SAP International at the World Social Forum

SOUTH ASIA PARTNERSHIP CANADA NEWSLETTER
December 2003

“I feel that it is important for us to have a connection to each other,
we need to know what the West is all about,
and they need to understand us. Only then can [the] bridge be created.”
Bushra Gohar, SAP International Board President

December 2003

http://www.sapcanada.org/

SAP Canada serves as a coalition of Canadian organizations that
together and with South Asian partners,
works for sustainable human development in the region.

Get Involved: SAP Canada invites you to become a member of South Asia Partnership and join thousands of organizations and individuals in five countries working to make a difference in South Asians’ daily lives. Individual memberships are $50. For more information about becoming a member, visit our web site or call our membership coordinator at 613-241-1333 ext. 230.

Index
SAP Canada in the Media
Coming Events
Recent Events
Reports On-Line
Connect with SAP Canada

 

SAP CANADA IN THE MEDIA

South Asia Partnership Canada members and Canadian non-government organizations are telling their stories on Vision TV every Tuesday night at 10:30 pm (EST). (Check your local television guide for the channel.) Visit Villagers Media web site for the full schedule.

SAP Canada broadcasts speakers at our events each week on Ottawa’s own community radio station, CHUO 89.1 FM. If you would like to broadcast SAP Canada’s latest clips on your community radio show, contact SAP Canada Communications.

COMING EVENTS:

A World Fit for Children – A South Asian Plan of Action Conference, April 2004:South Asia Partnership Canada is planning a two-day participatory conference in April 2004 to accelerate implementation of Canada’s National Plan of Action (NPA) in South Asia. Canada will announce its NPA in February 2004 to meet its commitment to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children made in May 2002. Objectives of the Conference include:

• Draft an early response to the NPA focusing on South Asian children and establish benchmarks for its implementation.
• Outline a South Asian strategy as part of the NPA.
• Facilitate networking/build partnerships for NGO involvement in the NPA.

Canadian organizations with international expertise will lead panels on the three themes of the NPA:

1. Promoting healthy lives, including combating HIV/AIDS;
2. Promoting quality education;
3. Protecting against abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect.

Dates and location will be confirmed. If you wish to participate or be on a mailing list for the participatory conference, please contact

Faruq Faisel

.

January 2-4, 2004: The People’s Summit of South Asia in Islamabad, Pakistan is organized by SAP International and hosted by SAP Pakistan. The People’s Summit is a gathering of South Asian civil society groups seeking to address and develop agendas of action for problems faced by the people of the South Asian region. With its vision of eradicating poverty, preventing human rights violations, promoting good governance and people centered, sustainable development, the summit provides concerned groups a platform to voice their concerns, share successful strategies of action, and strengthen one another through mutual regional cooperation. For more information, visit SAP International’s web site.

January 12-14, 2004: The Pakistan Social Forum in Lahore, Pakistan, plans to gather more than 40,000 people from different areas of civil society from across Pakistan, especially those engaged in social movements, political struggles, and rights-based movements. The focus of discussion will be peace, human security and regional cooperation in South Asia apart from issues of livelihood, food security, democracy and patriarchy. Five thousand Pakistani participants hope to participate in the World Social Forum in neighbouring India.

World Social Forum 2004 January 16-21, 2004 in Mumbai, India: SAP Canada member Alternatives, South Asia Partnership International (SAP International), South Asia Partnership Nepal (SAP Nepal), the South Asian Small Arms Network (SASANet) and partner Ekta Parishad will host events at the World Social Forum next year. The registration deadline for individuals and organizations is extended to December 15, 2003.

• Alternatives will host “The New Triad: India, the United States and Israel”. Contact.
• SAP International will host three events, the “Illegal Proliferation of Small Arms”, “The Human Security Implications of Small Arms” and “Human Security in South Asia: Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding.” Contact.
• SAP Nepal will host “Building a Culture of Peace”. Contact.
• SASANet will host “Small Arms: A Big Problem in Asia”. Contact.
• SAP Pakistan will support the visa applications of 5,000 Pakistani delegates from the Pakistan Social Forum in Lahore, Pakistan to participate.
• Ekta Parishad will host three events, “Livelihoods and Natural Resources: Access and Entitlement”, “Land Rights Meet”, and “People’s Rights Over Natural Livelihood Resources”. Contact.

Other Canadian organizations hosting events at the World Social Forum include the ATTAC-Qu�bec,

Canadian Labour Congress

,

Montr�al International Forum

,

Toronto Social Forum

, and

PATH Canada

. SAP Canada wishes all participants the best of experiences.

