ACTIVITIES REPORT April 01, 2009-March 30, 2010

CONTENTS
VISION STATEMENT OUR MISSION HISTORY OF DAWN ACTIVITIES & ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT 3 4 5

KRA 1: Global Feminist Research and Analyses

1. Constituting the DAWN Global Analysis Team 2. Contributing to the Plus 15 Events 3. Exploring New Site for Conversations on Global Development: DAWN Development Debates 4. Implementing on a Rolling Basis Global Research Projects 6 7 12 16

KRA 2: Global Feminist Advocacies

1. Human Rights Council in Geneva 2. UN & UN Related Events in New York 17 18 22 27 28

KRA 3: Remobilizing Feminist Activism

1. DAWN Training Institutes (Global & Regional) 2. Young Interns at the DAWN Secretariat Office 3. Other Activities in Support of Womens Rights Activisms & Mobilization

KRA 4: Organizational Development

1. Establish a board of Governance 2. Implement a Coherent and Effective Media Info-Com Strategy 3. Info-Com and Media Support Work for DAWN 29 31 38

VISION STATEMENT
We want a world where inequalities and discrimination based on gender and all other identities are eliminated from every country and from the relationships among countries and peoples; where development processes are founded on social solidarity and economic, political, ecological, social, and personal justice; where poverty and violence are eradicated; where human rights in their fullest and most expansive sense are the foundation of laws, public policies, and private actions. We want a world where the massive resources now used to produce the means of destruction are diverted to building ethical and socially responsive development alternatives, promoting lasting peace, and justice within and outside the home; a worlds where people interact with ecological systems in humane and sustainable ways. Such a world would ensure bodily integrity and security of personhood in every dimension of our lives, promote inclusiveness and respect for diversities, and realize sexual and reproductive rights for all. Women would share equally in determining priorities and making decisions at all levels and in every location, and all institutions would be committed to inclusive, participatory and democratic processes. We believe that respecting and realizing the human rights of all peoples in this way will affirm the ethical basis for a just and humane world.

OUR MISSION
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a network of feminist scholars, researchers and activists from the economic South working for economic and gender justice and sustainable and democratic development. DAWN, founded in 1984, provides a forum for feminist research, analyses and advocacy on global issues (economic, social and political) affecting the livelihoods, living standards, rights and development prospects of women, especially poor and marginalized women, in regions of the South. Through research, analyses, advocacy and, more recently, training, DAWN seeks to support women's mobilization within civil society to challenge inequitable social, economic and political relations at global, regional and national levels, and to advance feminist alternatives. DAWN's feminism entails countering the material bases of social, economic and political inequalities, injustices and exclusions. DAWN envisions processes of economic and social development that are geared to enabling human rights and freedoms. DAWN draws strength from, and is committed to further empowering, the womens movements in the South. Twenty years after DAWN was founded, its work entails: developing and disseminating analyses of the economic, social, cultural and political processes which cause and perpetuate inequalities of gender, class, race and other forms of unfair social ordering and discrimination; engaging in global and regional inter-governmental and non-governmental forums and processes to challenge and change mainstream thinking, policy and practice which hurt poor women in the South; co-sponsoring global civil society initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable, equitable and gender-just social, economic and political development; contributing to selected reform initiatives instituted in response to feminist or civil society demands for global institutional or policy changes; and providing training in analysis and advocacy skills to young feminists from the South who are engaged (or interested) in working on global issues covered by the four DAWN themes.

HISTORY OF DAWN
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), has grown from small seeds planted in Bangalore, India, in August 1984, on the eve of the international conferences marking the UN Decade for the Advancement of Women. At that time, a nucleus of committed women from a number of different countries came together to share their experiences with development strategies, policies, theories, and research. They questioned the impact of development on poor people, especially women, particularly in light of the global economic and political crises, and voiced a sense of urgency regarding the need to advocate alternative development processes that would give principal emphasis to the basic survival needs of the majority of the worlds people. Recognizing the commonality and power of the global economic and political processes that set the context for diverse national and regional experiences, and that often constrain the possibilities for alternative strategies and actions, the group brainstormed about what factors were hurting women and arrived at identification of regional crises as the peg on which to hang the analysis of womens situations: Africas food crisis, Latin Americas debt, South Asias poverty, and the militarization of the Pacific Islands. With the emergence of a new framework, DAWN was born. A platform document that would, at one and the same time, articulate such a perspective and also serve to carry forward the debate on alternative development strategies was seen by the group as an important beginning. Their analysis was presented at the UN Conference on Women in Nairobi and was later published as a book, Development, Crises and Alternative Visions: Third World Womens Perspectives, written by Gita Sen and Caren Grown (Monthly Review Press, 1987). A South feminist critique of three decades of development, it highlighted the impacts of four inter-linked and systemic global crises - famine, debt, militarism and fundamentalism - on poor women of the South and offered alternative visions. The document made a significant impact at Nairobi, and for the first time put macro-economic issues firmly on the agenda of the women's movement. Since then, DAWN has continued to influence global debates on development by offering holistic analyses from a South feminist perspective that is both grounded in women's experience and inspired by women's collective strategies and visions. The DAWN network today covers Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

ACTIVITIES & ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT April 2009 March 2010 KRA 1 Global Feminist Research and Analyses
By 2012, it is the goal of DAWN to renew its capacity and dynamism in producing timely and ground-breaking research and analyses through a sharper south feminist inter-linkages lens on global development, social justice and democracy processes and issues. In 2009-2010, DAWN was able to accomplish all of its targeted outputs, including making its voice heard on the occasion of the Plus 15 commemoration of two international agreements that remain significant sources of womens rights, empowerment and development, namely, the ICPD and the BPFA. As well, DAWN was able to successfully launch the much anticipated DAWN Development Debates which was meant to provide DAWN with a platform to for debating and crystallizing its south feminist inter-linkages analyses and advocacies

1. Constituting the DAWN Global Analysis Team

In pursuit of a more solid inter-linkages analysis for global advocacy, the DAWN members of the Executive Committee constituted itself into DAWN Global Analysis Team that was, in turn, linked with thematic research DAWN associates as well as with the DAWN Board Members. For DAWN an inter-linkages approach was a necessary response to the fragmentation and siloization of development analysis, politics and advocacy that characterized the global environment. Fragmentation and silo-izaton undermines hard-won womens empowerment policies and programs through by a lack of political interest/will and a reduction of funding from the international community. Feminists and womens rights advocates, who in the 1990s imagined international conventions on womens human rights and the Beijing Platform for Action as the spread of their influence over other development policy and governance areas, were deeply concerned by the weakening of these commitments as new market-orientated policy language and rights became entrenched in multilateralism. Activities that have so far emerged from the collective thinking and planning of the DAWN Global Analysis Team include the DAWN Development Debates event (see
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below), DAWN Development Debates publication and regional consultations and training institutes in the Pacific, Africa and Latin America on Gender, Environment and Economic Justice (calendared in FY 2010-2011) and the 4th edition of the global DAWN Training Institute (calendared in FY 2011-2012). A plan to expand the regional makeup and strengthen the capacity for thematic inter-analysis of the Global Analysis Team is in place that includes, among others, a continuing investment in feminist capacity building among young women from the economic south who are expected to become future DAWN members and associates.

2.

