress and can be challenged by civil society. Š
  •  Ensures that gender equality and women’s human rights is a cross-cutting theme in all related forums and discussions for follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, including the High Level Political Forum, which should include shadow reporting. Š 
  • Advocates for the collection and use of complete, accurate sex-disaggregated data (i.e., “gender data”) to measure efforts toward and achievement of the targets outlined in SDG5 and across the SDGs.
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Thursday, January 26, 2017

Celebrate Virginia Woolf´s birthday

A portrait of Woolf by Roger Fry c. 1917
Virginia Woolf (25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941) was an English writer, essayist and feminist.



She was born into a well-known family. Her father, Leslie Stephen, was a Victorian scholar. Her mother, born in India, was a favourite model of the Preraphaelite artists. Her sister, Vanessa Bell, was a painter. She had two brothers; one of them, Thoby, died in 1906.

Her mother died when she was thirteen and four years later her half-sister Stella died. In these times Virginia started to have her psychological problems. She had bipolar disorder in the time when few people knew this illness and most thought she was strange.

After the death of her mother, Leslie Stephen was not able to keep good relations in the family. Virginia and her sister Vanessa were sexually abused by their half-brothers George and Gerald. It affected Virginia for the rest of her life.

In their childhood, all the Stephens children were writing their diaries, but only Virginia kept write it for the whole life (and after her death, lots of them were published). It was important for her when she was sexually abused, because there was no one with whom she could talk about it. In the diary, she could write everything.


After her father's death, Virginia and her brothers and sister moved to Bloomsbury, London and there they became members of the famous group of the artists called Bloomsbury Group. Here Virginia met writer Leonard Woolf (1880-1969), whom she was married to from 1912 until her death. Together, they moved to Richmond, where they opened a publishing office called Hogarth House Press, which later published all Virginia's novels and essays.

She was bisexual. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with Violet Dickinson and she wrote her lots of love letters. Violet probably never loved her. Later, Virginia had a sexual relationship with Vita Sackville-West, a writer and a poet. Their letters, which have been published, are showing us how deeply they were in love.



Her most famous novels are Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. She completed Mrs Dalloway in 1925. It is about one day of an English woman called Clarissa Dalloway. Clarissa is making a party and all the day she is preparing it. The story can seem stupid, but it is not so important in the book. More important are the feelings, the colours or the mood of it.

To the Lighthouse was published in 1927 for the first time. It is about a family of Ramsays and its friends. These people are altogether spending a summer in Ramsay's house on an island. The youngest of Ramsays children, James, wants to go to the lighthouse, but they can't go there because of bad weather. In the next part of the book, James is ten years older and his father is taking him to the lighthouse, although he doesn't want to go there anymore.

Virginia Woolf is also an author of these novels: Jacob's Room (1923), Orlando (1928) and The Waves (1931). She was a feminist and she wrote a few essays about women's position in the society, for example The Room of One's Own and Three Guineas.



She died on 28 March 1941. She committed suicide by drowning in the river Ouse in Sussex.



http://mentalfloss.com/article/74231/20-virginia-woolf-quotes-celebrate-her-birthday
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf
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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

1 .ARTICULATE AND BEGIN TO IMPLEMENT A FEMINIST LEADERSHIP AGENDA FOR THE UN.


Set out an ambitious 100-day agenda, leading to a fullfledged women’s rights agenda for the duration of your term, based on UN policies of human rights, equality, fairness and non-discrimination, and outlining which members of the Secretary General’s administration are responsible for implementing key provisions. Commit to report on progress to the public on an annual basis, and work with feminist civil society and UN staff to hone and implement (see point 4).

http://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ICRW_100DayAgenda_WebReady_v6.pdf
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Monday, January 23, 2017

TOWARD A MORE FEMINIST UNITED NATIONS



The occasion of selecting the 9th Secretary-General saw unprecedented public demand for a feminist leader. This prompted many candidates, including Mr. Guterres, to outline beliefs and propose strategies to recognize, protect and promote women’s rights and voice as a key part of their platform for leadership of the United Nations. 

Over the fall of 2016, the International Center for Research on Women interviewed leading feminist activists, philanthropists, UN insiders and former UN officials as to what a more feminist UN would look like. A number of proposals emerged, which were articulated in an unabridged policy paper. Following the quick selection of Antonio Guterres as the world’s next Secretary General, the paper was culled to present an agenda for actions that could be taken by the new Secretary General in his first hundred days in the post to advance this vision and in response to the widespread and unprecedented calls for female and feminist leadership of the United Nations. 

