Effective advocacy and
mobilisation:
What is your change agenda and
how do you achieve it?
Vivienne Wee
for the Feminist Leadership Workshop,
Programme on Women’s Empowerment and Leadership
Development (WELDD),
organised by Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML),
Cairo, 13-20 Jan 2013
Form 2-person partnerships
2 persons from different countries
 Review partnerships at end of 16 Jan.
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What do these terms mean?
Advocacy
 Mobilisation
 Change agenda
Exercise 1
1. Draw your understanding of the terms.
2. Explain your drawings to each other.
3. One person per partnership will show and
explain the drawings to the group.
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Key words
Advocacy: taking a stand, picking on issue,
speaking out + other comms
 Mobilisation: people, grassroots (family,
work, school), gathering people around
your stand.
 Change agenda: public policy, legislation,
tribal laws, practices, etc. – POWER:
reshape power structure
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Where do you think advocacy and
mobilisation are located – in the big blue
circle or the small red circle?
What do the two circles mean to you?
Do you agree?
Advocacy = how a minority influences a
majority
 Mobilisation = how a minority becomes
a majority
 If you agree, can you provide examples?
 If you disagree, give reasons.
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Advocacy and mobilisation = how you bring
about change
 But what do you want to change? Why?
 That’s your change agenda.
Exercise 2
1. Identify one issue that makes you angry (e.g.
policy, law, practice or situation).
2. Explain why you are angry about this.
3. Are you doing anything about this issue?
4. If so, what are the results of your action?
If you have not done anything, why not?
5. What lessons have you learnt?
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Lessons (1)
Sexual harassment: campaign, recruited sexual
harasser
 Angry about the Turkish Govt trying to reinforce
trade agreement with Senegal by funding most
conservative Muslim ed institutions, while
pretending to be secular to enter EU. Writing paper
for press.
 Angry about some people in Egypt, who were in
the revolution and who have not changed their
behaviour, e.g. elections
 Angry about women’s status in Saudi Arabia, esp
education (opportunity for access) – high schools.
Which rights? Consent in marriage? Dress code
and right of mobility? Not yet – learning about
advocacy.
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Lessons (2)
Angry about women not elected, not even nominated in
Syria. They don’t know rights. Amira ran for local council
and won. Female minority. Vice-Pres. Pushing women to
participate in politics – run for elections.
 Sexual harassment in Egypt in public sphere. Attacks and
insults – unsafe. Affects them economically. Campaign:
movement to tackle this: (1) go to police for cooperation,
(2) talk to people on the streets. Aim: women are safe on
the streets. Lesson: women speak out in public – make
issue visible, debunk notion that women like this.
 Angry for children from marriages of N +
S Sudanese, who cannot go to school in the North.
Change happens: 5 children can now go to school.
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Lessons (3)
Angry about Article 36 in Egyptian Constitution: limits
women to domestic field, dependent. Demonstration in
front of Parliament: article to protect women’s
autonomy. Article 36 dropped; but new article adopted
with same content. Sexual violence bars women from
the streets. Women become aggressive in self-defence.
Documentation. Egypt, Jordan, Arab World. Making the
problem visible improves the situation. Need to
understand root causes. Attack of women’s human
rights defenders.
 Angry about arbitrary arrests of WHRD in Iraq, e.g.
journalists. Security involved in war and politics of fear.
Participated in campaign about woman arrested in Iraq
– freed. Laws don’t protect women. Conventions not
implemented, CEDAW.
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Do you agree?
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It’s easier to say what you don’t want than
to say what you want.
Why?
Because what you don’t want is in front of
you but what you want does not exist yet.
If you only know what you don’t want
without knowing what you want
= politics of protest / critique / rejection
with no change agenda.
Result: crisis of change without direction!
Sites of change

Huairou Manual p. 18
Change is a journey but you must know where you are
going.
 “Destination” required for air ticket, train ticket, bus
ticket, even if open-dated (i.e. time stretched).