Contributing to the Plus 15 Events

DAWN Analysis Document for ICPD+15

An ICPD Plus 15 Supplement to the DAWN Informs newsletter was published with three major articles inside. The first entitled ICPD + 15 at the Crossroads: Health, Rights and Citizenship was written by Carol Ruiz who is the DAWN Associate in charge of coordinating the SRHR global research project. Her report gave tentative findings from three ongoing country studies (India, Mexico and Nigeria) that examined the ways in which health reform processes affect national responses to maternal mortality, post-abortion care, as well as context specific dynamics regarding the legalization of abortion. The article outlined the disconnection between processes and actors concerned with SRHR and those concerned with state and Health Sector Reform (HSR). It also traced the origins of HSR (World Bank Model) which remains the standing policy framework of several developing countries. Lastly, it exposed a trend of cherry picking on the part of major institutional players in engaging and financing MDGs. Ruiz concluded that the rights framework in health, and even more so, an SRHR frame is either weak or non-existent and competing frames and approaches such as population control, maternal and child health as well as financing models inherent in Health Sector Reform (HSR) discourse continue to influence programming and policies (DAWN Informs, p. 2). Angela Collet, former EC member and head of the SRHR team, wrote the article entitled Advocating for Full Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Still an Uphill Battle which focused on the advocacy work of the SRHR advocates
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at the 42nd Session of the UN Commission on Population and Development (CPD) held on March 30-April 3 2009 in New York. She noted that the term human rights interpreted as encompassing the fulfillment of rights of all peoples as against human beings), was seen by many conservative states as a potential entry point for their restrictive language on sexual orientation and gender identity. She juxtaposed this to the counter directional advocacy of feminists and progressive governments on inter-connecting Cairo with the rights of other identities, such as male and transgender (DAWN Informs p. 3). In the end, the CPD resolution was adopted without any reference to sexual rights; instead the term sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights was used. Collet also raised serious concerns about the continuation of weak interconnections between Cairo and poverty and inequalities, noting that the resolutions still lacked the references to the underpinnings of poverty dynamics (DAWN Informs, p. 4). The final article entitled SRHR and Global Finance was contributed by Gita Sen. In examining how the global financial crisis may affect health financing, she identified three pathways: (a) lower economic growth among developing countries that arise from trade protectionism by developed countries; (b) growing dependence on IMF borrowings by developing countries that are already saddled by balance of payments problems; and (c) dependence on bilateral ODA or other global funds. The alternative, Sen writes, was for developing countries to insist on removing double standards and to demand greater donor accountability, challenge IMFs fiscal conditionalities, and explore innovative sources of financing via domestic resources mobilization (DAWN Informs, p. 6)

Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing+15 Weaving Wisdom, Confronting Crises, Forging the Future Miriam College, Quezon City, Philippines October 22-24, 2009
DAWN, through its secretariat, was involved in the planning and hosting of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum Beijing +15 for the whole month of September through mid-October 2010. Miriam College which is where the DAWN secretariat office is located, hosted this important regional event. The AP NGO forum was held from October 22-24, 2010 under the theme, Weaving Wisdom, Confronting Crises, Forging the Future. The DAWN Executive Committee members as well as seven
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alumnae of the DAWN Training Institutes (DTIs) actively participated in the forum, serving as speakers and moderators of the plenary sessions. DAWN Executive Committee members and alumnae participated in the following plenary sessions : Claire Slatter, Chair of the DAWN Board, participated through a video interview in the Plenary 1 entitled Feminisms through Generations, Part I,; Part II of this plenary was held in the afternoon where two of DTI alumnae participated, namely, Anupama Sekhar (India) who served as the moderator and Shuchi Karim (Bangladesh) who was one of the speakers; Gigi Francisco, DAWN General Coordinator, was one of the speakers for the plenary session entitled An Agency for Women in the UN, at Last!; the final plenary Beyond the Crises: Forging Ahead with Development Alternatives, had DAWN EC members Marina Durano as moderator and Gita Sen as speaker. The final plenary explored important debates and dilemmas in global and regional governance responses to the current financial and economic crisis as well as to, climate change. Among the big questions tackled were the nature of multilateralism and geopolitics, the changing role of the state and policy space, and the role of non-state actors that had been made sharper or if not overtaken by the current crises, and their implications for feminist politics and advocacies.

In addition, all of the DAWN women were involved in various workshops on militarisms, SRHR, migration, and peasant/dalit womens livelihoods, in collaboration with different womens rights organizations such as the Southeast Asia Womens Watch, Womens Media Collective, Program for Womens ESCR, ISIS International Manila, and Asian Regional Exchange.
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DAWN Executive Committee member Kumi Samuel made a presentation on Gender, Peace and Conflict at a roundtable on Post-Beijing and Post-9/11: Women Taking on the Challenges of War, Conflict and Militarism at the Forum. She also participated in a Forum discussion on Asia Pacific Women Peace Builders Surfacing the Issues which examined specific peace and security issues for AsiaPacific women; discussed the level of implementation (or non-implementation) of UNSCR 1325 and 1820 in the Asia-Pacific region and explored the possibility of creating an Asia-Pacific women, peace and security solidarity network.

On the last day of the forum, the seven DAWN regional training alumnae from South and Southeast Asia shared their personal journeys as young feminists and how their unique feminist politics affect their daily lives. The workshop entitled, Translating Feminist Knowledge: Young Feminist Reflections, was well-received by the attendees, who were humbled and at the same time inspired by the unique presentations of the RTI speakers, namely: Nilusha Hemasiri (Sri Lanka), Anupama Sekhar (India), Chandra Sugarda (Indonesia), Winnie Ma and Fiona Luk (Hong Kong), and Shuchi Karim (Bangladesh). It ended with a lively exchange of queries and reflection on feminisms and the challenges that young women from the Asia Pacific face today. (Refer to Appendix A, AP NGO Statement)

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DAWN Parallel Event at the 54th CSW Session Development Debates in a Fierce New World: Feminisms at the Crossroads Salvation Army Auditorium
On March 05, DAWN held a presentation as part of the Parallel Events during the 54th Session of the CSW Meeting, with the theme, Development Debates in a Fierce New World: Feminisms at the Crossroads. This event highlighted the global crises of food, fuel, climate and finance that the international community is struggling to find ways of responding to. DAWN members through successive speeches interrogated how in this process, gender justice, rights and gender equality are in dire predicament as these are challenged, minimalized and tolerated, or completely compromised in ongoing intergovernmental processes sentence not clear. The panel was moderated by Anita Nayar and the speakers were: Marina Durano who spoke on, Development Policies Amidst the Local-Global Tensions: Has the State Lost Its Appeal? Gigi Francisco, Feminist Organizing Under Dysfunctional Multilateralism; Noelene Nabulivou, The Mysterious Case of Appearing and Disappearing Women: Sexual Rights and Freedoms in the Pacific; Zo Randriamaro, Political Ecology Challenges to Food Sovereignty; Kumudini Samuel, Internationalization of Militarization: Dilemmas in Global Responses; and Gita Sen, Can Human Rights Tame a Techno-Economic Militaristic Global Order. All of the speeches are featured as podcasts on the DAWN website (www.dawnnet.org).

DAWN Statement at the 54th Session of the CSW on BPFA + 15

DAWNs key statement on BPFA + 15 was entitled Surviving Multilateral Dysfunctionality in a Fierce New World. DAWN reminded the public that During both the Five-Year and Ten-Year Reviews of the BPFA and amidst growing disenchantment with the United Nations, DAWN decided to politically invest in advocating for the necessity as well as negotiating the intricacies of securing womens rights and entitlements won through the BPFA and other international conventions on human rights and social development. The decision was made in a context where these basic rights were being challenged, blurred, eroded or compromised in an institutional environment of intensifying tensions and multiple disagreements among the member states of the United Nations (see DAWN Informs, April 2000; DAWN Informs, May 2005 at www.dawnnet.org).

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The network then called for: renewed understanding of the changing United Nations culture and organization (in the context of complex and ambiguous multilateral space). Feminists and womens rights groups must become more attentive to differences in the nature and character of power relations among protagonists within as well as outside the United Nations. We should also examine how these impact on democratic participation and consensus building that had been accessible to womens organizations, and strategically influence the dynamic process of struggle among forces and actors (www.dawnnet.org)

3. Exploring a New Site for Conversations on Global Development: DAWN Development Debates
DAWN had planned to mark the end of the first decade of the 21st century with its creation of a new site for conversations on global development that was to be placed solidly on south feminist grounds. As well, it was to be a site where DAWN, for the first time in its twenty five years of existence, was to converse with men that had been supporters of feminism and womens rights. The first decade of the 21st century, for DAWN, has been marked so far by two unprecedented critical events: the war on terror and, more recently, the global financial crisis. There has also been an expansion of human rights institutions, including the International Criminal Court and the Human Rights Council. Externally generated crisis in its varied forms and the resolutions to crisis in all their complexities have come to preoccupy all sovereign nations and the peoples they govern. At the same time, these nations and peoples struggle to uphold values associated with sustainable livelihoods, poverty eradication, human rights promotion, freedom of expression and mobility, respect for identity and sexuality. . . a fierce new world had already been borna world that is full of shaken premises, complicated contradictions, serious fractures, severe backlash, broken promises, and uncertain outcomes for the worlds women, especially women from the economic South (DDD Concept Paper). The unprecedented event took place in Africa where 25 years ago, DAWN shared its powerful analyses of south womens struggles and visions at the Nairobi Conference. The event called, the DAWN Development Debates, had the theme A Fierce New world: Re-Imaging Feminist Politics in the Global South, was held in Mauritius on 18 20 2010. DAWN made sure that the participants were activists and protagonists in the policy debates on international/global development but who were ready to bridge between frameworks and policy proposals with feminist advocacies. In the end, a powerful group of women and men carried the debate with DAWN to a new horizon.