It is imperative that the UN system, its actors and policies reflect and embrace gender equality as a fundamental human right. As its highest officer, the Secretary-General must personify this commitment by fully embracing gender equality and the human rights of women and girls, taking immediate and visible actions to ensure more equal representation of and by people of all genders throughout the system itself and advancing those rights in the policies and practices that it upholds. This document describes concrete steps that should be taken by the Secretary General in the first hundred days to promote women’s rights and to ensure greater gender equality at the United Nations, both in its internal operations and in fulfilling its mission to promote human rights, peace and sustainable development globally. 
Without intentional reform, the entire UN system risks failing in its mission and reinforcing entrenched inequalities that will destabilize social and economic development, perpetuate ecological imbalance and undermine the fulfillment of universal human rights. The UN also risks its own irrelevance and complicity in further exacerbating power asymmetries. 

The incoming Secretary-General should signal willingness to take on these issues headon by setting out a feminist agenda for the first hundred days that acknowledges the challenges inherent in the system and articulates a pathway forward. The following agenda should be embraced by Mr. Guterres as a display of good faith in recognition of those calls for feminist leadership, and to ensure the UN is fit for purpose at this critical time. 
At his swearing-in ceremony and ensuing press conference, Secretary-General Guterres committed to achieving gender parity by the end of his term, and making this a key priority for his first hundred days. This is a welcome signal following unprecedented calls for female leadership at the UN during the course of the SG selection process. But a feminist agenda includes and transcends female leadership—coming to power at a time of worrying global trends in nationalism, xenophobia and crackdowns on women’s rights, Secretary-General Guterres must also actively champion women’s rights with world leaders and within the UN system and model accountability, equality and transparency through his agenda.

http://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ICRW_100DayAgenda_WebReady_v6.pdf
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Saturday, January 21, 2017

The Way Forward


We, Urban Thinkers of the World Urban Campaign, are committed to The City We Need 2.0, its ten key principles and ten drivers of change to achieve sustainable urbanization.
As non-state actors joined by a shared vision, we commit to combine our strengths to build The City
We Need.
As local and sub-national authorities, we will act as catalysts of policies, strategies and actions to deliver The City We Need.
As research and academia, we will contribute knowledge through relevant research to advance The City We Need.
As civil society organizations, we will mediate between civil society actors and the state to ensure the representation of all in the realization of The City We Need.
As grassroots organizations, we will ensure the inclusion of all grassroots communities in the realization of The City We Need.
As women, we will ensure the full inclusion of women and girl at all levels of The City We Need.
As parliamentarians, we will promote The City We Need principles in national policies and legislation.
As children and youth, we will make sure that The City We Need is sustainable for future generations.
As business and industries, we will contribute through innovations and inclusive solutions to deliver

The City We Need.
As foundations and philanthropies, we will partner with others to support and finance The City We
Need.
As professionals, we will use our skills to build the City We Need and promote professional and ethical practices.
As trade unions and workers, we will support and protect the builders of The City We Need.
As farmers, we will nurture The City We Need through sustainable agricultural practices.
As indigenous people, we will infuse our local ancestral knowledge and customs in The City We Need.
As media, we will promote and disseminate The City We Need.

We call upon National Governments and the international community to support The City We Need through effective policies, strategies and actions at the national and international levels to help position sustainable cities at the heart of 21st century development.

We request the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to consider our vision and commitments towards the New Urban Agenda.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf

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Thursday, January 19, 2017

The City learns and innovates 10 /10



The City We Need is a “laboratory” for experimenting with alternative scenarios for the future. It creates collaborative learning and discovery opportunities to revisit and redefine urban paradigms and social contracts for sustainable futures.

The City We Need recognizes that cities are changing, which calls for continuous learning and reflection and more flexible planning and decision making. This includes new and innovative approaches to social, economic and environmental governance. It also calls for new and innovative approaches to municipal administration and fiscal and financial management.

The City We Need is not afraid to open itself to new ideas, experiments and innovations, engaging all stakeholder groups and working in close collaboration with other cities and communities.

The City We Need harnesses the full potential of technologies to improve efficiency and effectiveness in its operations and to reduce its carbon footprint. These technologies introduce new channels of communication, new forms of work and new business models and enterprises. They multiply the means by which all inhabitants can participate in and interact with planning, decisionmaking and project implementation.

The New Urban Agenda should recognize the importance of overcoming the digital divide to enable all of its inhabitants to take advantage of the city as an open platform and a collaborative space. This openness contributes to improved understanding and trust among inhabitants, policy makers and the private sector. It allows both inhabitants and government entities access to information across sectors and traditional silos to develop new models and paradigms for managing water, waste, energy, mobility and food.

