The network has had a formal consulting relationship with UNCHS (Habitat) since 1989.  As part of our work together, UNCHS (Habitat) has recommended governments work with HIC/WAS member organizations in their own countries.

The mission of the network is to unite, promote and support women and their organizations in the development of human settlements that improve women’s and a community’s quality of life.

HIC/WAS operates under the following principles of:

The Network is composed of Initiative Centres (IC) that actively promote the objectives and activities of the Network through concrete work in their countries.  These regional or subregional reference centers form the Women and Shelter group, the directing body of the Network.  The group formulates policies and designates the International Secretariat to facilitate and support the Network’s activities.

Membership is open to all organizations and individuals addressing issues of human settlements who have a focus on the concerns of women.

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Network Secretary:	Tabitha Siwale, Chief Executive of WAT
Editor:	Nadia Junaid
Design:	Nadia Junaid
Contributors:	Lucy Tesha Anna Shayo Sidney Thompson Martha Mwakitalu Kemlin Nembhard Barbara Stettler

The Women and Shelter Network gratefully acknowledges the support of Rooftops Canada, CUSO, UNCHS-Habitat and WAT for the production of this newsletter.

Special Thanks to Rosario Gracia-Luque of Humanity for her (very appreciated) help in translating materials from Spanish to English.  Contact info: rosariogl@atlas.co.uk. For information on Humanity, check out www.humanity.org.uk

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45th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women held in New York (CSW) March 6-17, 2001

The 45th CSW session focused primarily on two thematic issues:

The commission adopted a new multi-year work programme for the period of  2002-2005.  It also reaffirmed its primary goal of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system.  In this respect, it was decided that this would remain as a regular item on the agenda, in order to monitor and evaluate achievements made and obstacles encountered by the United Nations system, including the Secretariat.  It would, then consider further measures to strengthen implementation and the development of guidelines and practical tools; such as performance indicators, mechanisms for accountability, gender training programmes and impact analyses, as well as the identification and compilation of best practices, and the use of Internet-based tools.

For more information, check out: www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/45sess.htm

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In Nice the debut of a new, yet very ancient, movement …

This past December 6th and 7th, a large group associations, ngos, and trade unions from all over Europe took part in the greatest European social and political mobilization ever seen at the Summit of the European Union Heads of State.  It was a step in the construction of the European Union (EU) as a political institution and was too important to be left only to Heads of State alone, especially because this summit dealt with the ratification of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Nice demonstrations were not as successfull as neither Seattle or Prague, although some of its roots originate from both of these events.   Its origin lies in the union movement and the social left wing which supports rights and political activism.

The mobilization has shown the different velocities of this movement marching in our continent.  The participants came from several EU candidate countries such as Turkey and Poland and there was also representation from the Kurds, a group whose country is not yet recognized.  Though the French, Italians, and the Spanish have been active particpants, the the lack of participation by the Germans has been a cause for concern. 

This mobilization has been therefore a real preview for all, even for HIC, present and visible.  After the decision taken during the European Habitants’s Assembly (Paris, September 25-26, 2000): regarding the challenges and damages provoked by the liberal globalization, Europe continues to choose the market rather than rights. In particular, the EU continues to exclude from the list of rights already recognized, the housing rights, while in contrast, the obligation to fulfill the monetarist parameters of Maastricht is among the causes of the serious cutbacks on the welfare budget as well as of the dangerous privatizations occurring in the habitat sector.

Against this wave, HIC had launched a last attempt to dialogue with the European institutions, proposing the appeal to include housing rights in the Charter.  After gathering hundreds of signatures of support, the appeal remained unanswered.  This institutional silence could have been broken by the mobilization of  the E-March for the housing rights; that is the thousands of e-mails sent to the governments to sustain the appeal, along with square demonstrations.  We must not forget the useless and damaging violence and at the same time we must not let pass  the violation of the democratic rules determined by the strong presence of the police forces.  In fact, the block of the Global Action Express in the city of Ventimiglia prevented the participation of the thousands of people, among which was a delegation of the Unione Inquilini. Likewise, the militants of association members of HIC to were attacked with tear gas for having participated in an assembly occurring in Leyrit Hall.

What occurred at the institutional level?

Considering that the mobilization had been promoted for sustaining the development of a more social Europe, meaning a real conception of democracy and federalism, paradoxically the issues debated during the EU summit regarded the distribution of powers between the different countries, the development of a European army and the extension of the Union.

Clearly, from the Acropolis of Nice there hasn’t emerged any criticism on the weaknesses of a monetarist model, that in the attempt to compete against the dollar, by the introduction of the euro, is provoking serious breakdowns in the welfare system and in the European model.

Consequently, the Charter has been signed immediately at the beginning of the EU summit, without acquiring any legal valence, since any decision on this point has been postponed for the year 2004, when it will be examined along with the future Treaty of the EU.  The social rights, in particular the housing rights, remain under the competency of the single states from the legal as well as from the public policy points of view.