Exercise 3
 Return to the issue that makes you angry in Exercise 2.
 Do you have in mind an alternative that would make you
happier?
 Describe your alternative, if any.
 Explain how you arrived at this alternative: e.g. your own
thought process, reading books & papers, suggestions by
others, dialogue and debate, etc.?
 If you have never thought of any alternative, explain why
not.
 Answer the 3 questions above.
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Clarifications
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What is systemic change? Change root causes that
produce and reproduce certain patterns – quality of
change.
Change is a journey: it takes time: many phases.
Strategic opportunities and moments
Continuum of sexual violence.
Religious interpretations as a source of moralities –
context-specific understanding of women’s human rights.
Managing contradictions: what we agree and disagree on
– building multi-tier platforms
Winning allies and the diversity of allies: building a
constituency – quantity of demand for change.
Customising our message.
How do we envision change – from
what (baseline) to what (goal)?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why do you think your goal is better
than the current situation?
What is “better”?
Better for whom?
Intended beneficiaries.
Not better for whom?
Potential opponents.
Adding up your potential
beneficiaries & potential opponents
Potential beneficiaries
You
Potential
opponents
Are the potential beneficiaries all
on your side?
Yes:
 No:
 Maybe some:
 Why?
 Why not?
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How can we win over potential
beneficiaries who are not on our
side?
Exercise 4
 Have you ever tried to win over someone
(anyone) to support the change you
envision?
 What were the results? What worked?
What did not work?
 If you have never tried to do this, why not?
Lessons of how to win over others
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Start with the other person’s point of view and
support with research, evidence, statistics.
Refer to the other person’s experiences
Speak the other person’s language.
Pick the right moment.
Just do it! Ignore objections. Let them get used to it.
Be prepared to pay the price.
Use your own experience to empower other
women.
Results speak for themselves – economic
empowerment, income, concrete benefits. Success
stories.
Rank the relative effectiveness of different
ways of winning support
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Logic of your argument? 1,
Endorsement by someone well-known person (allies)? 1
Coverage by mainstream media (allies)? 1
Repetition of your message? 1
Rejecting the message of your opponents?
Showing the long-term benefit of your proposed change to
society as a whole? 1
Offering some short-term benefits (allies)? 1
Expressing understanding of the difficulties faced by people
(allies)? 1
Aligning your message to people’s needs (allies)?
1x2
Other methods? Support from officials (allies); innovative ways of
communication, e.g. human chain
Constituency
Core group: 100%
 Partners: other organisations,
communities, individuals
 Allies: limited support on some occasions;
they don’t do things with you.
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Change does not happen in a vacuum!
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Change has to happen among people.
People are not just isolated individuals.
People are in relationships: e.g. families, kin groups,
communities, religious congregations, friendships,
working relations, etc.
Which part of your message aligns with the
interests of people in their relational contexts?
E.g. family health and well-being, education of the
young, social stability, good governance, equitable
economic development, etc.
Show linkages between these desired social aims
and women’s human rights.
Instrumental argument: women’s rights as
means to some other end
 Rights-based argument: women’s rights
are an end in itself.
 Negotiate differences: part of democracy.
 Diversity: different but equal.
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What you want (at least a part) must become what they want.
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Identify a group of people you would like to win over as partners and allies:
◦ Grassroots women: econ needs, right to mobility (work, shops), repro rights, health care,
social insurance, safety for families , education, housing, want their voices heard
◦ House maids / domestic workers: contracts, health insurance, union, work safety,
protection from violence, econ needs (min. salary), certified experience, limited working
hours
◦ Youths, students: representation, voices heard, jobs, training, subsidies, protection from
exploitation
◦ Trade unions: min wages, social security, freedom of assembly & association
◦ Political parties: power, votes, donations, volunteers, members, international popularity,
protection from ruling party
◦ Civil society: money, volunteers, legal protection, independence of government,
networking, recognition, credibility
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Do you know what their needs and priorities are? How do you know? Did you
find out from them? Or are you just guessing? (Research: membership, interviews,
training, joint advocacy, documentation)
Is there a part of your message that can align with their needs and priorities?
