“ Millennium Development Goal 3 and the role of the media”

1. “Millennium Development Goal 3 and the role of the media” PANEL: case studies from civil society Rome, 26th November 2009 ActionAid – HungerFree Women Beatrice Costa Policy Officer – Women's Rights Programme

2. Outline of the presentation • ActionAid & Women's Rights Programme • A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out • Challenges and opportunities to engage Media on W'sR • Issues for reflection and debate 1

3. AA & Women's Rights Programme_1 • “We believe that eradication of poverty and injustice will not be possible without securing equality and rights for women.” • - Strategy 2005/2010 Rights To End Poverty - • “Gender inequality in and of itself without intersecting with poverty is an injustice that we must fight” • - Women's Rights Strategic Plan 2005/2010 - • CORE INTERVENTIONS • awareness and critical consciousness • advocacy & campaigns for laws/policies • W's organisations/movements and broader alliances • W's leadership APPROACH • Focus on challenging and changing power relations • Gender mainstreaming and standalone interventions • INGO supporting strategic alliance building 2

4. AA & Women's Rights Programme_2 • AREAS of WORK • Violence Against Women/Girls • Access & Control over land • HIV & AIDS • Political participation HISTORY of the THEME • 1999/2004: gender equality as one of the priorities. Piloting work in Kenya, India, Uganda, Nepal. Work on HIV & education. International/regional working groups/posts. • From 2005 on: repoliticizing our work with clear strategy & political framework → focus on power relations. Consolidation, deepening and expansion. Partnership with feminists and movements. Built staff capacity with dedicated officers in most of countries. 3

5. A recent case study: HungerFree Women Speak Out THE CONTEXT HungerFree is AA's global campaign forcing governments to deliver on their commitment and halve hunger. Hunger results from unequal distribution of food, and the lack of access to/control over resources. HF fights to out the issue of hunger to the top of the political agenda. THE ISSUE: MDG3 & MDG1 Women make up 60% of the chronically hungry and food crisis hit them the Hardest. Women farmers produce 60-80% of the food in poor countries but only own 1% of the land, receive less than 10 percent of credit and are excluded from associations, services, know-how. Rural women are often far from the centers of power & decision making. Every year 115,000 maternal deaths worldwide are caused by malnutrition. 4

6. What we did around the world_1 Some 80.000 women farmers in Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, The Gambia, Haiti, Nepal, India, Ghana, Mozambique, Brazil, South Africamarched demanding the right to own/inherit land. As a result of the campaign 120 Dalit women have been granted title deeds to one acre of agricultural land in the Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, India. In Nepal, there is a commitment from key politicians to enshrine women’s land rights in the new constitution. In The Gambia, 3,000 women received land. Local chiefs and district governors made concrete commitments to women on land. In Northern Malawi, 300 women have successfully managed to convince traditional leaders to allocate them land. ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS ACHIEVEMENTS 5

7. What we did around the world_2 Women marching to campaign for a HungerFREE World between October 2008 and March 2009 6

8. How to communicate that?_1 The HungerFree Women Speak Out PHOTO EXHIBITION To celebrate their journeys and successes achieved AA launched HUNGERFREE WOMEN SPEAK OUT - photo exhibition that is and will travel globally, to raise awareness about women's right to land

9. How to communicate that?_2 The HungerFree Women Speak Out FILM GALLERY & TRUE STORIES We produced VIDEOS of the marches and a film collecting best evidence of the mobilisation around the various countries We released the STORIES of some remarkable women met during the campaigns and/or featured in videos/photos. 8

10. How to communicate that?_3 Linking FUNDRAISING with campaign Two of ActionAid’s European associates have launched fundraising initiatives linked to HungerFREE Women. NIZA (Netherlands) recently launched a public awareness-raising and FR initiative called ‘Sisters’. It has a website, a link to Facebook, and door-to-door fundraising activities. MS (Denmark) launched a FR product called "Give land to Mama!" with the aim of raising funds to improve women's access to land. The launch included videos with Danish comedians, a website, competitions and more. 9

11. How to communicate that?_4 Linking MOBILISATION with campaing TOOLKIT CASE STUDIES 10

12. How to communicate that?_4 Linking MOBILISATION with campaing VEHICLES for JOURNEYS BANNERS & LOGOS PLATES GADGETS 11

13. Challenges in working with Media on W'sR • Stereotypes in action • “The media do not merely represent; they also recreate themselves and their vision of the world as desirable, salable. What they reproduce is chosen, not random, not neutral, not without consequence.” Patricia J. Williams [1995] a) rethoric of victimisation and/or women if “tool” of development; b) women in the South conceived as a whole with no differences/intersectionalities; c) lack of knowledge of women's leadership/movements/issues... Do women’s stories sell? Timely and quick please! empowerment of women is a long process Linking marginalised women to women on the spotlight (let’s guess next Hillary Clinton’s travel!) • Women usually activate: give solutions/actions to what described in a news. • More and more expensive to produce materials for media and different channels/target audiences (video, case studies, briefs, photos, interviews, news for social networks) but few funds for women’s rights programmes 12

14. Issues for Reflection & Debate Do Italian media act as watchdog on W’sR? Eg. holding governments accountable to many of the international and regional women‟s rights conventions and instruments they have signed (CEDAW, BPFA…) CEDAW requires that: “State parties shall take all appropriate measures:… To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the ideas of the inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.” Are media ready to look deeply at their inner power relations&contraddictions? Eg. Governance within media holdings: who makes the news. Sexist adv VS. articles on gender equality Women are a large market for the print media: which accountability? Is there somebody ready to listen to the most marginalised women in the world? It’s a matter of justice and equal representation. Do women’s violations & rights still to be considered women’s issues? Rethinking the whole system from a gender lens. Take time to have a look. The importance of immersions and visits in countries where NGOs work. 13

15. Next Test  Help us in promoting this campaign on CEDAW BROCHURE WEBSITE 10 14

16. Thank you!