It is true that with the approval of the Social Agenda, the Heads of State have committed themselves to strengthen the European social model. It is also true that the European Council will examine, for the first time, during the Stockholm meeting of March 2001, the realization of this Agenda, and that the same body should invite the social partners to fulfill their proper roles in the realization and verification of this Agenda, in particular during an annual meeting occurring before the European Council is carried out.

But, as the saying goes, if the promise of a good day is already seen in the morning, then the institutional closure of Nice, or in other words, the refusal of any type of encounter with the civil society, is not a good start. In other terms, there seems to be an acquired orientation consisting in the ideological continuity of the programs against social exclusion, up to now financed by the European Commission that are the decline of the poor subsidy of civil society, in order to meet the public’s disinvestment, rather than the recognition of the political surplus value of social participation.

The social movements have therefore relaunched the mobilization for a more social Europe, that is, the attempt to obtain a real legal protection of rights in the future EU Treaty and to widen the competencies of the social sphere through policies financed, in particular, by the Tobin Tax on speculative income.

Even HIC will continue to develop its proper role, starting from the specific of the housing rights and to the city, developing strategies of exchange between the different movements, sustaining a platform marked by solidarity and initiatives that involve a determined confrontation with the national and European public counterparts.

A delegation of HIC Europe will therefore participate to the Social Forum programmed in Brazil. (Porto Alegre, January 2001). Instead, the mobilization in view of Istanbul+5, the UN General Assembly (New York, June 2001) on the Habitat Agenda, has just been launched.

Also the Europe of the habitants has not been forgotten: to this end, there already has been announced an appointment occurring in Liege (Belgium) next September 2001, on the occasion of the meeting of the European Housing ministers.  A new type of social mobilization is in March.  It has ancient roots, as would any movement that fights to uphold peoples’ rights.                                       

by Cesare Ottolini, European Coordinator for HIC

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NEWS FROM AFRICA

The Africa Regional Meeting for Huairou Commission Members, A Step Ahead Toward Promoting Women Socio-Economic Development

The Huairou Commission met from February 15 to 17^th at YMCA Guest House in Nairobi, Kenya.  One important reason for the meeting was to discuss how to strengthen the Huairou Commission at Africa Regional level.  The commission also wants to expand communication and capacities across southern grassroots women’s organizations and networks through documentation of exemplary activities related to building coalitions, local development practices, regional advocacy and networking among countries in order to eradicate poverty and the subordination of women.  The meeting also aimed at promoting coordinated strategic regional action plans to insure the implementation of official commitments to women and communities living in poverty.

The Huairou Commission is a global coalition, comprised of five international women non-governmental organisations.  These networks include Habitat International Coalition Women and Shelter Network (HIC-WAS), Grassroots Women International working in Sisterhood (GROOTS INTERNATIONAL), Women in Peace Network (WPN), International Council of Women (ICW) and Asian Women and Shelter Network (AWAS).

During the two days, the participants established a work plan that would fulfill the objectives in their region as follows: 

The participants agreed to introduce Africa Grassroots International Academy an event which would bring grassroots women from Africa and could be involved and make presentation of grassroots groups on their work on the ground.  The main aim is to make women’s grassroots groups demonstrate their work and teach the lessons learned and their knowledge gained from their work.   It is these groups will present their work in form of trainings, so that other grassroots organizations could learn as concretely and practically as possible and transfer the experiences of the groups to help in the work of their own organizations.  The important part is to demonstrate what solutions grassroots groups are bringing from the ground, what strategies they use, what are the lessons learned, what knowledge has been gained and what they have to teach from their work to mainstream partners, how do their work influences policies and examples of good policy implications.  The participants recommended that the event should be after every one year. The participants came from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

Report by Lucy Tesha Merere,  Information Officer for WAT

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World Forum on Urbanizing World and UN Human Habitat II (UN Habitat II - Istanbul + 5)

United Nations Special Session of the Habitat II-Istanbul + 5 which will be convening June 6-8, 2001 at the UN headquarters in New York.

For details visit the IRFD website at: http://www.irfd

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Progress of the UNCHS Campaign for Secure Tenure in Tanzania

In response to the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements (UNCHS-Habitat), this year Habitat launched a global Campaign for Secure Tenure in several regions including India, South Africa, and Europe.  In response to this “call,” Women Advancement Trust (WAT) organized a two-day workshop on October 2-3, 2000 at the British Council, Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.

The objective of this workshop was to

The workshop was commerated by Stella Longway, Commissioner for Lands.  She reinforced the UNCHS’s message for World Habitat Day, “Women in Urban Governance,” addressing the need for governments to build partnerships with women and women’s organizations in major urban management decisions.  Tanzania’s efforts in improving human settlements was recognized through the award of the Habitat prize to Mr. Charles Keenja, the former head of the Dar es Salaam City Commission. 