(Messaging: work with relevant NGOs – rural areas, training of trainers, market
grassroot women’s products, IDPs)
Are you working with any of these groups? Results? What worked? What did not
work?
Capacity
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Overwhelmed
Balance between capacity and priority
Be specific about who you want as partners
Have strong tool of evaluation: know what your real capacity
is: e.g. members of NGO, expertise (e.g. negotiation skills)
Networking and volunteerism: management
Start small, build on your success.
Planning skills
Communication skills
Management skills
Organisational development: plan
Support and capacity building
Individuals in NGOs + NGOs: succession & sustainability
Is this compromise?
Not if you know what your GOAL is.
 The entry point for dialogue and potential
agreement is not the goal.
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Points of departure
Entry points
Goal
How to agree and disagree
Example: Indonesian feminists in dialogue
with women’s wing (Aisiyah) of religious
group (Muhammadiyah)
 Agree about stopping domestic violence
 Disagree about Anti-Pornography Law
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Which is more effective?
Approach 1
Approach 2
You formulate the message of change by You formulate the message of change in
yourself or with a group of friends.
relation to the needs and priorities of
people you want to win over as
partners and allies.
You disseminate this message to the
general public through the mass media
(including social networks),
You customise different parts of your
message for dialogues with potential
partners and allies.
You wait for the public (including policy
makers, decision makers) to respond to
your message of change, e.g. blogs,
letters, attendance at your forums, etc.
You engage with potential partners and
allies to develop collaborative messages
that include part of your message and
part s of their messages.
You repeat your message to get more
public response.
You help to form advocacy teams with
partners and allies to promote the
collaborative messages.
Becoming more effective in advocacy
and mobilisation
Exercise 6
 Have you ever tried either Approach 1 or
Approach 2?
 What were the results? What worked?
What did not work?
 If you have never tried either, why not?
Do you agree?
Mobilisation should go hand in hand with
advocacy.
 Why?
 Mobilisation = building a constituency and
a movement
 Advocacy: more effective when it
represents the interests of a constituency
 Some starting point to guide participation
-- interactive
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After gaining an entry point, how do
you deepen collaboration?
What are the assumptions of your
partners and allies?
 Examples?
 To what extent are you able to address
some assumptions that do not support
your goal?
 Are there some people who can be
encouraged more than others?
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What about your potential
opponents?
Who are they?
 Are there divisions among them?
 What are their agendas and interests?
 How do they benefit from the status quo?
 Do they have other change agendas?
 Your change agenda is not the only one!
 How can you overcome your opponents?
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Lessons (opponents)
Understand and use the power structure.
 Make visible the contradictions: have an
opponent of the opponent:
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Do you think that democracy has
failed you?
Is democracy given or taken?
 Are women’s rights given or taken?
 Is your change agenda able to compete
with other change agendas?
 Does it matter whether you have a small
or large constituency?
 Does it matter who your allies are?
 Does it matter how you strategise?

Film: Global Campaign to Stop
Killing and Stoning Women
Launched on 25 November 1997
 Aim: end violence against women that is
excused or justified in the name of
“culture”, “tradition” or religion.
 Coordinated by Women Living Under
Muslim Laws (WLUML)
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The learning process
What have you learnt?
What is the most important thing you learnt
yesterday?
What will you do with what you have learnt?
1.
2.
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Practice
Najat (Voices of Libyan Women): discussion saloon (4-5
hours) – step by step sharing through Q&A; after that each
will go to a school for more sharing, especially religious
lessons in the evening.
Iranian activists: before meeting, agree to organise 4-6
meetings, pre-departure condition for participation:
translation of materials, contact details of orgs, potential
replication.