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The first day of the Debates was started by introductions and welcome remarks by Gigi Francisco, General Coordinator of DAWN, and Zo Randriamaro, Training Coordinator. This was followed by the first part of the panel presentation, which was chaired by Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum USA/UK), where Financialization and Global Governance was discussed by Stephanie Seguino (IAFFE United States), and Marketization of Climate Change was tackled by Trusha Reddy (Institute for Security Studies South Africa). The second part of the panel presentation was chaired by Cecilia Ng (Womens Development Collective - Malaysia) where Wanda Nowicka (Federation for Women and Family Planning - Poland) gave a talk on Human rights Challenges with SRHR and Rubina Saigol (Womens Action Forum - Pakistan) talked on Militarization and Internationalization of Conflict. After the panel presentations, the group broke for lunch. The parallel discussion groups ensued after the lunch break. There were four groups in allone for each thematic area.

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In the late afternoon, a plenary input was done by Yao Graham (Third World Network Africa Ghana) on New Poles of Accumulation, which was chaired by Flavia Cherry (CAFRA - St. Lucia). The second day started with a Creative Commentary by the DAWN Training Institute alumnae in a form of a game. Here, questions were raised and clarifications were done on several gender issues. After the creative presentation, the first controversy panel followed, where Loga Virahsawmy served as the Chair. The panel was composed of Roberto Bissio (Social Watch - Montevideo) who talked on New Multilateralism, Aid and Poverty; Rosalind Petchesky (Sexuality Policy Watch - USA) who talked on Gender Identity, Sexuality and Feminism; and, Rodelyn Marte (Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organization Philippines/Malaysia), who touched on the topic of HIV AIDS and Women. The morning sessions ended with the reconvening of the parallel discussion groups. In the afternoon, the DTIs presented a generational lens to the debate. Noelene Nabulivou (DAWN - Fiji) served as the chair. This was followed by a plenary input by Diana Bronson (ETC Group - Canada) on Technology and Climate Justice, which was chaired by Peggy Antrobus (former DAWN general Coordinator - Barbados).

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The last day of the DDD started with a plenary input by Adebayo Olukoshi (UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning - Nigeria) on Black Economy and Militarized Globalization. It was Zo Randriamaro (DAWN Madagascar) who delivered the paper in his absence. This was chaired by Claire Slatter (DAWN Board Chair - Fiji). The controversy panel 2 followed with Sonia Correa (Sexuality Policy Watch - Brazil) as chair. The speakers were: Aldo Caliari (Center of concern USA/Argentina) who talked on Human rights and Political Economy and Amrita Chhachhi (Institute of Social Studies Hague/India) who talked on Religious Fundamentalism and Secular Governance. The third day ended with a feedback panel by the DAWN Executive Committee and closing remarks by Gigi Francisco and Zo Randriamaro, who served as Chairs. The main event was preceded by a Pre-DDD Meeting held in Cebu, Philippines on Oct 25 -29, 2009, and two months of intensive global coordination by the DAWN secretariat. A oneday assessment meeting of the secretariat and the DAWN Executive Committee members was held immediately after the event. The inputs from the various speakers provided a wellspring of progressive ideas on global development issues and perspectives which were shared widely via podcasts on the DAWN website. As well, discussions, inputs, opinions and insights made by the participants in the DDD informed the DDD Statement that DAWN distributed in the CSW Conference in March 2010. A book is meant to provide an elaboration on some of the key issues that DAWN sees in the fierce new world. The book will also pull together, in one collection, some of the papers presented at the DAWN Development Debates. The book will see publication in the following period (FY 2010-2011).
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4.

Implementing on a Rolling Basis Global Research Projects

Continuing work on SRHR Research, Sexual Reproductive Rights, Poverty and MDGs
For this year, DAWN is winding up a global study that is focused on analyzing how SRHR policies and MDG/poverty alleviation policies are framed and integrated into the national policy architecture. The research seeks to find out the gaps and contradictions that exist in policy discourses, implementation and impact. This study is being undertaken in India, Mexico and Nigeria. The research team is composed of: Carol Ruiz, DAWN Associate charged with the coordination of the SRHR project; Alessandra Chacham of Brazil, Ngukwase Surma and Mary Okpe of Nigeria, Renu Khanna and Ranjani Murthy of India, and Erika Troncoso Saavedra of Mexico. The project was started by former SRHR Coordinator Sonia Correa who had since transferred to the Sexuality Policy Watch The draft country reports had been submitted and which became the basis for the research coordinators article on ICPD +15 that appeared in DAWN Informs (October 2009). A third researchers meeting is planned in the next fiscal year (FY 2010-2011) in preparation for the MDG summit that will take place at the United Nations-New York in September 2010.

Continuing exploration of a Global Research on PRST

Kumi Samuel continues to lead in the incubation of a global research agenda/project on Conflict under the theme Political Restructuring and Social Transformation. In conjunction with this, Carol Ruiz represented DAWN on December 1 and 2, 2009 at an IDRC consultative workshop on citizenship entitled, Democratic Governance, Womens Rights and Gender Equality, convened by the Womens Rights and Citizenship (WRC) Program of the International Development Centre (IDRC), in Ottawa, Canada. A report on the consultative meeting appeared in the DAWN Informs, December 2009 issue. The PRST strand of work also includes a collaborative initiative with International Womens Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Women and Media Collective and WILD for Human Rights/Berkley Law School on the application of a womens human rights framework on the issues
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of women affected by armed conflict. This global advocacy process seeks to ensure a CEDAW General Recommendation on Women and Armed Conflict. A global consultation to discuss the elements of such a General Recommendation and develop an advocacy strategy was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from the 15 th to the 17th of October 2010.

KRA 2 Global Feminist Advocacies

By 2012, DAWN should have systematized its engagement toward strengthened impact as a key civil society actor in global inter-governmental and multilateral policy arenas and development agenda setting. In 2009-2010, DAWN continued to be deeply involved in global discussions around the global financial and economic crisis, supporting the call of developing countries for utilizing the crisis as an opportunity to undertake fundamental and structural change in recovering the United Nations leadership role in economic governance. As in the previous year, DAWN sustained its coordination of the Womens Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD) and maintained its membership in the GEAR Campaign.

1. Human Rights Council in Geneva

During this period, specifically on June 16, 2009, the HRC Resolution on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity was finally adopted at the 11th Session of the Human Rights Council. This was a culmination of over a year of consistent and persistent work of a number of groups, one of which was DAWN. In the lead-up to this HRC session, DAWN was a co-sponsor of a panel debate entitled, Combating maternal mortality: Why Bring Human Rights into the Picture? that took place on June 5, 2009. DAWNs work in this area was led by Angela Collet who was a member of the DAWN Executive Committee until October 2009. As a way of manifesting their presence, DAWN joined others in calling for fulfilling the aspirations for rights of many marginalized groups. On December 18, 2009, sixty-six (66) nations at the UN General Assembly supported a groundbreaking statement confirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are to be included in the international human rights protections. It is the first time that a statement condemning rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people has been presented in the General Assembly.
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DAWN through its General Coordinator, Gigi Francisco, spoke at the Seminar on Cultural Rights entitled, Implementing Cultural Rights: Nature, Issues at Stake and Challenges, held on 01-02 February 2010 in Geneva. The seminar was organized by Ms. Farida Shaheed, Independent Expert on Cultural Rights, whom DAWN had actively supported during the nomination process.

2. UN & UN Related Events in New York

Presently, DAWN is active in the GEAR Campaign, WWG on FfD, the ECOSOCBWIs-WTO-UNCTAD Meetings, UNDP Consultation, Beijing +15, and all other advocacies that relate to the four thematic areas.

