I have embraced social media because it is my responsibility and yours to inform and communicate.

Transcription

1 Remarks from 2014 Women of Distinction Award Winner, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls NGO CSW Consultation Day 09 March 2014 Having grown up within a family that had been involved in radio dramas, radio programme production and one that made time to listen as a family to programmes on a Sunday night which went from the national quiz to an in-depth review of current affairs of the week, to the Sunday Night theatre, radio has played an important part of my life. Not only because it shaped my views as a child, but also because of the opportunities and experiences it has provided to so many people in our country and in our region today. While radio is my favorite medium, and the heart of my livelihood where I leverage community media through my work with FemLINKPACIFIC to encourage safe communication channels for young and rural radio producers and broadcasters, I am also passionate about the role of at ICTs in general. I have embraced new technology whether it is making radio commercials or developing programmes with digital technology. I have picked up a camera and produced a range of television commercials and programmes! I have embraced social media because it is my responsibility and yours to inform and communicate. As I Fijian, I have long been mindful of the political space the media landscape is. Over 25 years ago, on May , I walked excitedly into the FM96 studio to commence my training on the mid-morning show to hear there s been a coup the political instability turned my life temporarily upside down. I felt downcast for several weeks not only because of the military coup but also because there went an opportunity for employment in a medium I was truly passionate about and where opportunities for women were few and far between. Breaking out of the gender box and advocating for corrective lenses when reporting the news is fundamental to the way I work. 1

2 Dissecting the politics of content creation and the practical role community media has produce and distribute are vital parts of the work I do in the development and production of media content. These strategies take me right back where I started in a small town in Fiji in 1986 but where still today where women affirm that Information is security and communication rights is key to gender inclusive development As we prepare for CSW 58 I am honored to have the opportunity to speak with you about communications for development in Fiji, progress made for women, and to provide examples from the region that may inspire change in your own country while also creating awareness of the continued progress that is urgently needed. Communication for Development: A snapshot of a daily in life of women in Fiji highlights how women routinely manage households on a single income of $100 (Fijian) a week 1. Many women relate long days of work, some starting as early as 4 a.m. Their daily routine includes household chores as well as small income-generating projects to add to their family s weekly income. Their days often end after 9 p.m., after the children have finished their homework. These children, meanwhile, often walk more than ten kilometers a day to and from school, some on an empty stomach. Many women admit to ignoring their health needs for the sake of the family budget. For some young women and men, economic reality is closely linked to personal and health security, especially as a result of their vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation. Yes, women in the Pacific require livelihood projects, improved roads, and access to water. But they also need the time and space to be able to prepare themselves to participate in political processes, not only in parliament but also in local level government and also in traditional or indigenous processes such as district and village level committees. They need to be able to find their voice and the strength to address the status quo and engender discussions about the future. Their economic security is inextricably linked to their political security. If empowerment often a popular term in development discourses means challenging social norms, equalizing power relations, and enabling individuals and groups to actively claim their rights, then what does it mean for women in rural communities in the Pacific Island region, where the basic necessities of life remain unfulfilled? 1 Based on femlinkpacific WPHS reports 2009 and

3 Where is the peace if there is poverty of information and communication? FemLINKPACIFIC s work has enabled women to feature community media initiatives, including our community radio broadcasts, interactive dialogue with government officials, television simulcasts and even television current affairs programmes. In 2013 through our community media network in Fiji 327 radio programmes were produced by young women and rural correspondents featuring 1125 women 2371 women representing more than 4000 participated in monthly consultations, interactive dialogues with government officials, appeared in community radio and television broadcasts which enabled them to amplify the call for greater accountability of women in Fiji s democratization and development process In January rural women leaders representing close to 8000 women from across Fiji verified for our Womens Human Security First report that political and personal security, health, food and economic security of rural women must be given priority if the state is serious about the rights of women and children Ahead of International Women s Day the FemLINKPACIFIC s second Here are the Women Report has profiled another 58 women leaders from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Bougainville and Tonga as a way of saying here are the women ready, willing and able to take up formal leadership and be part of decision making! Women are reaffirming that our definitions of human security must be the bedrock of development planning whether at local, national or global level. It today s word is it barely part of the rubble. As we finalized our recent publication WOMENS HUMAN SECURITY FIRST we heard from 42 year old Sangeeta Devi who lives in the Vatukoula Back Road. Hers is a voice of frustration of having to pay more for electricity supplied by the mine than a woman who lives in Suva. She is just one of the 1125 rural women who have featured in our community radio programmes over the past year she yearns for the security of her children s education and the reassurance of access to nutritious food for her family and proper water supply to drink. But they do not give up. As we have published in HERE ARE THE WOMEN she like many other women have the solutions for the development obstacles they continue to face daily. One such person is Mohini Kumar in Malamala, Nadi who became the voice for water not just for herself but an entire community on national television in These women and many like them inspire the change we call for in public and political spaces. The women reflected in our media initiatives and policy reports are not just a reminder but a vital unaccounted for statistic who are calling for a change - not simply because of political point scoring but because of the commitment that has been made to their socio-economic rights through CEDAW, the Millennium Development Goals and in national constitutions. 3