Formal process -- also WLUML. Formal staff meetings,
briefings, notes, action items, recommendations to the
Board – clear meeting outcomes.
 Hekma’s suggestion: transnational network
to do international advocacy.
 WLUML
Is it useful to you to continue
learning about advocacy and
mobilisation?
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If so, how can you continue your learning
process in an effective way?
◦ Moving from theoretical to practical – steps
◦ Reflexivity: reflecting on what you are doing,
conscious of your consciousness.
◦ Process documentation: evaluation – what
worked, what didn’t work and why
Your suggestions:
Yourself
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◦ Find resources (Web), attend workshops, read
books – share with org
◦ Planning for trainings: discuss with Board
◦ Compile materials from related workshops
[key words]
◦ Diaries, blogs – self-documentation of your
inner of being
Sharing:
 Email, twitter, FB
Parking lot
1.
Rights
Call to action: information needed
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Exactly what happened – when, where: details
What we know for sure: how many people died, any one claiming
responsibility?
Check with people who experienced the attack: what do they want us
to do? Not always practical? Let’s look at contexts –
(1) massacres, actions of war can be condemned straight away. (2) But if
individuals are arrested, then consult with their families.
If they want our help, to whom should we address the letter, e.g.
President, Prime Minister, embassies, UN Human Rights Commission
(depending on topic), UN Security Council
Draft the letter in very polite language, diplomatic
What do we want them to do? E.g. holding the Government
responsible.
Send the letter to sister organisations to ask them to write – many
letters are more effective.
Alternative: or one letter signed by many organisations in 1 country –
less effective.
Fax, email, hard copy (presented to embassy)
Pass to the media
What is WELDD?
This is the WELDD- WLUML Leadership
Workshop.
 Do you know what WELDD is?
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Women’s empowerment and leadership development for
democratisation (WELDD)
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Multi-country programme (2012-15):
◦ Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Centre (SG), Pakistan
◦ Institute for Women's Empowerment (IWE), Asian regional NGO
◦ Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), international
solidarity network
Objective: strengthen and sustain women's feminist and
transformative leadership in public life & political
participation.
 Principles:
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◦ Women leaders must be able to mobilise others (male and female)
to take collective actions to build gender-equitable futures –
leadership as the capacity to mobilise others.
◦ Women’s leadership must be sustainable, with younger women
able to continue the struggle.
You and WLUML
How do you see Women Living
Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)?
What was your knowledge / view of WLUML before this
workshop?
 Did this workshop change this?
 What is your current knowledge / view of WLUML?
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◦ Use of religion as a resource for women’s rights
◦ Differentiation between what is really religious and what is
customary / traditional
◦ Empowering women and youth, challenging Islamic
governments using Islam to oppress women
◦ Had misconception of WLUML as working within religious
framework – more of transnational feminism
◦ Looking at women’s rights from multiple perspectives,
including other religions
Can the WLUML network be useful to you?
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If so, how? What can you get from the WLUML
network?
◦ Something that unites us – a sense of wholeness.
◦ Pressure tool: updates on research, mechanisms –
international support
◦ International network – important to support local
campaigns (e.g. Kurdish campaign in Iraq): exchange of
support across borders – all can contribute
◦ Non-governmental, non-Western, South-South
◦ WLUML support for stoning campaigns in Sudan – very
successful (women freed, won cases, letter to President)
◦ Knowing that there’s always someone who cares about
you: safe haven
What would you contribute to the WLUML
network that could benefit others?
Useful for WLUML: regional focal persons in every country
How to be a volunteer for WLUML?
Exchange of support across borders – all can contribute.
Exchange of ideas, knowledge.
WLUML doesn’t exist apart from its network members.
WLUML: not a Muslim org, but all women affected by Muslim
laws.
 Ability to criticise our contexts, e.g. use of religion to oppress
women.
 Space to share projects on WELDD-WLUML site, stories of
women’s success against all odds
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Four thematic groups
Sexual violence: continuum (harassment – rape / murder – all) – power over
women’s lives and bodies (no autonomy)
1.
i.
ii.