Womens Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD)

For the second year, DAWN coordinated the Womens Working Group on Financing for Development (WWG on FfD) which was formed in October 2007. It is an alliance of women's organizations and networks that advocates for the advancement of gender equality, women's empowerment and human rights in economic negotiations primarily through the FfD-related UN processes. DAWN represents the WWG on FfD in the Consultative NGO Group for the Development Cooperation Forum that is coordinated by UN DESA. The WWG on FfD includes the following networks/organizations: FEMNET African Womens Development and Communication Network; AWID Association for Womens Rights in Development; FTF-GCAP Feminist Task Force-Global Call to Action against Poverty; GPF Global Policy Forum; IGTN International Gender and Trade Network; ITUC International Trade Union Confederation; NETRIGHT Network for Womens Rights in Ghana; WEDO Womens Environment and Development Organization; WIDE Women in DevelopmentEurope; TWN-Africa Third World Network-Africa; ANND - Arab NGO Network on Development; REPEM and ICAE International Council on Adult Education. There was strong presence of DAWN and of the WWG on Ffd that it coordinated, in social and economic discussions within the United Nations headquarters in New York. DAWNs Gigi Francisco and Marina Durano were part of the CSO group present at the Special High-level Meeting of the Economic and Social Council with the BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD which took place on April 27, 2009 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The overall theme of the meeting was "Coherence, Coordination and Cooperation in the Context of the Implementation of the
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Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development." (http://www.un.org) DAWNs Marina Durano, Gigi Francisco, Anita Nayar and Zo Randriamaro formed a part of the WWG on FfD delegation to the High Level Conference on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development in New York on 24-26 June, 2009. Two statements were issued by the WWG on FfD during this event. When the conference began, the WWG on FfD issued a statement Time to Act: Women Cannot Wait wherein the call to reposition the leadership role of the United Nations in a global development, economic and financial architecture was strongly reiterated. At the conclusion of the conference, a statement entitled High Diplomacy and Fragile Consensus Limit UN Development Cooperation: No Commitment to Reforming the Financial Architecture (www.dawnnet.org) was released. The WWG on FfD expressed a huge disappointment in the lack of follow-up to what could otherwise have been an important global negotiation where a major global crisis was made the focus of concern. Outside of New York, DAWN led the WWG on Ffd in other advocacy fronts, as follows. On the occasion of the G-20 Summit in April 2009, the WWG on FfD released a statement entitled A Call for Structural, Sustainable, Gender Equitable and Rights Based Responses to the Global Financial and Economic Crises (www.dawnnet.org). As well, another WWG on FfD statement entitled The Global Economic Crisis: Its Causes and Multiple Impacts which DAWN had helped craft, was read by the representative of the International Gender and Trade Network at the UNCTAD Public symposium on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development that was held in Geneva on 18-19 May 2009 (www.dawnnet.org). Moreover, when the G-20 met in Pittsburgh, USA in September 2009, the WWG on FfD distributed a statement G20 and the IMF: Peddling Cosmetic Changes While Hounded with Illegitimacy (www.dawnnet.org) During the last quarter of 2009, DAWN joined other members of the WWG on FfD in issuing still another advocacy statement Making Government Accountable and Aid Transparent for Womens Rights and Gender Equality (www.dawnnet.org) was issued at the High Level Symposium on Accountable and Transparent Development Cooperation Towards a More Inclusive Framework. The HLS took place in Vienna on 18-19 November 2009 as a lead up to the Development Cooperation Forum which was to take place in June of the following year.

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UN Reform Process/Womens Advocacy on GEAR (Ongoing)

DAWN continues to be one of the global focal points for the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign that is co-led by the Womens Global Leadership (WGL) and Womens Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign, a network of over 300 womens, human rights and social justice groups around the world sustained continuing pressure on the UN Member States and the UN Secretariat to move swiftly forward in creating the new UN gender equality entity. GEAR also urged the UN to set up a transparent process now for recruiting the best qualified Under Secretary-General to head this agency. (www.gearcampaign.org) DAWNs participation in the GEAR had been marked by a strong sense of making governments accountable for its decisions on which global programs to prioritize and how global funding was to be allocated. Repeatedly DAWN members raised the need to link more closely the call for a UN Women to a comprehensive understanding of how development itself is now fiercely debated in the United Nations, noting that womens rights advocates need to carefully weigh our risks and gains, and be smart in moving with and through the political deal-making among Member States (www.dawnnet.org). DAWNs Anita Nayar, Marina Durano & Zo Randriamaro attended the GEAR Strategy Meeting held in New York in March 2009 as part of the events around the CSW Meeting.

CSW on Beijing +15 Official and Side Events March 1-12, 2010
On March 2, 2010, Marina Durano gave a talk on, Eyes on Gender: Regional Perspectives on the Impacts of the Financial Crisis. The talk was a joint venture of Social Watch, AWID, and DAWN. On March 3, 2010, Anita Nayar & Zo Randriamaro attended the plenary on, Development as if Gender Matters. This event was sponsored by SID. On March 4, 2010, Zo Randriamaro was a panelist at the Interactive Panel on the Linkages Between the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action & the Achievement of the MDGs.
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Marina Durano, on the other hand, spoke on, Gender Equality in Crisis and Recovery, an activity that was sponsored by UNIFEM, NGLS, AWID, CWGL, IAFFE, WWG on FfD, and DAWN. Marina Durano also spoke in a side-event called Gender Equality in Economic Crisis and Recovery: Getting Macroeconomic Policies Right, which was sponsored by UNIFEM and NGLS. On March 4, Kumi Samuel attended a workshop organized by the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) to speak about the application of the norm in situations of protracted conflict. She focused on both state and non state responsibility to protect but also raised concerns about the abuse of the norm in favour of coercive external intervention and its limitation to humanitarian intervention with no focus on protection. She highlighted the need for further research and analysis on the conceptual and practical challenges of the R2P framework; the need to integrate a gender perspective to the elaboration of the norm and focused on its usefulness in the work of conflict prevention. Kumi Samuel also participated in discussions with the Women Peace Makers Network hosted by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation based in the Netherlands exploring possibilities to strengthen/build regional networks for the lobby and advocacy to include womens perspectives in peace processes at the regional and international levels. On March 5, 2010, DAWN EC was in full force in the NGO Parallel Event entitled, Development Debates in a Fierce New World: Feminisms at the Crossroads. Marina Durano talked on, Development Policies Amidst the Local-Global Tensions: Has the State Lost Its Appeal? Gigi Francisco on, Feminist Organizing Under Dysfunctional Multilateralism; Noelene Nabulivou on, The Mysterious Case of Appearing and Disappearing Women: Sexual Rights and Freedoms in the Pacific; Zo Randriamaro on, Political Ecology Challenges to Food Sovereignty; Kumudini Samuel on, Internationalization of Militarization: Dilemmas in Global Responses; and Gita Sen on, Can Human Rights Tame a Techno-Economic Militaristic Global Order? The DAWN panel was moderated by Anita Nayar. On March 6, 2010, Gita Sen was invited to speak at The CWGL 20th Anniversary Public Symposium at the Hunter College.

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Gigi Francisco, on the other hand, gave a talk on Financing Gender Equality Across the Silos: Which Way Forward for Women? on March 8, 2010. The event was sponsored by WWG on FfD. On March 9, 2010, Gita Sen was one of the panelists on the Interactive Panel Discussion and talked on, Gender, Climate & Sexual & Reproductive Health, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Denmark & UNFPA. In the afternoon, she was again the panelist for an Interactive Panel in preparation for the 2010 Annual Ministerial Review of the ECOSOC.

DAWN at the UNDP Consultation on Platform HD2010: Towards a Peoples Multilateralism June 5-6, 2009
As DAWN fulfills its commitment to sustain its engagement with United Nations agencies, Gigi Francisco attended the UN Development Programmes (UNDP) twoday consultation with 25 representatives of civil society organizations and foundations in New York in preparation for a 20-year review of the impact of its flagship publication with the hope of coming up with a Human Development Report that advocates for a healthy environment where people can lead productive and creative lives. The Report will contain the recommendations from the various groups and organizations. The CSOs present at the meeting welcomed Ms. Helen Clark, who had just been appointed as the new UNDP Administrator.

KRA 3 Remobilizing Feminist Activisms

The overall goal of DAWN in remobilizing feminist activisms is to contribute a distinct south feminist inter-linkages analyses and activism to the sustainability of movement building and political action by womens rights organizations and other CSOs.

