Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 07:15:08 -0600 To: From: "debra" Subject: WCW: Women health activists in Beijing Forwarded to: Internet[ppn@csf.colorado.edu] cc: Comments by: Richard Cincotta@G.PHN.POP@AIDW ======================================================================= Forwarded to: RD.POP.PE Mail List@G.PHN.POP@AIDW cc: Comments by: Barbara Crane@G.PHN.POP@AIDW An interesting item on women's health activism post-Cairo and Beijing.... ======================================================================= Forwarded to: Barbara Crane@G.PHN.POP@AIDW Chloe OGara@G.PHN.POP@AIDW,DEIRDRE LAPIN@HPO@LAGOS cc: Comments by: Mari Clarke@G.WID@AIDW -------------------------- [Original Message] ------------------------- ## author : theearthtime@igc.apc.org ## date : 14.09.95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Women health activists in Beijing By Jack Freeman Earth Times News Service BEIJING--They call themselves HERA, these women, acknowledging that they hope it will be powerful like a goddess, but the acronym really stands for Health, Empowerment, Rights and Accountability. The women--25 names are listed on HERA's brochure, ranging from Peggy Antrobus to Mona Zulficar--describe themselves as "an international group of women's health activists working together" to ensure implementation of the action program approved by the Cairo Population Conference. Actually, said Bene Madunagu of Nigeria, the group came into being long before Cairo, and had its origins in a panel on reproductive health held in the Women's Tent at the NGO Forum during the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. "We became aware that there was a lot of misunderstanding," said Gita Sen of India, "of what women need, what their concerns were. Women had for too long been the objects and not the subjects of reproductive health programs." The women who were to form the nucleus of HERA made sure that such concerns were introduced into the preparation process for Cairo. "We developed our own agenda," said Sen, "and pushed it with a lot of networking among women's health activists." At Cairo, she said, it was "the irresistible force and the immovable object"-- the pressure they were bringing for recognition of women's rights versus the population establishment's unwillingness to give up its numerical- target approach. "The irresistible force prevailed," Sen said. "The object moved. Now we women of HERA are trying to make sure it doesn't get stuck again." "The follow-up actions to Cairo must be accountable," said Mabel Bianco of Argentina. "We want to be sure that governments are going to do what they promised to do." She said that applies to local governments as well. Sen pointed out that the promises in Cairo were also made by international and bilateral agencies, including the agencies of the UN system, and by regional blocs as well. And they too will be held accountable, she said. "Our major objective," she said, "is that women remain at the policy table, in decision making roles, at all levels." Sen said the women of HERA came to Beijing determined not to allow any rollbacks from the Cairo action program. "But in some ways," she said, "we have moved ahead of Cairo." She cited the discussions of sexuality, coercion and violence, which were not addressed in Cairo. "The issues," said Bianco, "are all so interrelated that when we talk about women's rights we are talking about reproductive rights and sexuality. If we are talking about empowerment of women," she added, "reproductive rights are the key."