The Once and Future Action Network (OFAN)

Newsletter No. 3

Beijing: The High Point of OFAN¹s Advocacy Trail

The Once and Future Action Network¹s advocacy trail for science and technology for sustainable development came to a climax at the recently concluded 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. OFAN had been preparing for the Beijing event for over two years, with the intention of influencing the Platform for Action while promoting awareness of our agenda for science and technology.

How did the long anticipated Conference represent a high point for the network? What were the accomplishments? How did the process work? Are there any lessons learned? What are OFAN¹s plans for future advocacy?

Josephine Beoku-Betts, Programme Coordinator for OFAN takes a look at the process, and answers some of these questions.

Q. In what ways did Beijing represent the high point of OFAN¹s advocacy trail?

A. Beijing was a high point for us in two ways. First, it represented the climax of our campaign to influence the policy process and have science and technology amendments included in the Platform for Action. The UN Conference saw network members pulling on all available resources to put lobbying strategies into effect. We made use of formal and informal channels, creating opportunities when there were none. The occasion was for us the most challenging opportunity the Network has had to date, to work as a lobbying team for gender, science and technology.

Secondly, the Conference enabled us to promote our vision and goals, not only among policy makers, but also among other science and technology interest groups and the general public. The NGO Forum, in particular, presented the ideal occasion to highlight our key messages among different target groups. This we did mainly through the Once and Future Pavilion. With over 120 visual and interactive presentations from network members representing women all over the globe, the Pavilion highlighted women¹s achievements in formal and non-formal science and technology, and demonstrated their potential to contribute to people-centred and environmentally sustainable development.

Q. Are you satisfied with the results of your efforts to have Science and Technology included in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action?

A. While OFAN cannot claim full responsibility for the outcome of science and technology in the Platform for Action, we are satisfied that we did influence the process and got some positive results.

On the whole, OFAN and other science and technology lobby groups expected more in the final inclusions for science and technology in the Platform for Action. Admittedly, science and technology maintains a constant presence throughout the document, being stronger in some areas than in others. It is clear that science and technology cuts across all the critical areas of concern, and it was treated as such in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The importance of science and technology in advancing women¹s status is indicated repeatedly in the policy document. References to science and technology as a tool in the process are most explicit in the critical areas of concern dealing with the education and training of women, women and economic structures, health, and women and the environment.

The Platform for Action recognizes the need to protect and validate indigenous knowledge systems, and the fact that women are as much agents of change as they are consumers. Among the strategic objectives outlined in the document are the facilitation of active involvement of women in decision-making at all levels, and the integration of gender concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development. These underscore some of the objectives outlined in OFAN¹s key messages.

One of the things OFAN wanted the Platform of Action to do was to communicate - to policy makers and persons formulating and implementing development programmes - the need for women to play a more active role in challenging and redefining the goals and ethics of the practice of science and technology. We do not feel that the Platform for Action does this explicitly, except under the section dealing with women and the environment, where the science and technology content is quite strong.

We are satisfied, however, that while it acknowledges the potential for science and technology to have a positive effect on women¹s development, the Platform for Action recognizes the negative impacts which technology can have on women¹s lives. This is particularly obvious in the areas of health, environment and communication.

Q. What were the lobbying strategies used by OFAN?

A. OFAN utilized a variety of forums for advocacy during the UN Conference. We organized a daily caucus on science and technology, participated in the daily UN/NGO briefings and in invited panel discussions held during the conference. We held a press conference, and did media interviews. We also prepared an official statement for presentation to UN delegates, and actively lobbied for the inclusion of science and technology in the Beijing Declaration and the alternative NGO Declaration.