1. DAWN Training Institutes (Global & Regional)

DAWN aims to sustain and systematize follow through of the DAWN Training Institute and Regional Training Institute alumnae by increasing the capacity of young women from the south to engage in critical feminist analysis of global trends for political action.
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2nd Joint RTI for South and Southeast Asia Miriam College, April 16 22, 2009
The new Manila-based Secretariat spearheaded the second South and Southeast Asian Regional Training Institute that was held on April 16-22, 2009. A total of 28 participants were drawn from eleven (11) countries in the region based on specific selection criteria to ensure that participants reflected diverse country representations and advocacies. The training, which aimed to imbue DAWN's analytical approaches on how to understand and address issues that surround feminism, focused on the theme, Feminist Advocacies for Interlinking Gender Justice and Economic Justice. DAWN and non-DAWN women collaborated and served as Resource persons/facilitators, including DTI alumnae from the region were involved in the preparation and finalization of the modules and sessions. The training utilized a combination of different methodologies, including workshops, plenary, case analysis for groups and individual journal writing. From the participants' evaluation, the training provided an inspiration for young feminists to continue their work in promoting gender equality by strengthening their own networks as well as by embarking on new initiatives.

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The participants of the 2nd RTI were eventually included in the listserv for the DTIs and RTIs which remains as the main vehicle for DAWN to maintain communication with the young feminists. The DAWN Executive Committee agreed that the next training activity will be a major DAWN Training Institute at the global level that will be held in Southeast Asia in October 2011. This event will be driven by the DAWN Global Analysis Team and led by DAWN Training Coordinator Zo Randriamaro.

Maintaining connections with DTI/RTI Alumnae

DAWN recognizes the importance of sustaining its partnership with the alumnae of its global and regional training institutes by constantly engaging them in the networks initiatives and inspiring them to carry forward their feminist activism. This year, DAWN has invited a number of DTIs and RTIs to write a reflective essay about their life and current work as a way of encouraging other young feminists to remain bold in what they do. Their contributions were posted in the Alumni in Action page of the website together with short articles by RTI participants of the AP-NGO and Young Asian Womens Leadership Forums held in October 2009. In addition, 4 DTIs and RTIs have also contributed analytical pieces on DAWNs research theme, Political Ecology and Sustainability in the last issue of DAWN Informs. Apart from written contributions, interviews with DTI/RTI during DAWN events were converted to podcasts posted on the YOUNG WOMEN SPEAK section of the sites audio resources. Through the kind assistance of Anne Mitaru, former DAWN Intern, who did all the interviews, the Info-Com Officer was able to create this special section in the website that calls into attention the significant role of young feminists in todays rapidly changing role. At the recently held CSW in New York, Linley Faulkner, another former DAWN intern, also helped in networking with other younger feminists in this important UN platform, during which she collaborated with DTI alumna, Tara Chetty, in documenting DAWN presentations and workshops. Through her presence at the CSW and successful collaborative work with the Info-Com Officer, DAWN was able to widely share its analyses via web podcasts on a timely manner. DAWN global and regional training institutes alumnae are able to continuously update each other through constant communications via the DTI and RTI listserv, maintained and managed by the Info-Com Officer, allowing them to sustain and nourish the friendships they have formed even beyond the training period. This space has provided an opportunity for them to engage DAWN in various ways as well as to inspire evolving activisms through sharing of ones experiences. The most
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active among these groups is the RTI 09 list, whose members have been admirably responsive even to personal appeals.

DTI & RTI Alumnae: Making Their Presence Felt

On October 19, 2009, several of the RTIs (Shuchi Karim- RTI 2007, Anupama Sekhar- RTI 2007, and Nilushah Hemasiri- RTI 2009) participated as facilitators at the Young Asian Womens Leadership Forum in Manila. This event precedes the AP NGO Forum Beijing +15 that was held in Miriam College in October 22-24, 2010. The session entitled, Our Voices, Our Aspirations: Creating our FutureWho is an Empowered Woman in an Uncertain World? was the last session of the day. Shuchi, Anupama and Nilusha conducted the session and asked the participants on their views of an empowered woman and empowered man.

On October 21, 2009, a community visit and immersion was held in selected areas in Marikina, specifically, Barangay Loyola Heights and Baranggay Jesus dela Pena. As part of the Program of the AP NGO Forum on B+15, a small group of
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participants visited some communities devastated by hurricane Ondoy on October 21, 2009 as a way of showing unity with the victims and learning from the local people the extent of environmental and social vulnerabilities that residents, especially, women and children are facing on a daily basis. The DAWN RTIs were part of the immersion and participated actively in the exchange between participants and victims of the typhoon. The RTIs were part of the AP NGO Forum on Beijing +15 held in Miriam College, Philippines on October 22-24, 2009. Shuchi Karim (from Bangladesh and RTI Alumna in 2007) was a plenary speaker, who talked on Feminisms through GenerationsPart II. Anupama Sekhar (from India and RTI Alumna also of 2007) was the moderator for the panel. Two others were part of the panel from Japan and the Philippines. On the last day of the forum, seven RTIs from South and Southeast Asia shared their personal journeys as young feminists and how their unique feminist politics affect their daily lives. The workshop, entitled, Translating Feminist Knowledge: Young Feminist Reflections, was well-received by the attendees through a lively exchange between the participants and the facilitators, namely: Nilusha Hemasiri (Sri Lanka), Anupama Sekhar (India), Chandra Sugarda (Indonesia), Winnie Ma (Hong Kong), Fiona Luk (Hong Kong), and Suchi Karim (Bangladesh). The DTI & RTI alumnae made their presence strongly felt at the DAWN Development Debates held in Mauritius on 18-20 January 2010. A total of 18 women from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Pacific and the Caribbean attended, with several of them providing plenary presentations and activities. The young women were: Flavia Cherry (St. Lucia); Tara Chetty (Fiji); Malyn Ando and Rodelyn Marte (Philippines/Malaysia); Thokozile Budaza (South Africa), Verena Sanchez (Jamaica); Nicole Bidegain (Uruguay); Nani Karangi (Cook Islands); Michelle Reddy (Fiji); Tze Yeng (Malaysia); Shuchi Karim (Bangladesh); Cai Yiping (China); Marina Bernal (Mexico/Argentina); Carmen Capriles (Bolivia); Noelene Nabulivou (Fiji); and Pauline Vande Pallen (Ghana). Updates on some of the DTI/RTI alumnae during this period included the following: (a) Anasuya Sengupta (India) joined the Global Fund for Women; Tara Chetty (Fiji) was accepted at Rutgers University; (c) Noelene Nabulivou joined the DAWN Executive Committee; (d) Carmen Capriles was involved in convening the womens
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forum for the Peoples Summit on Climate Change and Mother Earth that was held in Bolivia in April 2010, (e) Cai Yiping was appointed Executive Director of ISIS International-Manila; and (f) Ngukwase Sharma (Nigeria) had joined DAWNs Global Research Team on SRHR and Maternal Mortality.

2. Young Interns at the DAWN Secretariat Office

Two young women, Anne Mitaru (Kenyan) and Linley Faulkner (Filipino Canadian) students from the Center of Asia Pacific Initiatives of the University of Victoria,were interns with DAWN for the period August 2009 to January 2010 as part of the Info-Com team, the women played an important role during the AP-NGO Forum in Manila and EC Planning Meeting in Cebu, both held in October 2009; DAWN Development Debates in January 2010; and the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. Their contributions included documenting the said events; producing web resources out of the events outputs; and networking with the younger feminists of DAWNs global and regional training institutes. Anne Mitaru provided the voice over for the DAWN Podcasts: The Voices of Women Creating a Just World that are now on the DAWN website. The DAWN Development Debates generated around 20 unique podcasted presentations on a wide range of themes such as financialization and global governance; militarization and internationalization of conflict; geo-engineering and climate justice; and human rights challenges, all supported by photos and captions made readily available to the public.
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In March 2010, DAWN also invited volunteer intern, Linley Faulkner, to join the EC in New York City during the Global NGO Forum, CSW 54 events and parallel workshops. The intern had the opportunity to assist the EC during their presentations, workshops and meetings especially through sharing DAWNs analyses to the virtual community via new information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Twitter and podcasting. Approximately 13 podcasts had been generated and shared during the 54th CSW session.

3. Other Activities in Support of Womens Rights Activisms & Mobilizations

Resource Mobilization Strategies for Womens Organizing and Womens Rights: A Stakeholders Meeting November 30-December 1, 2009
A two-day stakeholders meeting was held in Amsterdam on November 30December 1, 2009 on Resource Mobilization Strategies for Womens Rights, which was attended by Gigi Francisco. The aim of the said meeting, which was convened by AWID, was to share up-to-date information and deepen analysis on funding trends for womens rights; discuss the current context of global crisis and its impact on womens rights organizations; and strategize around resource mobilization for womens rights organizing with focus on different actors from both the donor community and womens movements that play key roles in advancing this task.