Who is violent: state, men, women?
Women as the people who are subject to violence.
Political participation: formal / informal, political analysis, resistance (pol
action), advocate for / against, state structure – what are you advocating to?
Movement building.
3.
Economic empowerment: help the poor vs. root causes of poverty, absolute
vs relative poverty, capitalism in the world / global capitalism, where is your
national economy in this global system, relations of exploitation and gender
hierachy
4.
Research: methods, field research, participatory research, community
research
Questions:
a.
What are the top 3 priorities in this area of work?
b.
What information is needed?
c.
What support is needed?
d.
What will members of this group contribute – individual and/or
organisation?
2.
Research (Sarah, Nadzirah, Nasreen, Alyaa, Amina)
A. 3 priorities
1.
2 ways:
Field: nothing in mind, get views, come up with list of needs and priorities
Have a certain topic in mind, e.g. Egyptian men marrying foreign women
Which approach – to be chosen
What resources? How many researchers? Time span? Target
groups? Sample size? Budget?
3.
Research strategy: process of documentation
B. Who are we working with? How does the research impact on them?
What do they want? We are doing this research for change.
C. Support: during and after research. Community leaders. Then opinion
leaders with access to decision makers.Volunteers – spread word,
recruit, and help with research. Volunteer management and project
management needed. Collaborators for research partnerships. Local
council support. MPs -- help us to help them. Support of officials –
distribute questionnaires; approval.
D. Go back to organisation and modify research approach, including
documentation process. Share a template for research.
2.
Questions
Fatou -- research for change: not all the time.
Some opinion leaders are conservative. Do we
empower women to be told by these opinion
leaders?
 Is the research the same as the action plan?
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Political participation (Zeynab, Nada Omran, Doha, Najat, Amira from Syria)
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Formal and informal
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Formal: direct participation (Parliament, pol parties, local councils)
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Criteria: woman leader (educated, pol informed – training needed)
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Women have expectations of woman leaders to benefit them. Being in Parliament is an achievement.
Should fight corruption – not always seen as a women’s issue.
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Women have to avoid being judged on outfit. How and when to address people. To abide by the rules.
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Quota: cannot wait for men to fight for this, need NGOs, campaigns, alliances (elite)
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Instrumentalise strategically – give and get
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In Parliament: change laws (e.g. divorce, nationality, polygamy, personal status code)
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Informal pol participation: NGO, media
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Pol analysis: vision, objectivity, wisdom, ability to dig down, engagement.
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“Watchdog”: any form of corruption
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International Day of Information: right to access – know this.
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Exchange info – Tunisia to support Iraq
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Lack of resources, fear, lack of knowledge – about rights: impediments
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Advocacy: right crowd (mobilisation), same criteria as for leadership, skills. Raise campaign for women’s
pol participation.
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Islamic laws: get mad at men’s interpretations, instead of re-interpretation, e.g. women leaders.
Questions
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Context:
◦ When Islam is the basis of laws, you enter into the
religious discourse. In secular state, the aim is to get
family law out of the Islamic courts.
◦ Don’t censor yourself.
◦ Liberals lose their constituencies.
◦ Exchange of support
◦ Research group can support, can build up resources
– can ask questions.
Sexual violence (Nihal, Hekma, Amira Sudan, Sally Haq,
Houzan)
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Mind map
Divided sexual violence: any act that has a sexual nature
◦ Women and men
◦ Personal vendetta
◦ Complexity: state, individual, family, etc.
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How to address:
◦ Knowledge, information, statistics
◦ Campaign, media (e.g. state TV), graffiti
◦ Education (schools)
◦ Punishment, rehabilitation
◦ Strict laws
◦ Advocacy, mobilising people
◦ Be critical of your government, religion
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How to fight religious legitimation of sexual harassment: religious
protection framework
Questions
Put in school curriculum.Yes: Ministry of
Education but Salafi is a problem in Egypt. But
Libya managed to push the envelope.