Index

RECENT EVENTS

Measuring the Impact of Increased Women’s Representation in Local Government: Lessons from India. SAP Canada’s India Program Manager Veena Gokhale and the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi, India, will be organizing events in Canada for 2004 to share the knowledge gained at the successful October 20-21, 2003 New Delhi workshop. Ms. Gokhale has prepared a brief summary of the event, in advance of the final report.

Devolution and Governance in Pakistan: On December 2, 2003, Shehryar Sarwar, Team Leader of the Devolved Services Delivery Study, presented on the changes in incentives, accountability and service delivery in several key districts in all four provinces of Pakistan. Some of the questions the study asked is whether there are sufficient incentives for local governments to improve the quality and state of local services, whether the rules formulated in the devolution legislation (the Local Government Ordinances of 2001) are understood and followed by local administrators, as well as the impact on civil society of the changes that have resulted.

Canadian parliamentarians return from trip to India and Pakistan. On October 20-25, 2003, The Honourable Diane Marleau led a delegation including Members of Parliament, The Honourable Art Eggleton, Mr. John Harvard, Mr. Mark Eyking, Mr. Deepak Obhrai, and Mr. St�phane Bergeron to Delhi, India and Islamabad, Pakistan. They met with civil society representatives, journalists, academics, parliamentary counterparts, ministers, and ethnic and religious leaders. The Canadian delegates sit on the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, which is conducting hearings on Canada’s relations with countries that have significant Muslim populations. Together Pakistan and India compose about 23 per cent of the world’s Muslim population. The Standing Committee has heard from SAP Canada and other experts in hearings started earlier this year. It met on November 4 to discuss the development of a report on its findings for release in the new year.

Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy on November 25, 2003, of which SAP Pakistan is a member, calls for India and Pakistan to implement confidence-building measures. “We urge the two governments not to let the present initiative to be destroyed by arguments about who made which proposal first. The peoples of India and Pakistan yearn for peace. We expect that this time the two governments will go beyond verbal rhetoric and make this confidence building measure a reality.” Full statement.

South Asia Partnership Nepal launched Falcha venue in Kathmandu on November 28, 2003. Falcha or “the meeting point” is a Newar community concept that means providing shelter and a place to gather for social activities. Falcha is a place where professionals of varied age groups can meet to share ideas and experiences they have gained from working in various non-government and international non-government development agencies. The venue comprises meeting rooms, a conference hall, training hall, library, cyber caf�, restaurant, and publishing facilities.
Index

REPORTS AVAILABLE ON-LINE

 

Measuring Women’s Empowerment: On October 20-21, 2003, SAP Canada and the Institute of Social Sciences with the support of Canada’s International Development Research Centre held a successful two-day workshop in New Delhi, India to bring together the growing body of research, practice and knowledge that has evolved over the past decade on women and local governance. A participant report of the event is now available on our web site, in advance of the final report to be released in 2004. For more information contact India Program Manager.

Gender and Conflict Transformation: Focus on South Asia On October 20, 2003, distinguished Indian scholar Dr. Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya made two presentations on conflict resolution, gender and development, one with the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security, a national working group on women’s rights in conflict, and the other with the Associated Research Group of Asian Affairs at Carleton University. The presentations focused on India’s role and the role of Indian civil society in conflict, demobilization and participation in peace processes.

Governance and Decentralization in India with Dr. George Mathew, Secretary of the SAP International network and Director of the Institute of Social Sciences in New Delhi, India.
Index

CONNECT WITH SOUTH ASIA PARTNERSHIP CANADA

The South Asia Human Development Forum is an on-line platform to strengthen regional dialogue among development stakeholders – civil society, networks and donors in South Asia, among others – to engage in discussion and share information about human development in South Asia. This site is open to all participants who want to read or post information and build links and support for issues such as democracy, governance, conflict, and justice.

SUBSCRIBE to SAP E-Link: Receive periodic notices of opportunities to participate, report releases and web site updates by email.

SUBSCRIBE to YouthAsia, a list-server for young Canadians and South Asians to discuss issues, share career information and keep in touch.

SUBSCRIBE to Afghanistan, a list-server that shares information on developments in and on Afghanistan and Canada.

SUBSCRIBE to Communication for Social Change, a list-server that discusses the practice and theory of using communication techniques for international and community development. This discussion is hosted on the South Asia Human Development Forum Network

Khoj India Directory: A Directory of Canadian Organizations Working on Indian Development Issues. This directory features the work of 48 Canadian non-government organizations and civil society organizations, eight private sector organizations and 22 academics on development issues in India.
Index

Thank you for reading this newsletter. Your suggestions and feedback are always welcome!
Contact our Communications Coordinator by email or by telephone 613-241-1333 ext. 228.