Support for Womens Human Rights Defender

DAWN supported the nomination of Shadi Sadr as recipient of the 2009 Tulip Award, the Dutch Human Rights Defenders Award. Shadi a journalist and a lawyer is co-founder of the women's organization, Raahi, and End Stoning Forever Campaign. She was one of four Iranian feminist activists that was brought by DAWN to the World Social Forum in Kenya, who spoke against the practice of stoning to death for so-called sex crimes. Recently, Shadi together with two other Iranian women, was awarded the Lech Walesa Award earlier on. A part of her acceptance speech read: "The voices of the protesters in Iran have only been heard after the sacrifices of hundreds with their lives, sustained injuries and imprisonments. To hear the voices of this movement, to create a worldwide solidarity with the Iranian people who fight for freedom and democracy and to feel
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responsible against the abuse of their human rights and to convene a worldwide action to take the perpetrators to the court of law and to seek justice is what we seek. Thinking of the victims and sympathizing with those whose body and soul is raped and contaminated is not enough. Lets think every day as we wake up what can we do to seek justice for the victims and the punishment for the abusers." Shadi was awarded on November 9, 2009 in the Netherlands.

KRA 4 Organizational Development

By 2012, DAWN is strongly positioned to solidify its comparative advantage in south feminist leadership in the global womens movements for the next 20-25 years. As a strategy to attain this, DAWN recognizes the need to adjust its organizational and communications capacities for increased accountability relevance and effectiveness. DAWN set up four goals: 1. To put up new/strengthen operational mechanism and processes; 2. Reconstitute the DAWN Steering Committee into a DAWN Executive Committee; 3. Implement a Coherent and Effective Media, Communications and Information Dissemination Strategy for DAWN; and 4. Strengthen Secretariat Capacities for Effective Support to New Structure.

1. Establish a Board of Governance

Convening of the new DAWN Board Philippines, May 2010

The Board contributes to the enrichment of DAWNs policies and activities, and is also primarily responsible for providing oversight and accountability for DAWN in a satisfactory and timely manner, in accordance with the DAWN Statutes, DAWN Regulations, appropriate decisions of the Board and/or Executive Committee, DAWNs commitments, and applicable national law. The newly constituted DAWN Board was finally able to have its launching meeting in May 2010. It is made up of Claire Slatter from Fiji; Celita Eccher from Uruguay; and Zenebework Tadesse-Marcos from Ethiopia.

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Claire Slatter from Fiji, was the founding member of DAWN and was the networks General Coordinator from 1997-2004. She is presently the Chair of the Board. She teaches ethics at the Fiji National University, where she heads the School of Social Sciences. Celita Eccher from Uruguay, is a feminist social worker deeply committed and active in the adult education movement and in the womens movement. At present, she is the Secretary General of the ICAE (International Council for Adult Education), Coordinator of the Gender and Education Office (GEO) of ICAE, President of the Third World Institute and a member of the Board of DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era). Zenebework Tadesse Marcos from Ethiopia, is the first woman President of CODESRIA. Zene, as she is fondly called, acclaimed African intellectual, prolific researcher and writer, long time activist on gender and womens issues, has made many remarkable contributions to African Social Science, and in particular on the condition of Ethiopian women, on Womens Land Rights with Yared Amare, and on the gender dimensions of poverty in Ethiopia. In order to strengthen the monitoring and accountability mechanisms within the global network, an Internal Auditor that had assisted DAWN Secretariat in its transition from Africa to Asia, had been retained. She reports directly to the Board and coordinates closely with the General Coordinator and Finance Officer. The Internal Auditor is also a member of the Finance Committee which is composed of the General Coordinator (convener), a member of the Executive Committee, and the DAWN Board Chair. The Board has oversight function over and shares leadership of the organization with the DAWN Executive Committee (formerly Steering Committee) that is primarily responsible for setting and implementing the programmatic content & direction of DAWN. Its members are individually and collectively accountable to the Board for the performance of their responsibilities in a satisfactory and timely manner and in accordance with the DAWN Statutes, DAWN Regulations, appropriate decisions of the Board and/or Executive Committee, DAWNs commitments, and applicable national law.
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The Current DAWN Executive Committee is composed of Gita Sen and Anita Nayar from India, Kumudini Samuel from Sri Lanka, Noelene Nabulivou from Fiji, Zo Randriamaro from Madagascar, Marina Durano and Josefa (Gigi) Francisco from the Philippines (currently the General Coordinator). In order to enhance DAWNs capacity for analyses and advocacy, there is a need to bring on board additional members particularly from regions of the economic South where DAWN currently does not have any representation on its Executive Committee. In addition to the Board and Executive Committee, DAWN has a secretariat that serves as a center providing operational services in support of DAWNs functions of research, activism/ advocacy, networking, training and communications. Currently, the DAWN secretariat is based in Manila, Philippines. It is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines (as Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era Secretariat, Inc.) as a non-stock, non-profit organization, with the Women and Gender Institute at Miriam College Foundation, Inc. as its office and legal base. It is headed by the General Coordinator who is also a member of the Executive Committee. When the Secretariat was moved to the Philippines in October 2008, a whole new DAWN Secretariat staff was hired. Since then a new Program and Admin Officer, in the person of Stella Eloisa Marquez-Fong, had been hired. She assumed the position in October 1, 2009.

2.

Implement a Coherent and Effective Media and Info-Com Strategy

The main thrust that guided DAWNs info-com work for FY 2009-2010 was revamping existing electronic and web-based communications to effectively promote DAWNs groundbreaking analyses on gender and development in rapidly evolving global and regional advocacy platforms. Concurrent with its organizational restructuring, DAWN continued to strengthen its information and communications strategy by upgrading established info-com tools and utilizing new technologies that allowed the network to expand and share the outcomes of its initiatives to a wider range of diverse publics. At present, DAWNs core operations are supported by an integrated info-com infrastructure that facilitates and sustains multi-level exchanges of knowledge, information and strategic expertise crucial in advancing its Southern feminist activism beyond its first 25 years of historic existence. The following outlines the major developments in DAWNs presently available information and communications technologies, as well as, the challenges that still need to be overcome in order to move DAWNs current info-com strategy forward:
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Website
Accomplishments. Full transfer of web administration from Calabar to Manila secretariat took place after a series of online discussions from January to May 2009 between DAWNs former web consultants, Magaly Pazello and Tori Holmes, and the current Info-Com Officer, Sarah Domingo. During this period, Sarah Domingo, Info-com Officer, was given relevant training on the management of existing info-com tools such as emails and mailing lists, whose settings have been re-configured for efficient access of the Manila secretariat. Part of this process was the smooth turn-over of account names and passwords, together with all organizational and technical documents pertaining to the functioning and maintenance of DAWNs current info-com platform. The bulk of the conversations between the two parties, however, focused on the on-going web development project aimed at meeting DAWNs evolving communication needs. This meant revamping the old website from a static to an interactive web portal. Because the project execution coincided with the organizations internal restructuring, only phase 1 of the project was finalized and the implementation of the subsequent 3 phases was temporarily postponed until the global secretariat resumed full operations in its new base in Manila. Immediately after the transition, regular online consultations with the former web consultants were initiated, which facilitated for the successful transfer of project responsibilities to the Manila secretariat following the Executive Committee (EC) decision to move the project forward. After a series of deliberations, the EC decided to contract the services of a Manila-based web developer who was expected to provide timely and appropriate technical services and support in close coordination with Sarah Domingo. This decision was honored by the former web consultants whose thorough assistance and expertise were instrumental in providing initial guidance to Sarah Domingo while performing the tasks of identifying and addressing DAWNs external and internal communication needs. The resolution of other issues related to the execution and completion of pending info-com assignments was designated to the Info-Com Task Force, composed of the Info-Com Officer and 4 EC members Marina Durano, Gigi Francisco, Anita Nayar and Kumudini Samuel formed during the same meeting by the EC.