 The main cause is not about getting funder
accepted.
 Perpetrator is also a victim of the system:
transfer to another NGO.
 Human reproduction: not always taught.
 Sexual violence: any interference in your private
space – art. Not just change of laws. Social
stigmatisation, e.g. shaving of head. Be bolder in
exposing problem.
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Presentations by participations
about their organisations
Iraqi Female Journalists’ Forum (Nada Omran)
Commemoration of female journalist killed – upcoming in anniversary.
 Goals:
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Shedding light on work of female journalists
Document violations experienced by female journalists (org, field work)
Rights of female journalists in armed conflict
Working with other NGOs on changing discriminatory laws
Working on media to change stereotypes
140 female journalists
Supported by some men
Violations include those committed by police, other officials – sexual
harassment
The org also focuses on trafficking of women and children –
prostitution and sale of human organs
TV show produced for satellite channel – on women’s issues
Advocated against law
Capacity building through workshops.
Questions
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Maie: Trafficking: differentiation between human org trade,
prostitution and ?
Nada: Iraqi Govt is hiding human trafficking. Org is trying to
expose this. Greatest no. of cases is happening with the
connivance and complicity of high official of Ministry of the
Interior. Org is working with other organisations – due to
number of disabled, etc. People sent to the Gulf.
Houzan: previously Iraqi organisations ignored this. It’s
important for the female journalists to document this.
Juvenile prison: teenaged women trafficked, returned and
imprisoned for decades after return – punishment of
victims. Q: relations with other women’s orgs?
Nada: Good connections with e-Amal org and with
Houzan’s org.
Voice of Libyan Women (Najat Dau)
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Established by woman doctor – started by smuggling
medicine to save people in Gaddafi’s time. Daughter of
Najat.
No. 1 Libyan NGO
3 goals: politically, economically, fight against VAW
Achievement: workshops on 3 goals. During election
period, 40 women participated. 8 now in Congress.
Also: campaign against VAW. Flyers to shops – at first
rejected, then distributed by women in hijab, accepted.
Outreach to schools. Even the PM and other men wore
the purple scarf, etc.
Survey in schools to ascertain frequency of VAW.
Questions
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Doha: why choice of name – Purple Hijab?
Najat: because of killing of woman in a specific
incident.
Houzan: how many NGOs?
Najat: 300, mostly Western funded.Voice of Libyan
Women – funded by Western countries and liberal
Libyan businesses. Iraqi Govt now wants NGOs to
get Western funding.
Houzan: How do people view it?
Najat: Half of Libya want to have the country open
to the world. The other half is conservative.
Aid Centre for Legal Consultation, Sudan (Hekma)
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Legal aid for low-income people, who face legal and
administrative problems, including those in prison and those
facing trial (bail and fees; field visits in Khartoum)
Promote legal awareness of rights in communities, including
human rights
Promote value of citizenship Advocacy to Government to
comply with international standards and national laws
Aim to provide justice to all and the rule of law.
Provide emotional support to service agencies and people
facing trauma – so they don’t feel isolated and suicidal.
Many cases since 2011, including stoning case of 23- yr-old
woman – supported by WLUML & other international orgs.
Questions
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Naiera: funds?
Hekma: Dutch and other embassies – no problem.
Houzan, Sarah: N-S divide – impact on women’s solidarity?
Hekma: We have no contact with orgs in the South but there is contact
with S Sudanese people in prisons. Four Freedoms – agreement that
guarantees some rights of S Sudanese in North.
Maie: Islamic vs secular / Christian countries? Arabs have no idea of
Sudan. Solidarity with Arab and African feminists?
Hekma: Our org is small. 2 years only. Many orgs (e.g. Selma) have
international work. More networking. Maybe Maie can be focal link in
Egypt.
