Event Update: WLP Convenes Workshops and Trainings at the Fifth Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy

WLP organized three workshops and a series of IT trainings at the Fifth Assembly of The World Movement for Democracy convened in Kiev, Ukraine, April 6-9.

Association, Assembly, and Advocacy: What Are the Best Strategies and Tactics for NGOs in Restrictive Legal Environments?

In this workshop moderated by Asma Khader of Sisterhood is Global Institute/Jordan, Chee Siok Chin of Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA) in Singapore, Tolekan Ismailova, Director of the Human Rights Center "Citizens Against Corruption" in Kyrgyzstan, Marfua Tokhtakhodjaeva, Founder and Co-Director of the Women’s Resource Centre of Tashkent, and Sakena Yacoobi, Founder and Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning in Afghanistan discussed the nature of the restrictions they face, the socio-political and cultural contexts in which they work, and the strategies they employ to overcome obstacles. Participants then discussed the ways and means of strengthening and defending civil society. They made the following suggestions for future action:

• Use the WLP’s leadership curriculum to train grassroots activist women to take on leadership roles in their family, community and at the national level.
• Organize a rapid response committee to act quickly to assist and support threatened social justice activists who find themselves in need of lawyers, journalists, and advocates.

Effective Coalitions: How Can National, Regional, and International Cooperation for Advocacy Be Generated?

This workshop focused on building coalitions and strengthening networks to promote democratic governance, peace building, and women’s human rights with special reference to the needs of moderate, marginalized people. The campaign for Family Law reform in Malaysia, the Nationality campaign to ensure equal citizenship rights in the Middle East and North Africa, the One Million Signatures campaign to end discriminatory laws against women in Iran, the campaign for criminalization of honor killings in Brazil, and the campaign for ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Morocco were used as models of recent successes. Presenters at the workshop discussed how they worked with others to expand their campaigns at the national, regional, and international levels. They emphasized the indispensability of information and communication technologies to successful campaigns in these spheres.

Participants formed small working groups to discuss best practices, and suggested the following:

• Develop goals that are realistic, time-bound, clear, and shared.
• Adapt strategies to the specific contexts.
• Review objectives and strategies regularly and be flexible.
• Communicate effectively and build alliances with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Identify human resources needed, and build on the complementarities of our strengths, resources, and strategic influence.
• Ensure participatory leadership and decision-making that reflect democratic values.
• Use information and communication technologies (ICTs) effectively to connect with a wide range of social networks.

Third General Assembly of the International Women’s Democracy Network (IWDN)

The International Women’s Democracy Network convened its Third General Assembly at the World Movement for Democracy’s Fifth Assembly. IWDN seeks to improve women’s status as full citizens through the promotion of women’s political participation. The Third Assembly of IWDN provided a forum for members to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face within their societies, share successful initiatives, and develop strategies to make the Network more effective. Participants reviewed the content of the Online Resource Center and discussed ways of transforming it into a more dynamic and useful advocacy tool. They made the following suggestions for strengthening the network:

• Produce a manual on women’s political participation for use in transitional countries.
• Build solidarity by working together around a common project such as skills-building workshops for women using WLP’s Leading to Choices manual.
• Disseminate materials through the regional focal points in the Network to those organizations that do not have access to the internet.