The City We Need uses systems thinking to understand urban complexity and the sources of unintended policy consequences. It experiments with new approaches to science and the production of evidence, including action-based research, crowd-sourced data-gathering and analysis, interactive policy dialogue and studies, collaborative research involving trans-disciplinary engagement with stakeholders.


http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The City is safe, healthy and promotes well-being 9/10


The City We Need is free from violence, conflict and crime. It is welcoming night and day, inviting all people to use its streets, parks, and transit without fear. It guarantees the safety of women and girls and the elderly in both public and workplaces. It does so by involving men and women and girls and boys in the planning, design, budgeting and implementation of security interventions.

The City We Need fosters a culture of peace. It does so by working together with all stakeholder groups in organizing inter-generational, inter-cultural dialogue and events to promote understanding, tolerance and communications.

The city’s parks and gardens provide access to nature and recreation for city dwellers. They are accessible by all residents, including the elderly and persons with disabilities. They are designed to foster local biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services.

The City We Need promotes sports among its inhabitants and provides public space for recreation, with special attention to people with specific needs.

The City We Need must address the rising tide of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) associated with obesity, unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, substance abuse, and environmental pollution. It should further recognize the essential role of and guarantee equal access to quality food and food markets.

The New Urban Agenda should recognize that good health requires solutions that transcend the health sector and recommend improved inter-sectoral communication and coordination for health.  The New Urban Agenda should also recognize health as a fundamental aim of development, coequal with other aims, and the impacts on health of actions in all urban sectors should be explicitly considered. It should recognize the critical role of the determinants of health and reduce air, water, soil and noise pollution and ensure universal access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and decent shelter.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Monday, January 16, 2017

Sadly, Yelena Mizulina has introduced a bill to Russia's State Duma to decriminalize domestic violence

Against the request of women's associations:
Ultraconservative senator Yelena Mizulina has introduced a bill to Russia's State Duma to decriminalize domestic violence, the RBC news website reported Wednesday.
Under Mizulina's proposals, domestic violence would be categorized as an administrative offense. President Vladimir Putin signed a law decriminalizing other forms of assault and battery that did not cause actual bodily harm earlier this month. Human rights groups lobbied for assault within the family to remain a criminal offense over fears that decriminalization would increase rates of domestic violence, BBC Russia reported Wednesday. 
Mizulina has called the policy “absurd” and “anti-family,” maintaining it is unfair for a family member to receive two years in prison "for a slap." She has previously expressed concern that a family could face criminal proceedings if their child is found with cuts or bruises. 
Mizulina has been the author of several highly controversial laws, including the infamous “gay propaganda law,” which prohibits the distribution of “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships.”

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Sunday, January 15, 2017

The City is well planned, walkable, and transit-friendly 8/10


The City We Need adopts integrated planning to meet present and future needs for land, housing, infrastructure and services. It adopts participatory planning by bringing on board and empowering all stakeholders in the development of its plans and building codes. The resulting land use integrates form, function and connectivity. Multimodal networks of social and economic exchange form a framework of interconnected public space.

The City We Need is compact where accessibility is supported by a fine-grained block and street network lined with buildings and facilities providing amenities and services with a mix of uses and sizes. The density of the city is designed to allow for planned urban expansion while reducing its ecological footprint and sprawl. Schools are within walking or biking distance from homes. Offices are located no further than a few transit stops away from homes. Shopping for daily necessities is within walking distance of residential buildings and located near transit stops. Open space for recreation is near schools, work, and home.

The City We Need has efficient and affordable mobility systems that guarantee the right to mobility for all and an equitable access to workplaces, places of worship and recreation, culture and services.

The New Urban Agenda should call on cities to adopt and implement their respective plans in a flexible manner, periodically updating their key components to better meet the needs of all partners, people and communities.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Friday, January 13, 2017

The City has shared identities and sense of place 7/10



The City We Need fosters a strong sense of place and generates a sense of belonging for all.

The City We Need has a multifaceted identity made up of diverse neighborhoods and peoples who consciously seek ways to share a common sense of place. It recognizes culture as key to human dignity and values diversity as a source of creativity, growth and learning in a knowledge economy.

It functions as a resilient learning community that responds to changing needs of its population in the context of an ever-changing world. It strengthens its relationship with surrounding rural regions, recognizing the valuable resources rural areas provide for urban inhabitants.

It develops local solutions to urban challenges through the use of local culture and heritage, local skills and materials and local knowledge.