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On October 20, 2009, DAWNs new interactive website was formally launched after several months of intensive technical revamping by DAWNs new web developer and IT consultant, Mr. Elmer Valdez, whose work has been guided by the Info-Com Task Force. This was seen by DAWN as an important step for bringing its advocacy and analyses into cyberspace through a dynamic web facility with tools that will allow for easy and efficient web content management. Envisioned as a platform for connecting and sharing feminisms across time and space, the website was created out of innovative technical expertise, leading to the installation of built-in, customized, tailor-made Content Management System (CMS)1 that fits the networks info-com requirements. Unlike ready-made, open source2 website builder software (e.g. Joomla), whose CMS functionalities are difficult, if not impossible, to update due to its core code, DAWNs CMS can be easily upgraded as well as managed even without prior knowledge on technical language. By contracting the services of the IT consultant, the following tasks have been completed in relation to the creation and development of a user-friendly and unique web-based facility that has revived DAWNs presence in cyberspace: 1. 2. 3. 4. Migration to New Web host (Hostgator) Website Design and HTLM Page Layouting/Assembly User Website and Content Management System Development Installation of Dynamic Web Tools and Applications a. Dynamic Animated Banner with functional links b. User Feedback Mechanisms such as Sign-On and Email Buttons c. RSS Feeds d. Google Analytics Tracking Code e. Running Notification in the Homepage f. Flashing Flag for New Posts g. Save/Share Functionality h. Online Request/Subscription Section i. Display Capacity for Multimedia Resources (photo, audio and video)

Apart from these outright features, the website also has a built-in capacity for internal interface, with tools available for exclusive use of DAWN members. The intranet consists of discussion board/online forum, instant messaging facility, profile window and web-based directory of contacts. Each of these tools is important for enhancing the networks internal capacity to facilitate interactive

A content management system (CMS) is a collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system 2 Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is available in source code form for which the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, and improve the software, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software

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communications between and among its members; between the members and its partners; and between the members and the wider public. The website is framed in 5 major sections with more or less 35 pages, each designed using dynamic templates so that 1 page can display n times of articles. This unlimited page display feature allows for the posting and updating of a wide range of web resources (e.g. books, articles, news, presentations, multimedia) that now amount to more than 200 placed in their appropriate sections. ABOUT US is both a collection of DAWNs history and a reaffirmation of its vision. DAWNs four themes remain the core of its analyses, all of which guide new thinking and positioning. DAWN outputs written through time are posted in the RESEARCH & ANALYSES page and collated under RESOURCES. Recent posts under this section are those generated from the activities of the DAWN Development Debates held in January 2010. In the midst of a changing geo-political landscape, DAWNs advocacy sites have also expanded over the years, further enriching its political engagement with governments, international bodies and the womens movement. The arenas where DAWN currently engages are listed under ADVOCACY & NETWORKING, where users can also read about its growing global and regional partnerships. Resources under this category are those generated from DAWNs participation in several global and regional platforms, including UN processes such as the CSW, Womens Working Group on Financing for Development and the Human Rights Council. A space linking feminists of the old and new generations, the DAWN website features, as well as, DTI and RTI alumnae and their reflections on how DAWN has shaped their own advocacies in the TRAINING INSTITUTES sub-page was done. The site also has a special section for DAWN Informs (DI), its official newsletter that still comes out twice a year. Back issues of DI are readily available on the site while new ones are circulated via the universal mailing list. FEEDBACK Congratulations! It is a very professional and informative site. (Ford Foundation Delhi) I liked the page. (Transparency International Bangladesh) Looks good and very informative too. (Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations) I am so very impressed with the updating, easy navigation, graphics and format. (Womens United Nations Report Network) Challenges. The revamped website is still to be upgraded into a multi-lingual site that offers web resources in different languages. As of now, most of the materials
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posted on the website are only in English, which limits accessibility by other readers who speak other languages. While some newsletters have Spanish or French translations, majority of the resources lack the appropriate translation that prohibits non-English speaking readers to understand and share DAWNs groundbreaking analyses especially those that have been generated recently. DAWN hopes that this challenge will be addressed soon in order that more people will be able to access and benefit from its web materials, specifically those based in non-English speaking regions of the South.

Emails and Listserv

Since last year, DAWN has been managing and maintaining special advocacy lists created to address a well-defined set of issues. Examples are the Gender in FfD Google Group, with more than 250 subscribed emails of individuals and organizations involved in Financing for Development, and the WWG Core Google Group which is an exclusive list of 30 members engaged in strategic feminist discussions on UN processes. This year, more than 25 subscription requests have been received for the Gender-in-FfD group alone. Both lists serve as a viable platform for linking different organizations that work on the same line of advocacy. DAWNs original master list, containing approximately 700 emails has also been widely expanded through effective networking during global and regional events as well as through unique subscriptions by outside parties. This expanded list now has an estimated number of 1,900 unique contacts with whom DAWN has engaged in numerous processes throughout the years. These 1,900+ emails receive political statements, electronic resources, invitations to DAWNs activities as well as regular updates on its advocacy, including the recently concluded CSW 54, DDD and APNGO Forum. The following are some of the feedbacks received on the updates that have been circulated in the lists: DAWN listservs have likewise played a crucial role in disseminating to a wide audience statements and sign-ons that call for the promotion of human rights and social justice, all of which are also posted on the website. DAWNs statement in the CSW was circulated in the master list, which was later translated into Spanish by Choike, one of DAWNs NGO media partners. Accomplishments. Most of DAWNs communications are channeled electronically through the use of emails and listservs. Email-based correspondence, for one, has been deemed by the network as the most efficient way for touching base not only with its members but also with its partners and affiliates working in different organizations from around the world. Last October, members of the EC and the secretariat have started to utilize their dawnnet.org email accounts, which have been activated immediately after the launching of the website. An unlimited
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number of email accounts with the dawnnet.org address can be generated for official DAWN correspondence. Apart from private emails, DAWN also maintains the following e-groups through which DAWN communicates and exchanges information with its members and partners: a) 1 e-group for internal communications between and among the EC and the Secretariat; b) 3 separate e-groups that sustain interaction between and regional training institute alumnae; c) and 2 advocacy e-groups on Financing for Development On top of these e-groups is DAWNs master list of contacts that contains 1,900+ emails through which DAWN disseminates and circulates political statements, electronic resources (e.g. DAWN Informs newsletter), invitations to its activities as well as regular web updates on its advocacy. Challenges. DAWN needs to institutionalize a mechanism for regularly updating its contact lists to ensure that its materials reach its target readers and to sustain partnerships with other networks even with those who have changed their addresses/contact information. FEEDBACK Excellent way of sharing these very interesting presentations. (WIDE) Excellent way as always the capacity of DAWN to communicate and summarize the events and processes. (Latin America) This is an excellent way of keeping in tune even from the farthest Central America. Gears up. (Iniciativa contra los Agronegocios) Congratulations and good luck to all the speakers. I will be following the events through the web. (DTI Alumna)

DAWN INFORMS Newsletter

Print copies of the DIs have been widely circulated in various events attended by DAWN such as the AP-NGO Forum on Beijing + 15 and the 54th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Electronic copies, on the other hand, were posted on the website and are being disseminated through the listservs. Circulation of e-copies has not only reduced publication costs but has also inspired awareness by more people about DAWN as well as encouraged free subscription from individuals from different parts of the world.
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Accomplishments. DAWN Informs, the official newsletter of the network, remains a key tool in sharing analytical pieces on its four research themes: Political Economy of Globalization (PEG); Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR); Political Restructuring and Social Transformation (PRST); and Political Ecology and Sustainability (PEAS). Regular online circulation of the newsletter has not only reached more readers but has also reduced overhead costs of DAWN, crucial for sustaining and promoting its advocacy. Challenges. The main challenge in producing the newsletter was to innovate the design in order to make it more consistent with the content. Because the former layout artist had been too busy with his other engagements, DAWN needs to look for a new artist who can take up this assignment. In addition, a new strategy has to be formulated so that the content of the newsletter will not overlap with what is in the website by producing more analytical pieces by the EC and its partners.

FEEDBACK Thank you for sending the DAWN Informs. It made a good reading. I will like my organization to be included in your mailing list for future publications (Global Health Awareness Research Foundation) Thank you for this great supplement [ICPD+15 Supplement]. We will share it with our English speaking members. (Latin American and Caribbean Womens Health Network) Thank you for the information. They are always useful in our advocacy work. (Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi, Mothers Union) We would appreciate receive DAWN Informs back issues. (Gramya Resource Centre for Women) Thank you for sending me an e-copy of DAWN Informs. No doubt Ill enjoy the read. (ISIS International Manila)

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International Conference Call Facility

Accomplishments. DAWN also makes use of an international conference call facility that allows EC members to speak directly with each other and discuss their ongoing work on regular basis. This was initiated and set up by Anita Nayar in coordination with the secretariat, which has facilitated virtual meetings of the EC since February 2009. Through this facility, the EC was able to reach certain decisions and agreements on time, especially on matters related to their strategic engagement in various global and regional processes. Challenges. The main challenge in using this facility was ensuring full participation of all EC members who are based in different regions with different time zones that has made it difficult at first to set the call schedule.

