Daily report for 16th February 2012 Poli led us in morning prayer with a reflection exercise.

Ella led us in centring with a video. There was something in common between the two: we hear their voices, do we keep these voices in our head or take them into our hearts? Do they motivate us to take action? Julio gave us the daily report. Max gave us information on International Women s day Erica and Ella will take the lead on this. Hot news 3 Bombs have gone off in South Thailand, 2 bombs in India, it seems to be Iran targeting Israel but there is nothing confirmed. It is getting more intense. Discussion about the World Bank we are the youth and will be responsible for paying back the debt of our own countries. Song Pray for the peace River of Life Toan, Noy and Ouane share their stories with us. Mercy s Session: Gender Analysis Video about woman escaping from a violent relationship (song): y y y y y y y Support and express solidarity with other women help transform other women. Transformation happening within her head, gives her hope. Woman stops feeling alone when she learns to love herself and this passes onto her daughter. Why should I suffer in silence? Challenging stereotypes women can drive trucks. It is important to challenge the stereotypes in order to get our rights. Find own identity because she is no longer a wife or oppressed. Difficult to break down stereotypes and discrimination because denied power and socialised to think about this, society will blame the woman, the victim gets blamed, family and community may reject them. This happens in cases of rape as well as domestic violence.

Gender Analysis 1. Division of roles/work who does what? E.g. an activity profile (reproductive, productive and community work women do all) 2. Access and Control profile looking at generally speaking, there are exceptions. a. With access and control we are looking at resources who has access and who has control? Example below.

Access (who can use it?) Resources Money Land House Dowry Politics Men X X X X X Women X X X X

Control (who makes decisions related to it?) Men Women X X X X X

In one year, 2000 women are killed or commit suicide due to dowry harassment in India. 85% of women earning in Karnataka do not have control of their own earnings. In India, 33% of seats in local governing authorities should be reserved for women, because of this, they get elected but men represent them, women have no power and stay where they are. Dads, brothers and husbands take their seats and represent the women. 3. Needs (will focus on women s needs but this can be changed to anything) Basic Needs/ Practical Gender Needs Money Shelter Food Healthcare Basic education Water Strategic Gender Needs Voice- to be heard Safety Justice Happiness Good relationships Equality Position Attention Love Dignity Fulfilment Power Self esteem Protection Take care Decision making Opportunity

Practical Gender needs will not rid the social injustice, it only improves the condition. Ensure that women have access through policy or provision. Women become beneficiaries of charity. Strategic Gender Needs are paving the way for social transformation and challenges the unequal power relations within our societies. People taking it as their right will move from changing the condition to changing the position. Women can become the subject of their own life; have certain powers which can bring about change. Women s empowerment needs to look at both practical and strategic gender needs. There may need to be a sacrifice or disturbance in order to bring about transformation in society. Sometimes requires huge sacrifice e.g. the opposition leader in Burma under house arrest has missed her families live. Personal choice, we need to pick our fights.

When we give a beggar food we are only addressing his basic needs and there will be no social transformation. If working on a project that empowers people to see their right to food, can link both addressing basic needs as well as justice. Max gave an example of Cambodia and the landless issue: NGO s build houses provide food, water and electricity but they are still unequal and injustice is still there. Some NGO s can make injustice more comfortable. In the afternoon we had country reports from Northern Cheyenne Nation, Bangladesh and Canada. In the evening there were small group discussions about the issues in each country report.