During the NGO Forum a joint workshop was held between OFAN and UNIFEM to discuss priority issues for science and technology in the Platform for Action. Participants were familiarized with the Platform for Action and its progress up to the time of the Conference. Amendments for science and technology were identified and strategies discussed for ensuring the maintenance or inclusion of new science and technology amendments in the bracketed texts and the Beijing Declaration. The results of this workshop formed the basis of the document used to lobby official delegates at the UN Conference.
A daily science and technology caucus was set up at the UN Conference to raise public awareness of the importance of including science and technology in the Platform for Action. The caucus also served to update members attending the conference on the progress of science and technology in the Platform for Action, and to plan further lobbying strategies to push the agenda forward. The participation of representatives of several of OFAN¹s member organizations was critical in promoting the science and technology agenda at the conference. Active at different of the process were: Jayshree Mehta, Jan Harding and Mona Dahms of GASAT, Helen Appleton, Jane Scobie and Millie Vela of IT, Kitty Didion of AWIS, Shirley Malcolm of AAAS, Betsy McGreggor and Kelly Butler of WWVA, Ilse Marks of UNIFEM, Lilia Ramos of Approtech Asia, and Hazel Brown of the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago.
At the daily UN/NGO briefings, organized by the Women¹s Linkage Caucus, representatives of the UN Secretariat met with NGOs to update us on what had been happening in the UN meetings, and to brief us on plans for the day. Caucus members who had the opportunity, gave reports on what had been happening in their caucuses, and discussed problems being encountered in relation to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the areas needing intervention. NGO delegates used the daily briefings to shape the final language of the Platform for Action and to ensure that the voice of NGOs was represented during and after the process.
OFAN was invited by the Equipo organizing committee to co-chair the final UN/NGO briefing session, and this gave us an opportunity to highlight OFAN¹s concerns, particularly as they related to the Platform for Action.
Network members also joined committees where we felt the network needed to be represented, with different members choosing to work with different areas. Some members felt they could be more influential working with regional committees. AWIS, for example chose to work with the US delegation, while IT worked with the EC and UK delegations. Lilia Ramos worked with the Group of 77 and the Philippine delegation, and I participated in some of the African caucus meetings.
OFAN¹s key messages which were formulated at our March Planning Meetings were a central component of our lobbying strategies. But we felt that the most important thing we could lobby with was the Declaration of Intent coming out of the Gender Working Group of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development. As an organization we fully endorsed and lobbied for the Declaration of Intent which, among other things, called for the full participation of women and girls in Science and Technology.
We fought very hard to have this included in Paragraph 35 of the Declaration. In order to do this we attempted to work through the Group of 77, and individual Caricom and African members. We were unsuccessful in getting it included in the Platform for Action. But we were heartened by the fact that some representatives of governments and organizations indicated that they would work with the recommendations of Gender Working Group. They were committed to using the Declaration of Intent as part of their post-Beijing activities.
The OFAN Statement on science and technology which we prepared was given to delegates and disseminated as a sort of press release. We also presented it at the press conference which we co-hosted with the Centre for Practice-Oriented Feminist Science (PROFS). As part of the advocacy process we also did interviews with the Chinese Daily Newspaper and a Dutch newspaper.

Q. Were there any major hurdles encountered by NGO¹s lobbying at the Conference, and how did you deal with them?

A. One of the things which made it particularly difficult to lobby at this conference was the separation of NGOs and official delegates. Whereas at other conferences it was easy to interact with delegates, at the Fourth World Conference on Women, the groups were kept apart with separate seating areas, separate entrances, even a separate opening ceremony. Our hosts even tried to house NGOs in separate hotels from UN delegates. This may have been the result of security and other concerns of the Chinese. It was very difficult to lobby in halls and corridors, as many NGO committees were not allowed to enter the main meeting areas. Some of us went as far as to pose as delegates in order to lobby.

In the final analysis, most NGOs felt that the Beijing Declaration was not reflecting all their needs and concerns and that the language in some areas was extremely weak. NGOs therefore decided to prepare an Alternative Declaration for endorsement by the NGO community and governments who wished to support it. Science and technology was addressed in the Alternative NGO Declaration, as a result of the commitment and hard work of Mona Dahms of GASAT.

Q. Are there any lessons learnt?

A. Experience suggests that it is necessary to have a well planned lobbying strategy, adequate funds and staff, and a large knowledgeable lobbying team to be effective. While OFAN did have a sound lobbying strategy, we lacked the funds and enough people to undertake the amount of work that was needed to influence the drafting and other committees at different stages of the process. There were several persons lobbying on behalf of OFAN, but at different stages of the process, and many had to leave Beijing before the conclusion of the Conference, due to limited funds or other commitments. In addition, I think we definitely need a well planned, sustained and adequately funded media and public relations strategy before, after and during the Conference.

Q. Are there plans to continue the OFAN advocacy trail?

A. Definitely. The success of the OFAN Pavilion and the involvement of a diverse range of organizations in raising public awareness about the significance of gender, science and technology concerns, have generated many ideas about how to consolidate and sustain this collective initiative.

During the NGO Forum and UN Conference we spent some time looking at strategies for the continuation of our activities as a network. One suggestion was that OFAN could continue as a networking organization and clearing house for information on gender, science and technology. It was also suggested that we could become an international advocacy organization for people-centred, gendered and sustainable practice of science and technology, organize international advocacy campaigns on particular issues, and develop advocacy kits for community groups and development practitioners.

Some OFAN members are already using to their advantage the contacts they made at the conference and are putting plans in place for the continuation of the gender, science and technology advocacy programme.

Plans are also underway to organize a series of workshops and panel discussions on the implementation of the Platform for Action, and recommendations of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development during the GASAT Conference in India in January 1996. In addition to their specific activities, all OFAN member organizations will be participating in the formulation and implementation of national action plans in their own countries. Many have already started to do so. In Jamaica, for example, OFAN participated in planning meetings convened by the Minister of Labour, Social Security and Sports (with responsibility for Women¹s Affairs) to formulate a National Action Plan to be endorsed by the Government of Jamaica. We also participated in a public public rally and exhibition organized by the Association of Women¹s Organizations of Jamaica (AWOJA), at which key outcomes for science and technology in the Platform for Action were outlined and ways explored for the incorporation of the recommendations.

Next section / Newsletter index / OFAN Home page

For comments on this site and information, contact shuyer@ifias.ca