Ms. Siwale explained the origins of the secure tenure campaign and why Habitat II acknowledged the need for more holistic, inclusive, and participatory policies to make the world’s cities and communities safer, healthier and more equitable.  WAT, the current secretariat of HIC-WAS, was nominated to co-ordinate the Secure Tenure Campaign at global and regional levels.  The objective of the Global Secure Tenure Campaign is to identify, highlight and advocate those elements which are critical to the shelter strategy and which will directly benefit the homeless and the inadequately housed, as well as society in general. 

The goal of this particular workshop was to provide an opportunity for participants to analyze challenges and problems related to secure tenure in Tanzania and to identify strategies for combating these issues.

For more information or to access the full workshop report on the Secure Tenure Campaign, please contact WAT at wat@ud.co.tz

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Launching of the Good Governance Campaign in Nigeria (April 10 –12, 2001)

In furtherance of Nigeria’s commitment to democracy, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), based in Nairobi, Kenya, has selected Nigeria as the appropriate location from which to Launch its Global Campaign on Good Urban Governance (GUG).  This is in pursuance of one of the key commitments of the Habitat Agenda agreed  upon by 171 Governments around the world at the Istanbul (Habitat II) Conference of 1996, which emphasized good governance at the local level.  The Campaign will involve the major tenets and norms of Good Governance including transparency and accountability, openness, equal access, inclusiveness, good leadership and followership, participatory planning and budgeting, strict adherence to anti-corruption tenets and local democracy.

The launching of the GUG Campaign lasted three days, April 10-12, 2001.  The first day was, in part devoted to the opening ceremony to which the President of the Federal Repulic of Nigeria, Federal Ministers, State Governors, members of the National Assembly, State Commissioners in charge of local government, Party Chieftains, Chairmen of all 774 Local Governments in Nigeria, Executive Director and officials of UNCHS-Habitat, Multilateral and Bilateral Agencies, Local and International NGOs including Transparency International  were invited.  The first day sessions were “Situating Good Urban Governance” and “Decentralization and Poverty Reduction.”   The second day was “Urban Security Safety and Equity of Access” and “Participation, Transparency, Accountability and the Role of the Media.”  Some of the Roundtable discussions were “Capacity Building for State and Local Governments in Urban Governance” and “Strategies for Attaining Transparency and Accountability in Local Governance.”  The remaining part of the launch was to present and discuss papers as well as look at exhibitions on various aspects of Good Governance.

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Empowering Housing Development Groups Through Exchange Visits

Women Advancement Trust (WAT) organized a housing cooperative visit to Korogwe (North East of DSM) which took place on 12th-14th January 2001.  The main objectives of the visit were:

WAT is a non-governmental organization that promotes affordable shelter for low-income families through housing cooperatives strategy.  WAT initiated a cooperative housing program towards the end of 1995.  The program’s goal  is to promote housing groups/cooperatives through which low income families can acquire adequate and affordable shelter, alleviating poverty and therefore improving the living standard. WAT currently supports six housing cooperatives, one in Dodoma and five in Dar es Salaam.   These groups work together in solidarity and self-help spirit.  WAT acts as a resource group by supporting these groups through educational workshops, acquiring land, registration and other advisory services to enhance an effective implementation of affordable shelter.

A group of 16 members and three WAT staff traveled to Korogwe from both Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.  The group visited Korogwe housing project that has been implemented by Habitat for Humanity.  The project started in 1990 and it was officially inaugurated in 1997 by the president of Tanzania Hon. Benjamin Mkapa.  The project has completed 86 family houses, where 3 of these are for office use. The group exchanged information by answering questions and discussion.  We all learned the steps to establish affiliates and how they operate under  Habitat for Humanity.  It was very exciting when the Program Officer, Kenneth Sinare, and the technician led the group to the brick production yard for the brick making demonstration. The process of production was well illustrated from the soil testing stage, up to the end product (ready made brick).  One bag of cement is estimated to produce 90-120 bricks of 10’x6’x4’ size, depending on the soil type.  The size of Korogwe house type is 36 sqm, which requires a supply of 2800 bricks.

After the discussion, the groups recommended that WAT should mobilize more members to join the existing groups to pool more resources to create strong savings and at the same time WAT should work together with Habitat for Humanity.  They could collaborate on the work of promoting affordable shelter for low-income families.  The group felt that this was an incredible visit where they could learn from others and facilitate an easy exchange of information.  It motivated the members to take initiative and now one group has ordered two brick making machines from the Institute of Production Innovation (University of DSM) right away for their own use. 