Doaa: Linkage between Sudan and Egypt. Urgent Action Fund case with
one Sudanese woman refugee in Egypt. Targetting of activists (male,
female) by security forces. Lack of knowledge of Sudan and other
African countries. Urgent need for support of individual activists.
Women are leading the democracy movement in Sudan. Big funders
ignore Sudan.
Fatou: Networking in Africa – who and who? WLUML funded some
initiatives. Bakshir – International Criminal Court. The money can’t get
into Sudan.
Ro’ya (Vision), Sudan (Amira Ismail Said Elnour)
Very new organisation
Core value: women’s rights are inseparable elements of
human rights and democracy.
 Younger voice – door for participation for new
generation of activists and researchers.
 Monitoring HR and youth empowerment projects –
funded by Dutch.
 Sudan is more than just Khartoum – very bad situation
outside – e.g. mountains.
 Aim is to work outside Khartoum, but impossible to do
so now because forbidden by Govt.
 Now working with Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
in Khartoum.
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Questions
Naiera: IDPs only? Other target groups? To do what?
Amira: Others – youth empowerment.
Maie: Is it dangerous to work with sexual minorities?
Amira: Yes, we are afraid – therefore moving slowly and
carefully. Need to know the people org is working with –
there are spies. No documentation of workshops.
 Hekma: Normal in Sudan – fear of the “security forces”,
including threats to those opposing FGM. Work in small
areas, keep information confidential.
 Dina: Future training – one session dedicated to security
issues: how to keep safe. Share experiences.
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Women for Life & Syrian Women Peace Forum (Nesreen Hassan)
Org 1
 Last 2 years: Syria in conflict
 Advocacy for women’s rule at different levels of governance (city, local, etc.)
 Women have paid high price for the conflict.
 Women are the only clean ones among the arms users but those who suffered most.
 Basis of Women for Life: ICE (calm things down)
 1st project: children of peace – resettled 100 children back to schools.
 2nd project: support – displaced women: economi empowerment (job training)
 3rd project: phoenix – rehabilitation after war and building civil state
Org 2: started by 5 women 2 mths ago, supported by Karama and HIVOS.
 Empowering women in peace-building, public affairs.
 Fostering peace culture
 Establish lobby on peace issues.
 Workshop inside and outside Syria
 Issued many statements
 Working Paper for presentation in Geneva – asking them to start real steps to apply Geneva
Declaration for transition of power
 Many civil soc groups have joined this Forum, including those in the opposition.
 Exchange of support across different countries.
Questions
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Naiera: Funding? Partnerships in Egypt?
Nesreen: 2 projects (Women for Life): internally funded. Children for Peace: Syrian businesses. 2nd project:
Syrian woman living abroad + Syrian Development. Forum: only from HIVOs + members’ internal funding with
host organisation. Syrian sovereignty is very crucial – suspicions about foreign funding.
Nada (Egypt): How to handle the 2 camps?
Nesreen:Women from both camps are engaged – less violent. Could be unified on basis of disarmament, better
economic conditions. Build on basis of women’s needs.
Homa: Workshops on UN 1325?
Nesreen:Yes, inside Syria.
Homa: No woman present in peace-building process in Turkey? Statement by Forum?
Nesreen:Women have no place in the opposition – so trying to get in forthcoming peace process.
Homa: No statement by Syrian women for WLUML and others to give international support.
Nesreen: Final day of conference: Forum gave statement but media ignored it.
Dina: Statement did not condemn absence of women.
Doaa: We don’t know enough about what is happening in Syria. We need clearer statements (voice from Syria)
to give international support. Source of information needed for international support.
Nesreen: Some statistics can be given – how many killed.
Dina: No women in opposition coalition. Needs to be stated.
Hekma: Sovereignty: contradiction in conflict situation? Govt issues, not NGO issue.
Nesreen: Syrian citizens in NGO. Does not want to be involved in geo-politics. Strings attached.
Homa: No clean money. Get money and do something clean with it.