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September 3, 2004Newsletter September 2004: Calling for a South Asian Plan of Action for Children
SOUTH ASIA PARTNERSHIP CANADA NEWSLETTER
September 2004
Calling for a South Asian Plan of Action for Children
SAP Canada serves as a coalition of Canadian organizations that
together and with South Asian partners,
works for sustainable human development in the region.
How does the newsletter work? Links in this email go to items on SAP Canada’s web site. Click on the story links which interest you and enjoy. Please feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues and friends.
Index
SAP Canada in the Media
Coming Events
Member Spotlight
Recent Events & Reports
Connect with SAP Canada
SUPPORT SAP CANADA
SAP Canada needs your contributions for our program to educate and engage Canadians on the needs of people in South Asia. Become an individual member or get your organization to join as a full or associate member. It’s a great way to build Canadian support for South Asian human development and link with others who share your commitment to the region and its peoples. For more information, contact SAP Canada’s Fundraising Coordinator Melissa Coleman mcoleman@sapcanada.org or by telephone 613-241-1333 ext. 230. Join today and make a difference!
SAP CANADA IN THE MEDIA
The South Asian Voice weekly newspaper, published in the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Waterloo, London and Windsor, gave front page coverage to the SAP Canada delegation to the Women and Governance conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Read more about the conference on the SAP International web site.
SAP Canada’s Beyond Borders radio program broadens its reach. Tune into CFRO 102.7 FM Vancouver, CFCR 90.5 FM Saskatoon, CJSR FM88 Edmonton, CJSW 90.9 FM Calgary, CKDU FM Halifax or CHUO FM 89.1 in Ottawa to hear SAP Canada’s Beyond Borders program that brings South Asian voices to Canada’s airwaves.
Index
COMING EVENTS
September 13-14, 2004: Canada Fit for Children Conference – A South Asian Plan of Action in Ottawa, Canada. DEADLINE EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 8 – register today! SAP Canada and its partners are hosting a participatory conference to develop an analysis and outline for a South Asian strategy for children. This conference is focusing on the international part of Canada’s National Plan of Action. The keynote speaker is the Honourable Senator Landon Pearson. This participatory conference will focus on South Asia, where there is the greatest concentration of people – and children – in poverty.
- Register
- Program
- Join the conference email discussion group
- For more information, visit the above web pages or for more information contact the conference organizer or 613-241-1333 ext. 223.
September 15-16, 2004: SAP Canada Annual Meeting will bring together its 29 member organizations for Board elections. Join SAP Canada today and participate!
Fall 2004: Canadian Roundtables on Women, Peace and Security in Sri Lanka, in Canada. These roundtables will invite women from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities in Canada to express their opinions about women’s role in the Sri Lanka peace process. The goal is to create an opportunity for women living in Canada to participate in consultations regarding the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in Sri Lanka. This roundtable series is organized in collaboration with Foreign Affairs Canada, the Forum of Federations, the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security and the International Centre for Criminal Justice in Vancouver. For more information please contact SAP Canada by email or telephone 613-241-1333.
Index
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
SAP Canada welcomes two new members, CARE Canada and the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. Welcome to the SAP family!
November 1-12, 2004: Dr. Nag Rao, the President-elect of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), is touring Canada with Operation Eyesight. The IAPB is the highest authority concerned with vision care. Dr. Rao is also the founder of the respected L.V. Prasad Eye Institute which has developed a successful model for self-sustaining eye care centres in which at least half the patients receive treatment for free. He will be in Vancouver (November 1), Calgary (November 3), Winnipeg (November 5), Toronto (November 8), Ottawa (November 10), and Montr顬 (November 12). Call 1-800-585-8265 to book tickets and get more information.
On September 27, 2004, World Literacy of Canada will be launching its 50th Anniversary featuring a year of special events in Toronto. This event will feature Margaret Atwood, a long time WLC supporter, launching her new book, Moving Targets. Ms. Atwood will be interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel, from CBC’s Writers & Co., and will also be signing copies of her new book. Since 1955, WLC has worked both in Canada and overseas to change lives through education. Its literacy and community development programs range from storytelling festivals in Toronto to reading series in communities across Canada to literacy programs for women and children in Varanasi, India. For more information, visit WLC’s web site.
Index
RECENT EVENTS & REPORTS
A Case for Affirmative Action by Indrani Ray-Ghosal: This fact sheet is based on ?Reviving Democracy: The Emerging Role of Women in Decision Making, A Study of Women?s Participation in Governance in South Asia? a major study by South Asia Partnership International. To order your own copy of this study, contact SAP International
Measuring Women’s Empowerment report is now available. This reports follows on a workshop that SAP Canada and the Institute of Social Sciences with the support of Canada’s International Development Research Centre held on October 20-21, 2003 in New Delhi, India. The workshop brought together a growing body of research, practice and knowledge that has evolved over the past decade on women and local governance. For a copy of the report or more information, contact Veena Gokhale, SAP Canada’s India and Regional Program Manager, by email or telephone 613-241-1333 ext. 231.
Canadian Tour Report – Women Reviving Democracy in India. From March 11-22, 2004, Canadians in Windsor, Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge, Regina and Winnipeg welcomed Veena Gokhale of South Asia Partnership Canada and heard how Indian women have overcome barriers of sexism and become decision-makers for their communities. The six-city tour was an initiative by South Asia Partnership Canada, its hosting partners in each city and the Canadian International Development Agency to promote links between Canadian and South Asian civic groups on the role of women in local government in Canada and India. The report is now on-line.