For more information, please contact

Anna Shayo
Coordinator of Housing Cooperatives
wat@ud.co.tz

OR

Kenneth Sinare
Program Officer, Habitat for Humanity
HFHTanzania@cats-net.com

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WAT SACCOS

In the absence of any state or commercial housing lending instutions, WAT of Tanzania has created its own Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCOS).  It is important to look for ways to mobilize people’s savings, increase their incomes, and develop alternative low-cost approaches to housing construction.  They are developing strategies for gender equality in all aspects of the housing cooperative and SACCOS work. They have managed to initiate two, one in Dar es Salaam and one in Mbeya, to promote a sustainable self-help financial solution that effectively improves the living conditions of their members and to link between savings and credit for income generating and housing. 

SACCOS promotes savings within members, gives/extends loans to the members to a reasonable interest and provides training to the members. WAT is giving SACCOS’ financial management support and training and is helping to mobilize more groups to form savings and credit schemes. WAT SACCOS in Dar es Salaam was officially registered in 1998 and since it's beginning with 14 members the membership has increased to 25 members in March 2001. Four of these members and the management team have been done in 1999 and the WAT SACCOS Credit and Loan policy has been prepared, approved and is in use.

WAT SACCOS also joined the Savings and credit cooperative Union League of Tanzania SCCULT and the Central Finance Program CFP under SCCULT in order to improve the lending capacities of WAT SACCOS to its members. Several members/ individuals and one housing co-operatives have recently applied for a loan that has been issued.

by Martha Mwakitalu, Financial Officer, WAT

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NEWS FROM LATIN AMERICA

Toward Istanbul + 5 in the Latin American and Caribbean Region

On October 25 – 27, 2001, the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Conference for the special session of the General Assembly for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, took place in the city of Santiago, Chile.

As it was in Habitat II, the participation of women and women’s organizations and networks was necessary to introduce many important issues such as: social inequity in cities and towns in the frame of the specific need of «gender» policies.

The official event was lead by Mrs Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UNCHS –Hábitat. With the support of  Sonia Montaño, the Head of the Women and Development Unit of ECLAC, as well as Catalina Hinchey Trujillo, of  the Habitat Regional Office for latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), we succeded to have a Round -table discussion on «Governance and Secure Tenure: Social and Gender Equity».  The roundtable  was held the first day of the event and the speakers were:

The round table discussion focused on the main campaigns of UNCHS, with the panelists agreing that both Campaigns are strongly linked. As we’ve said in our HIC WAS LAC contribution, we can not discuss issues of good urban governance without first achieving secure tenure of houses and land. This is of particular importance for the LAC region, with the accelerated urban process that is currently happening here.  Seventy-five percent of the population is now living in cities, with a high percentage ofthat population living in poverty.  According to the WB data (1993), 23.5 % of the population, which means 110 million people, lives with less than one dollar a day.

We see these Campaigns as important tools for generating processes in our cities, countries and regions, which will hopefully help to build the capacity of our civil society,  particularly with the the very poor. They are also important to help generate a social consensus, to widen the critical social mass, to create arguments and confirm opinions, with the objective of proposing new policies and to contribute to the general increased democratization of the region.

It should not be possible to think about «good urban governance» in cities where evictions are unregulated, rent is not controled, tenure is insecure, housing stock not in use is not regulated,  danger and violence are a threat to people; and  in cities and towns where women do not have equal rights in the laws or in the tradition and cultural practices. All of these critical issues have to be discussed in conjunction with the rights to citizenship of women and men in our societies.  It is hard to believe that innovative methodologies or resource mobilization will generate genuine participation unless citizenship without discrimination of race, sex, ethinicity, and age is socially built and guaranteed.

The work of  the Campaigns must include: setting a priority to guarantee a minimum level of basic social securities for people, with particular efforts made relating to women. It is not simple. We know that even with all the improvments in our rights, even today there are places in the world where women can not inherit, can not own land or their houses. It is necesary to be active, to work in solidarity with women to actively work to transform  our countries and  the symbolic and cultural barries that (even with legislation for equil rights) make it imposible for women to use and practice their rights.

Both Campaigns involve rights, such as:  rights to property, right to inherit, right to use the city, right to secure tenure and security of life.  The special event, argued about concepts and analytical catagories supported by data, trying to explain the differences among genders in an effort to brake down with the citizens restrictions on women.

In the same line decentralization, local governments, urban space were analysed as a potential for transformation. The great challenge is how to revert the increasing exclusion of important fringes of population. It was stressed that the urban space as well as the policies implemented are not neutral and that the city is not the same for men and women.

The special event made an important contribution to the debate of the government delegates, as well as the invited panelist of the NGOs and Academic Units.

It is to stress that the final document which emerged from the meeting, included special paragraphs on the particular gender and women perspective needed to achive democracy and sustainable, secure and equitable cities.

By Ana Falu, Coordinator of the HIC WAS LAC “Women and Hábitat Network”

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