Welcome to Newsletter #2!
This issue focuses on advocacy and policy-making, with particular emphasis on the lobbying efforts of OFAN. We also feature aspects of the draft Platform for Action for the Beijing Conference, and assess our various efforts to have science and technology amendments included in this document.
Over the past several months, the network has been actively involved in lobbying to have science and technology included in national, regional and international agendas. To this end, we have participated in a number of meetings, for example, the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This meeting gave us an opportunity to communicate our vision for a more holistic and people centred approach to scientific research and development with the scientific community. OFAN also hosted a number of local public meetings on Women, Science and Technology issues in Washington, DC. and New York, USA and Kingston, Jamaica. We encourage more network members to host similar meetings in their own localities, as we begin to think about ways in which we can influence the monitoring and implementation process for science and technology policies and programmes after Beijing. We have also continued to establish contact with various individuals and groups involved in gender, science and technology issues around the world-the list of participating organizations in OFAN's activities now stands at over 60 members and is published in this issue.
The highlights of our activities over the past few months, though, were the March, 1995 NGO Consultations, the UN PrepCom, and our own OFAN March Planning Meeting.
The Prep.Com. saw network members coming together and making a concerted effort as an organization to affect the draft Platform for Action, with respect to science and technology policy. I would like to thank all those members who participated, particularly Ilse Marks of UNIFEM who spearheaded our efforts in this area. To date, the results of our advocacy efforts are mixed. We have been fairly successful in having science and technology placed on some regional agendas, and in some sections of the most recent version of the draft Platform for Action. Science and technology are fairly well covered in the sections on education and training opportunities and access to and participation in the definition of economic structures and policies and the productive process, and moderately covered in the sections on media and the environment.
In general, however, the science and technology component of the Draft Platform for Action is still disappointingly weak. We have a lot of work to do between now and Beijing to ensure that those areas which still need to be negotiated in Beijing (bracketed sections) and have a science and technology component are kept in the final document. In addition to the different strategies recommended in our feature: Next Steps... Looking Beyond Beijing, network members are encouraged to think about additional strategies we can use to further our vision for more people centred and sustainable approaches to the application of science and technology locally and globally.
There continues to be a lot of activity as we prepare for the September conference in Beijing. The preparations were put in perspective and got a boost from our coming together at the OFAN March Planning Meeting. Again, I would like to thank all those who participated in this meeting and helped to create a combined sense of ownership of the network. Although we still have a lot to do, especially in the fundraising department, through the hard work put into these meetings, our plans for the OFAN Science and Technology Pavilion are finally falling into place. Special thanks go to Alice Mastrangelo-Gittler and Stephanie Banuelos of IWTC, for their support in making the March Planning Meeting a success.
Finally, we would like you all to send us your ideas for the OFAN slogan, which will be used to spread our message in Beijing and beyond. Also remember to keep us up to date with your preparations for the OFAN Pavilion.