Human beings are connected to places via their senses. Cities should recognize the importance of sensory stimulation and beauty to sense of place and wellbeing. The City We Need designs urban public and natural spaces to actively promote aesthetic experiences. It enables people, especially poorer communities, to claim ownership of urban spaces and use them to contribute to a shared experience and to enhance a sense of achievement and belonging. The City We Need uses art in all of its forms as a creative means for all citizens to design, explore and experiment with new urban paradigms.

The City We Need looks at heritage not just nostalgically but in an evolutionary and innovative sense. It celebrates the rapidly evolving nature of most modern cities as it cherishes the value of indigenous knowledge, culture and perspectives.

It recognizes the importance and role of art in creating uniquely distinguishable and aesthetically pleasing places and that different forms and means of expression all have a place in the city.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf

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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The City is regenerative and resilient 6/10



The City We Need is designed to be resilient, continuously assessing risks and building the capacities of local stakeholders, individuals and communities to prepare for, absorb, recover from and learn from acute shocks and chronic stresses, both natural and anthropogenic. It acts to avoid or prevent such events where feasible, protecting vulnerable populations before, during and after the fact. It recognizes that it is only as resilient as it’s most vulnerable and marginalized dwellers and strives to ensure their long-term survival, sustainability and quality of life.

The City We Need is regenerative, energy and resource efficient, low-carbon, and increasingly reliant on renewable energy sources. It replenishes the resources it consumes and recycles and reuses waste. It manages water, land, and energy in a coordinated manner and in harmony with its hinterlands. It supports ecosystem restoration and city-regional food systems, including urban and peri-urban food production and community-based agriculture. It is endowed with multifunctional, adaptable infrastructure that supports local biodiversity while providing public space that improves quality of life. It recognizes the carrying capacities and limitations of the natural systems which support it, and values ecosystem services for the roles they play in urban health, environmental protection, aesthetics and livability.

The New Urban Agenda should call on cities to plan for and provide infrastructures and incentives for industries to prosper in a circular economy and to implement sustainable production and consumption patterns.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Monday, January 9, 2017

The City fosters cohesive territorial development 5/10

:


The City We Need coordinates sectoral policies and actions, such as economy, mobility, housing, biodiversity, energy, water and waste, within a comprehensive and coherent territorial framework. Roles and responsibilities between all stakeholders, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, are clearly defined with resources allocated strategically, equitably, and around a common agenda.

The City We Need is a catalyst for sustainability planning across jurisdictions within the region it occupies. It actively seeks to coordinate and implement policies, make investments and take actions that retain local autonomy while building and enhancing regional cooperation. It actively seeks cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation and promotes mutually beneficial and environmentally sound linkages between rural and urban areas.

The New Urban Agenda should encourage cohesive territorial development to avoid urban sprawl and preserve natural resources. It should recommend reducing the need for transporting goods and people through appropriate clustering of housing, industries, services and educational institutions. It should recommend inter-municipal cooperation to achieve economies of scale and agglomeration, optimize use of resources and prevent unhealthy competition among local authorities and other public agencies.

http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Sunday, January 8, 2017

정대협 Justice for the 'Comfort Women

The Korean Council and a 91 year old survivor Bok-dong KIM attended the 32nd UN Human Rights Council held in Geneva, Switzerland. During that visit, the Korean Council and Bok-dong Kim met with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and other UN human rights secretariat. On June 17, the side event titled “The Right to a Remedy and Justice for Survivors of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery” was held. Frances Raday, Chair of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice criticized the KOR-JPN agreement on the “comfort women” issue at the event.  

She said:
Indeed, CEDAW and Special Procedures’ experts consider that this agreement does not represent an unequivocal official apology from the responsible stakeholders. Despite expressing regrets, they only recognized the involvement of the Japanese Government and military army in the perpetuation of the sexual slavery crimes against thousands of women and girls prior and during WW∥; surviving victims were not consulted and neither were the organizations defending their interests and rights in the preparation of this agreement. It therefore does not take into account the victims’ requests formulated over the past decades; the agreement does not meet the demands of the victims with regard to reparation – they have been asking for individual compensation while the agreement plans that Japan will make a donation that will be used for bilateral projects, including a foundation to be set up by South Korea; the agreement mentions that this is a “final and irreversible” solution to the issue of “comfort women”, while it denies victims’ right to justice, truth, reparations and redress. Finally, the Republic of Korea agreed to consider the removal of a statue commemorating the struggle of the so-called “comfort women” in Seoul.



http://www.womenandwar.net/contents/board/normal/normalView.asp?page_str_menu=2301&action_flag=&search_field=&search_word=&page_no=0&bbs_seq=15088&passwd=&board_type=&board_title=&grade=&title=&secret=&user_nm=&attach_nm=&reg_dt=&thumbnail=&content=
https://www.facebook.com/RememberingSewol/photos/gm.784433298358014/469480673252059/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/womenandwar/
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Saturday, January 7, 2017

The City is collectively managed and democratically governed 4/10



The City We Need is participatory. It promotes effective partnerships and active engagement by all members of society and partners (public, private and civil society). It safeguards local democracy by encouraging participation, transparency and accountability.

