During the NGO Forum and UN Conference OFAN members spent some time reflecting on the achievements of the organization, and discussing ways in which OFAN¹s collaborative initiative can be sustained. A number of suggestions were made regarding ways in which OFAN can be used as a model for involving people and their organizations in a process of reclaiming women¹s knowledge and reshaping the future of science and technology. The feasibility of these suggestions are still being explored, but in the meantime individual OFAN members have started implementing post-Beijing activities, some in collaboration with other members.
OFAN has been actively involved in the post- Beijing activities in Jamaica. The local women¹s movement has embarked on a major effort to raise pubic awareness of the outcomes of the UN Conference, and to design and implement a National Action Plan. OFAN has participated in planning meetings to prepare an NGO Action Plan as well as meetings convened by the Minister responsible for women¹s affairs to formulate the National Action Plan to be endorsed by the Government of Jamaica.
OFAN also participated in invited panel discussions, as well as a public rally and exhibition organized by the Association of Women¹s Organizations of Jamaica (AWOJA).
OFAN has prepared a grant proposal for a joint post-Beijing follow-up project between the Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) and the Jamaica Society of Scientists and Technologists (JSST). The project aims to produce an information package on the status of women in formal and non-formal scientific and technological fields in Jamaica.
Plans are underway to organize a series of workshops and panel discussions on the implementation of the Platform for Action and the recommendations of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development during the Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT) Conference in India in January 1996. This initiative will be facilitated by IWTC, UNIFEM, GASAT and other network members attending the conference.
Representatives from the UNIFEM-funded projects in Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Honduras, Nepal, Pakistan and Peru, who participated in the Once and Future Pavilion, plan to establish a South-South network of women practitioners. Participants are also planning local workshops to share their experience of the Pavilion with their communities.
Plans are underway in the Pacific Region to take the spirit and approach of the Once and Future pavilion and adapt it for replication at regional and local levels.
In Peru, a rural women¹s network will use the information gathered through the Once and Future pavilion to advocate for greater awareness of gender, science and technology issues. The information will be disseminated via a news bulletin to neighbouring countries such as Equador and Bolivia.
TWOWS, an association of professional women scientists, has renewed its commitment to encourage women scientists to make linkages between their work and the development concerns of grassroots women. Plans are underway to develop a programme in which formal women scientists and grassroots practitioners will work together on research and development projects in Africa.
TWOWS is also exploring possible collaboration with the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) to develop mentoring programmes for women scientists in different cultures and ways to encourage young girls to enter science and technology.
IT in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will continue to work on a training package for recognizing women¹s knowledge in communities, for presentation at the GASAT Conference in India in January 1996. In preparation for the conference, IT and the International Women¹s Tribune Centre (IWTC) will explore possibilities for collaboration in developing an advocacy/vision-making kit to challenge how science and technology is viewed and practiced.
Intermediate Technology in the UK will bring scientists together with gender and development practitioners to explore the experiences of both and look at areas of possible collaboration.
Within IT itself, a series of papers reviewing the organization¹s work with respect to gender and technology will be launched on March 8th - International Women¹s Day.
The IFIAS Gender, Science and Development Programme will produce a source/guidebook of case studies of women making a difference in science and technology policy in their regions.
GSD is also preparing a proposal, with the International Women's Tribune Centre, for OFAN electronic communications.
Teens in Action, a youth organization in Jamaica, has planned a year long community education and development of income generating projects linked to themes of science, technology and the environment. Since Beijing, this group has performed its play ³Science Again: Youth Exposure² at workshops with schools and environmental organizations. They have also launched an environmental project in their local community.
Mekweseh Communications in Jamaica have used knowledge gained from their participation in the OFAN Pavilion and NGO Forum on Women to produce a directory of organizations working on behalf of sustainable development and rural women worldwide.
Plans are underway to explore possibilities for collaboration with some OFAN members to use participatory media methods to recognize women¹s scientific knowledge.
Mekweseh has also produced a calendar on rural women in Jamaica. The calendar will be used to start a process of dialoguing with individuals and organizations involved with rural women¹s issues and to raise public awareness about the lives of rural women in Jamaica. A photo contest on rural women in Jamaica is to be launched. The winner of this contest will be nominated next year for the International; Award for Creativity in Rural Life, organized by the World Summit for Women in Geneva, Switzerland.
IWTC is exploring the possibility of producing ŒWords to Action¹ policy manuals designed to repackage international policy documents and declarations for use at community level.
UNESCO is preparing a 30-minute video on the Once and Future Pavilion which will be used as an advocacy and training tool within the UNESCO women, science and technology programme.
The World¹s Women On-Line will be launching a multimedia exhibit entitled ³Women and Information Technology² in Chicago in March, 1996. The show will involve nine different installation pieces by women artists from all over the world. They are also working with the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. to design an exhibition.
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