4 Yet our governance systems and practice continue to under-value women s mobilization power also persists despite their visible contribution to the community and country. If the systems for gender equality were intact and functioning surely by now we would have 50% representation of women in district advisory and tikina councils and divisional planning committees. Political parties would be the strongest advocates for ensuring women are supported and groomed to take up leadership and candidate positions. Community media and the use of appropriate and accessible media and ICTs since 2004 has been a way in which FemLINKPACIFIC has been able to provide a safe communication channel for rural and young women community radio producers and broadcasters. This mandate has required us to negotiate through media and civil society controls, including the Public Emergency Regulation, the Media Decree and a quagmire of political processes in order to ensure our network is able to still claim their rightful space to communicate their peace, development, human rights and equality priorities their peace and security. Since 2010, FemLINKPACIFIC has been conducting the Women s Household Income and Expenditure Survey (WHIES) as well as documenting every day stories of rural women in Fiji, as well as women in informal settlements. To date more than women of all their diversities have directly participated in this survey. Many more than featured in our community radio broadcasts and publication. Our findings continue to reveal that the feminisation of poverty has become a serious problem which cannot be solved by a social welfare approach, but requires a transformation in the economic structures of Fiji. We need to ensure that girls don t just graduate from tertiary education but find employment that provides them with a just wage and we need to ensure an economic system whereby families don t have to make the decision as to which child they have to pull out of school! We need an economic system where women are not the first to get up in the morning and the last to sleep at night, not to mention that a woman will go hungry but will not let her children sleep empty-stomached of she can help it. We need a system where the poverty of information that is often accepted as a norm leaves women and girls, especially in rural areas, at a disadvantage - from their ability to make decisions about themselves and their bodies, to their ability to engage in decision making in their homes, communities and country. Our focus has been to promote and enable women to claim their communication rights whether it is within decision making foras in her community or on the airwaves as well as public media. 4

5 This means we are also addressing the gender gaps within the media by creating content which features women from within their communities communicating for themselves what their development, human rights and equality priorities are - this is about their peace and security. Regional Perspectives: When we think about the challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls, our CSW 58 priority theme, I am reminded of the voices of the participants at the Pacific Women s Triennial Conference in These women recognised the need to address gender inequality using the power of the media and ICT to accelerate the progress of regional and international gender commitments, including BPFA. However, this discovery and implementation was not speedy. It took 10 years for Media and ICTs to be linked to the goals and priorities of the Pacific Platform for Action adopted in 1994 just ahead of the Beijing Conference. National governments have not systematically undertaken efforts to empower women through increased skills, knowledge and access to ICT, nor strengthen or create self-regulatory mechanisms for the media in order to eliminate gender-bias in programming. In fact much of the regulatory efforts lean towards media controls! Media and ICTs Thinking about our review theme for CSW 58 (access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women s equal access to full employment and decent work) there is much praise to be given to civil society networks and women s media networks in the Pacific, but the national women s machineries and women s groups throughout the region need to invest in media training to capitalise on the major role that the media can play in advocating for gender equality. Increased funding for such initiatives much be prioritized to see a progressive change in women s empowerment and access. And even though the news media have predominantly been the recipients of media training programmes in the Pacific, our Beijing+10 report also identified the need for ongoing and cumulative media training for national women s machineries and gender advocates. We need a more innovative approach. We need to link training with the sustainability of the production of gender-inclusive content, as well as proactively influence the strengthening of the range of institutions that are delivering media and journalism training programmes! Media-related outputs need to be systematically included in programme planning, and national women s machineries need to feature more prominently as generators of gender education or media releases, and relationships with media representatives need to become more formal and regular. 5