The City We Need cultivates a strong sense of community. Its inhabitants are equipped with the knowledge and means to express their views on issues affecting their quality of life. They engage in city management and planning decisions through transparent public discussion.

The City We Need empowers communities to be self-supporting, developing local capacities and supporting local leadership and collaborative institutions to boost self-reliance, awareness and selfdetermination.

The City We Need makes public service an employment of choice and engages appropriate professionals and ethical practices to carry out its policies and plans.

The City We Need recognizes the important roles that women fulfill in their respective communities and strengthens their participation in urban and local decision making.  


http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Thursday, January 5, 2017

The City is economically vibrant and inclusive 3/10



The City We Need encourages and fosters local economic development from the smallest entrepreneur to the largest corporations. It streamlines licensing and other administrative services. It provides a level playing field, especially for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises and supports local economic development through its own contracting and procurement functions.

The New Urban Agenda should recognize that the informal sector of the economy provides an important source of livelihood for the urban poor and especially for women and actively eliminates the barriers and obstacles that prevent them from realizing their full potential.

The City We Need recognizes that health is a precondition for productivity. It facilitates inclusive prosperity and promotes the right to decent work, livelihood and shared prosperity through skills development, youth training and policies that support non-discriminatory employment.  It does so in partnership with the private, public and civil society sectors.

The City We Need recognizes the role and potential of the shared economy both as a means to make public services more affordable and accessible and to promote local economic development.


http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

The City is affordable, accessible and equitable 2/10



In the City We Need resources are distributed equitably and opportunities are available to all. Land, infrastructure, housing, transport and basic services are planned and operated with special attention to improving access by women and low-income and disadvantaged groups. Public services are designed with the participation of communities and consciously include the needs, safety and dignity of women, elderly, children and youth, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups.

The City We Need regards every inhabitant as a citizen of the city regardless of his or her legal status. It engages residents of slums and informal settlements in improving their quality of life and works closely with all sectors to address the root causes of informality.

The City We Need recognizes that its inhabitants are co-owners of the public space, which are designed with their participation and consciously include the needs of women, the elderly as well as children and youth, persons with disabilities and marginalized populations.

Rapidly growing cities will inevitably require some resettlement of communities. The City We Need undertakes resettlement in such a way as to minimize disruption to people’s livelihoods and their social networks and relations.

The New Urban Agenda should recommend a continuum of legitimate tenure arrangements (collective and individual, customary, perceived or formally registered) that involve legal protection against forced evictions, dispossession, destruction and other violations.
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Sunday, January 1, 2017

The City is socially inclusive and engaging 1/10



The City We Need is people-centered, ethical, and just. It eliminates all physical and spatial forms of segregation, discrimination and exclusion. It values the lives and and potential of all inhabitants, especially the poor and other disadvantaged groups. It embraces cultural diversity, including differences of belief and language, and encourages social integration of migrants and refugees. It encourages all segments and age groups of the population to partake in social and cultural life.

The City We Need promotes the “right to the city for all”. This entails the right to a dignified and secure existence with access to decent housing, public goods and services and a voice in decisionmaking. It fosters a culture of solidarity through processes such as community consultations, community contracting and participatory budgeting.

The City We Need is a tolerant city. It accepts and embraces all inhabitants regardless of age, race, creed, gender or other forms of diversity.  It creates collaborative spaces that are socially inclusive, driven by democratic decision-making. It fosters shared values and a shared vision for a common urban future.

The City We Need recognizes gender differentiated needs and supports women as key actors in planning and adopts measures that enhance their involvement and their ability to participate effectively in decision making. The New Urban Agenda should aim to recognize and integrate divergent interests, lifestyles and values of different city dwellers through more effective civic engagement, particularly during the planning to implementation stages for local and city-wide projects. It recognizes that engagement is much more than ensuring access to basic services for all and promotes bottom-up participatory processes throughout the entire policy cycle: to collectively define and review priorities, strategies and actions.

 http://fidic.org/sites/default/files/The%20City%20We%20Need%20TCWN%202.0_ADOPTED.pdf
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