I'll work on a mission statement for us to discuss Wed..

Hi all,

I'm glad to see almost everyone has signed up - well done!

I promised I'd draft a mission statement and will have something for us to look at Wed.. meantime, JANET agreed that we might want to pull something together quickly now for THIS WEEK's NY Beijing 15+ meeting.

I think we could make a simple announcement and bullet a few things that hightlight 1) Needs 2) Responses women have demonstrated (Leadership) and Focus on Empowerment (voices, vision) of women, girls and community grassroots orgs in current dialogue on Rebuilding Haiti.

Points include....

Needs:

• need for accelerated response to women and girl's needs post-quake in areas of health, food, shelter and security.


• need for delivery of certain supplies and services to women and girls in tent cities/informal settlements - such as sanitary napkins, etc...increased protection for women and girls related to risk of sexual violence.. need for services /counseling GBV etc.


• need to assure Haitian and Diaspora women's voices are heard at local, national, regional and intl forums on Rebuilding Haiti and that Haitian women are involved in planning the agenda for meetings


• need to discuss how and what types of post-disaster Cash for Work jobs might benefit women and needs of women in areas of work, also credit/microfinance for women agricultural workers, etc.
  -need for donors and agencies to focus on the additional challenges that may face women and girls who have been injured or become disabled and need work

Goals....
- goal of supporting Haitian women and women's groups, and grassroots community groups to continue playing a leadership role in discussions of Rebuilding Haiti
- goal of explore opportunities for training/twinning solidarity projects across sectors
- goal of help women's groups and leaders recover from loss of women leaders, and deliver resources, funding for them to become operational again
- need for women-centered services to be integrated within the post-disaster response in Haiti
- goal to support and share communication about grassroots women's experiences, needs and vision for Haiti, and in Haitian media
- support FIRE Feminist Solidarity camp on the border, named after Myriam Merlet, one of several leading Haitian women leaders, who perished in the Jan. 12 earthquake.

and Principles

• Equity, transparency, accountability in global response to Haiti's needs


• push for gender equity and response that addresses vulnerabilities of special groups including newly disabled

And finally, perhaps to consider mentioning the possibility of holding a Summit on Women in Haiti - similar to the post-disaster Forum for Afghan women that Equality Now helped to sponsor...

Here are some links: the Bachelet visit to Haiti (with some text we could draw from for statement)

UNIFEM news release - impact of quake on women
URL: http://unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1033

Women's Radio article on 63,000 Haitian pregnant women needing services
URL: http://www.womensradio.com/articles/-Haiti-Quake-Puts-63,000-Pregnant-Wo...

CARE press piece on its activities in Haiti with some stats:
URL: http://www.womensradio.com/articles/CARE-Deploys-Additional-Emergency-Te...

CAFRA article FIRE Solidarity camp
URL: http://www.cafra.org/spip.php?article771

, and a Midwifery article (attached).

-- Thoughts?

AC