6 Whilst this is slowly changing for example, in Solomon Islands the broadcasting unit has a close relationship with the national women s machinery additional focus is needed in this area. To address media and ICT issues, we look with hopefulness at the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS), which has recently adopted a comprehensive gender policy, the Global Media Monitoring Project and women s media networks. In the Pacific we have witnessed women lead the anti-nuclear movement, cross conflict lines to promote non-violence, peace and human rights. They have engaged in dialogue and mediated across political barriers. While they convene themselves and achieve these successes from the sidelines, women lack decision making power in the Pacific. There are few women in political and civil service leadership positions across Pacific Island countries. Five of the ten countries in the world with no female representative in parliament are Pacific island countries. Women are also marginally represented in other decision making bodies. By 2020, we need to can leverage our collective power to put women into positions of power in the Pacific. By 2020 let s mobilize our voices and ICT to build a momentum that assures that every country has female representation in their national government. You may be wondering, is Communication and Technology really that powerful a tool in women s political empowerment? My answer is yes. In Fiji, our community media work has given rise to an annual policy series which covers a number of critical areas of concern, including survival and healing following conflict; women s budgets for conflict prevention & economic security; democratizing security decision making; a more holistic approach to disarmament and reintegration; and communicating a culture of peace. It also informed the development of the Pacific Regional Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. Our women broadcasters are broaching these political topics on the airways and they should be presenting them from seats in parliament as well. Regardless of the media form ultimately the key opportunity for women s empowerment is freedom of expression and freedom of the media, period. Through media, whether public, private or community, people are offered a range of platforms to monitor and engage with government, to access forums for public opinion and debate including of policies, budgets, laws etc. Strong and independent press, broadcasting institution and other news media organizations are critical for achieving sustainable peace and credible governance, especially in political transitions such as in my own country, Fiji. 6

7 An independent and free media can assist in informing, motivating and mobilizing populations and communities emerging from conflict, and provides an important channel of increasing public participation in Peacebuilding by making the process inclusive for all. The public must have the right to advocate for accountability on national budget processes, to continue to advocate through local action including community radio broadcasts that peace, security human rights and dignity are prerequisite for human security. All citizens must feel safe and engage on key political issues including through media forms. At the heart of this framework must be issues of access, equity and democratization of communication. In addition to the practice of human rights, there is also a need to strengthen communication rights at times of conflict, disaster and other times when humanitarian efforts are needed. Gender equality and women s rights, the elimination of discrimination against women underpins all of these efforts to better integrate communication rights into and across many sectors. Recommendations: Next year the Beijing Platform for Action will celebrate its 20 th anniversary. While we have seen much progress in the intervening years, there are still many challenges that remain unaddressed and many issues persist unresolved. Women s equitable access to the media and claim their communications rights remains an ongoing challenge despite advances in media and communication technology. We as the women s movement and gender equality advocates and development partners have not invested enough in realizing the vision of women who developed Section J of the Beijing Platform for Action. We remain confined to the narrow channels of commercial media and continue to allow patriarchal definitions of what makes the news. Before we celebrate the 20 years of the Beijing Platform for Action we need to urgently address the barriers of our communication rights and freedoms and enable women to claim our rightful spaces in the media and ICT fields. We need to build on the findings of the Global Media Monitoring Project and ensure that communication regulatory systems are gender inclusive and do not simply regard women as homogenous, heteronormative and passive consumers of the media but as active producers of media content whether it is on community radio, social media or film and publications. FemLINKPACIFIC is part of a global campaign calling for a strong emphasis on human security (community, economic, environment, food, health, personal, political) to ensure that the needs and capacities of people and communities are taken into account development processes and priorities must be defined from the community level up, particularly to prevent conflict over resources. 7

8 Member states must recognise that economic policies must be accountable to women s specific needs and acknowledge the growing burden of poverty on women, including the elderly. CEDAW as a catalyst for change has contributed to the passing of legislation in the area of family law, domestic violence and employment relations. It is essential to note that CEDAW must also be considered in parallel with other human rights conventions, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in order to ensure that the intersectional discrimination faced by women with disabilities is addressed. As Sangeeta says, This change is urgent because I feel that I should be staying in a secured family, in a secured community, in a secure town, in a secure country. Conclusion Finally I would like to conclude by saying how humbled I am to be selected for this Women of Distinction award especially when one's work for peace and justice is not about awards or recognition but action and service so that others can claim their rights to peace, security and equitable development. This has been an invaluable opportunity to share the realities and experiences of Pacific Island women and explain the multi-directional approach of FemLINKPACIFIC in order to highlight the reality that many women still are unable to claim their right to communication. This is not just about accessing the most appropriate or accessible technology but also the need to challenge and transform the spaces of communication whether it is on the mat or at the policy table. This award is also an acknowledgment and tribute to the women who mentored and paved the way for our activism, the women who have embraced our community media approach and the young women who inspire me with their innovation and ideas. In 2000 FemLINKPACIFIC emerged from the Blue Ribbon Peace Vigil. While we have continued to convene peace initiatives especially at local level to enable women to communicate their priorities and to participate I would like to think that our community media initiatives continue to keep vigil as we contemplate and analyse all that is going on at local, national and regional level. Our media efforts may not always claim the national headlines, just as our peace vigils are a not a passive but deliberate silence, which is very much a component of non-violence. It is in such silence and stillness that the seeds of action are sown. And our silence is not in isolation, because we believe that when women come together for peace, our message can resound throughout the nation and throughout the world. And we will continue to be vigilant. ENDS/SBR 8