Report on South Asian Women Accessing Political Power meeting in Toronto, Canada on June 5, 2004. Veena Gokhale of SAP Canada, Dr. Amali Philips of Wilfred Laurier University, Penny Ramdeo of Toronto Women’s Call to Action, and Soni Dasmohapatra, Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, spoke in Toronto, Canada, on the challenges facing South Asian women to gain access to political power. The report is now on-line.
Report on the Canadian Delegation Report Back: UN Commission on the Status of Women in Ottawa, Canada. On June 8, 2004, Canadian delegation officials and civil society shared their experiences negotiating on the themes of ‘Women’s Equal Participation in Conflict and Peacebuilding’ and ‘The Role of Men and Boys in Gender Equality’ at the 48th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2004. The report is now on-line.
Women, Security and South Asia: Developing Strategies for Regions of Conflict – South Asian Regional Workshop in Colombo, Sri Lanka. On June 16-18, 2004, SAP Canada in collaboration with DFAIT, International Alert, SAP International and the Canadian Committee on Women, Peace and Security provided this opportunity for selected South Asian activists, advocates, academics, journalists and conflict survivors to assemble and discuss the issues, share experiences, and draft a common “Plan of Action” for peace and security in the region. A report will be available soon. View the event photographs..
Canadian Delegation to Dhaka Women and Governance report. SAP Canada sponsored in July 12-14, 2004 a Canadian delegation to the Regional Conference on Women and Local Governance in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The three Canadian delegates, Joan Lougheed, Kokila Jacob and Bauni MacKay, have written reports which are now available on-line alongside an event summary. The three-woman delegation is part of SAP Canada’s Canada-South Asia linkage program, Daughters of Democracy, which promotes connections between civil society organizations on the women and governance issue.
Also available are:
- Making history, Building Futures: Women in the 21st century, Joan Lougheed’s presentation at the Dhaka conference
- Equal Voice: Advocating for the Election of Women by Kokila Jacob
Women’s Role in Building Peace Between India and Pakistan conference in Montreal, Canada, on July 30-August 1, 2004. Women bring a unique perspective to formal and informal peace processes and in educating to change the culture of violence. This workshop, organized in partnership with SAP Canada, focused on ?Women?s Role in building peace between India and Pakistan? and brought women and men from both countries to McGill University together with academics, representatives of civil society organizations and policy makers to share peace-building strategies, sharpen skills, and shape public policy nationally and internationally. On-line papers and biographies are available on the conference web site.
Annotated Bibliography on Women, Peace, and Security in South Asia. The McGill Centre for Research and Teaching on Women and SAP Canada also co-produced for this event and for the SAP Canada’s Women and Violent Conflict in South Asia: Strategies for Peace and Security workshop an annotated bibliography covering a wide range of materials from feminist peace theory to the impact of conflict on women of Kashmir. The resource has five sections for easy reference those themes and issues which are most relevant.
Women Building Peace Between India and Pakistan – The Role Women Play in Communities, Media and Politics, featuring Ms. Ammu Joseph, Journalist and Founder of Network of Women in Media; Ms. Rubina Saigol, Writer/Research and Member of Women Action Forum; and Ms. Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, Executive Editor, Kashmir Times. This August 3, 2004 seminar brought three key speakers of the McGill University conference together again in Ottawa for a discussion on two inter-woven themes – the first is the longstanding and complex issue of peace between India and Pakistan, and the second is the issue of women’s participations in government. The report is now available on-line.
The SAP International Annual Meeting, held in Lahore, Pakstan, from June 28-30, 2004, pursued planning on the SAP themes of peace, governance and sustainable livelihoods addressed in the new SAP International strategic plan. The meeting also adopted the network’s communications strategy. In other developments, discussions between the International Board and the Executive Director, Dr. James Arputharaj, concluded that he would leave the organization. SAP Nepal’s Executive Director Rohit Kumar Nepali was appointed as SAP International’s Interim Executive Director with Irfan Mufti of SAP Pakistan appointed as Interim Deputy Director.
SAP Canada Staff Change: SAP Canada welcomes Brynna Leslie as SAP Canada’s new Communications Coordinator. SAP Canada also wishes a special farewell to long-time employees Isabelle Valois, Pakistan and Peace & Security Program Manager, as well as Peter S. Moore, Communications Coordinator. Ms. Valois has accepted a position on the Iraq Task Force at the Canadian International Development Agency. Mr. Moore will joining his partner in Bradford, United Kingdom and be working as a communications consultant. “We wish them both the best in their new ventures, ” said Richard Harmston, SAP Canada’s Executive Director. “Isabelle and Peter have each made important and valuable contributions to the work and life of the SAP family, of which they will always be a part.”
Index
CONNECT TO SAP CANADA
Keep learning about South Asian development. Subscribe to one or more of SAP Canada’s list-servers:
- Canada Fit for Children list-server is an on-line discussion of children’s issues in South Asia and what role Canada can play to meeting their needs and cooperating with South Asian governments and civil society.
- 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.
- SAP E-Link: Receive periodic notices of opportunities to participate, report releases and web site updates by email.
- YouthAsia, a list-server for young Canadians and South Asians to discuss issues, share career information and keep in touch.
- Afghanistan, a list-server that shares information on developments in and on Afghanistan and Canada.
- 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.
Contact our Communications Coordinator by email or by telephone 613-241-1333 ext. 228.