3. Info-Com & Media Support Work for DAWN

Much of the success of the activities of and with DAWN is found in the dissemination of information in the fastest possible way, ensuring that these will reach DAWNs strategic partners and publics. The Info-Com played a key role in enabling DAWN to fulfill its commitments in the Key Result Areas of its Strategic Plan. These were as follows:

Web-based Multimedia Resources: Podcasts, Videos and Photos

The website through its multimedia resources has been instrumental in disseminating DAWNs analyses in major global and regional platforms: the APNGO Forum on Beijing+15 held in Manila last October and the 54 th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women held in New York last March (CSW 54), as well as in sharing to diverse audience the outcomes of its landmark event, the DAWN Development Debates (DDD) held January this year. Through web-based info-com tools, DAWNs events were not only publicized but live presentations of the analyses put forth by DAWN members on a wide range of critical issues during those events were brought to the public through the podcast technology. Podcasts were generated through the recordings of the presentations which were then converted to a standard MP3 format. As an info-com strategy, this was particularly useful for those who were not able to attend those events but were equally interested to deliberate and reflect on issues that are crucial for carrying forward the same line of struggles and activisms. The first podcasts were introduced under the slogan, DAWN Podcasts: The Voices of Women Creating a Just World, during the AP-NGO Forum. The voice over was done by Anne Mitaru, former DAWN Intern from the University of Victoria, who also assisted the Info-Com Officer in producing these audio resources for the DAWN website. The DAWN Development
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Debates also generated an estimated number of 20 unique podcasted presentations on wide ranging themes such as financialization and global governance; militarization and internationalization of conflict; geo-engineering and climate justice; and human rights challenges, all supported by photos and captions made readily available to the public. . In March 2010, DAWN has also invited volunteer intern, Linley Faulkner, to join the EC in New York City during the Global NGO Forum, CSW 54 events and parallel workshops. The intern had the opportunity to assist the EC during their presentations, workshops and meetings especially through sharing DAWNs analyses to the virtual community via new information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as Twitter and podcasting. Approximately 13 podcasts had been generated and shared during CSW 54. A number of individuals, including some DTI/RTI alumnae, who were not physically present during those events, expressed their gratitude to DAWN via email for sharing these podcasts, which they said they enjoyed listening to and pondering on. By optimizing the use of digital audio technology, DAWN was therefore able to maximize its presence in cyberspace, extending the reach of its analyses to more individuals, networks and organizations, all of which are exposed to the conveniences of these new informational and communications technologies. Posted at the end of March, DAWNs online playable videos also gained positive feedback from its web users. Launched as Women Speak: Videos on Feminism for Social Change, there are currently six videos available for online viewing: Feminism Speak Up; Feminism-Landscaping; Celebrating DAWN 20 Years and Moving On; Reinventing the Social Contract; and Womens Movement in Fiji: Challenges and Opportunities. Because of the increasing importance of visual communications in advocacy work, DAWN plans to embark on more video projects that aim to present short but valuable lessons on feminism, gender equality and womens rights from the documentation of its forums and events, including the DAWN Development Debates.

FEEDBACK I've just listened to Gita Sen's plenary and it was excellent! Have shared with my network. Keep up the good work! Pls Pls Pls Pls continue to have podcasts of DAWN women and their lecturing/speaking circuits! (All Womens Action Society Malaysia) Its fantastic to have these resources [videos] readily available online. (University of Rutgers) These videos are very useful. (Dominican Republic)
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Analytical Pieces in DAWN Informs

Regular publication of DAWN Informs also remains central not only to the dissemination but also to the generation of groundbreaking analyses on gender and development issues. While publication is done on a bi-annual basis, DAWN released a special issue this year to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), a process in which the network has long been very much engaged.

June 2009 Issue

The first DI issue for the year 2009 came out in June and contained 16 pages. The front page, which featured issues surrounding the global financial and economic crises, highlighted the contributions by Zo Randriamaro on Food Crisis and Sovereignty in Sub-Saharan Africa; by Gigi Francisco on Womens Financial Distress in High Growth East Asian Economies; and by Magda Lanuza on Latin American Initiatives on Justice and Development. The statement submitted by DAWN with other networks to the Commission on Population and Development that called for an End to Maternal Mortality and Morbidity was also published in this issue. Two reports on DAWNs on-going research projects were also written, one by Sonia Correa entitled, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and another by Kumudini Samuel called, Engendering Peacebuilding for Political Restructuring and Social Transformation. The last pages, on the other hand, were allocated for the report of the South and Southeast Asia Regional Training Institute held in Manila last April and a Tribute to Lucille Mair by DAWN co-founders, Peggy Antrobus, Claire Slatter and Gita Sen.

October 2009 Issue

The 8-paged ICPD+15 Supplement was released in October 2009, containing the following articles: ICPD+15 at the Crossroads: Health, Rights and Citizenships by Carol Ruiz-Austria; Advocating for Full Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Still an Uphill Battle by Angela Collet; and SRHR and Global Finance: risis or Opportunity? by Gita Sen. This issue was also posted by Choike on their portal (http://blog.choike.org/ eng/news/724), gaining a wider public attention.

December 2009 Issue

The online circulation of this issue was done 2 days prior to the DAWN Development Debates. Contributions on DAWNs four research themes were sought, which include articles written by DTI alumnae and DAWN partners. DTI alumnae Nani Kairangi, Carmen Capriles, Tara Dhakal and Bernice Appiah-Pinkrah wrote regional pieces on climate change and the Copenhagen conference, while Tesa De Vela and Mira Ofreneo of ISIS International Manila wrote a report on the AP-NGO
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workshop, Practicing Pluralist Politics: Implications on Feminist and LGBT Organizing.

DAWN is made more accessible to the public

Since the launching of the website, there has been an abrupt increase in the number of requests and inquiries received through the CONTACT US section of the website. The installation of this interactive web tool, has allowed DAWN to touch base with and inspire individuals and organizations who have expressed immense interest in its work:

I would like to request for information on DAWNs advocacy initiatives and Feminist Advocacy Institute. (Gender Advocacy Programme) I am so pleased to find your websiteI would like to become more informed by and involved with your programmes. (Development Bank of Southern Africa) I am doing a research on women welfare and NGO in Fiji, and I happen to be interested in your organization as my case for study. (University of South Pacific)
As well, through its organizational email (info@dawnnet.org), DAWN receives correspondence from diverse publics, including students, activists, researchers, donors and media. An average of 20 messages per day enters the organizational email account, mostly coming from young women from the South inquiring about DAWNs training institute and internship program. Email correspondence also ranges from inquiries on DAWNs advocacy platforms and publications, to requests for collaboration and/or subscription in the DAWN listserv. Replies to these queries are sent on a daily basis by the Info-Com Officer to effectively assist correspondents in their needs. However, concerns needing EC response are directed to the General Coordinator. Samples of messages received via info@dawnnet.org are as follows:

I would like to request on your Feminist Advocacy Institute (Gender Advocacy Programme, Africa) Will you have a regional training institute in 2010? (Sta. Lucia) I came across your organization and am very interested in the work you are doingMy research interests lie in the impact of womens empowerment on HIV prevention efforts and what this looks like in an East African context. I think that your organization fits well within these research interests (Student from London School of Economics) How can I get hold of the book, Marketisation of Governance? (Student from University of Cambridge)
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I would like to request for Gigi Franciscos paper on Gender Dimensions and Dynamics. (Student from Kanagawa University)
Efforts to network with other organizations web platforms have likewise been initiated immediately after the launching of its own website in order to mobilize more women from the South to engage in feminist activism. On the day of its web launch, the Womens United Nations Report Network (WUNRN) through its coordinator, Lois Herman, circulated DAWNs homepage in their listserv. This has reached Devaki Jain, an esteemed founding member of DAWN, who extended her congratulations for the groundbreaking activities that DAWN is pursuing, one of which is regaining activism in the cyberspace through its new website. DAWNs website is also linked with ISIS International as well as Choike, who have been active in promoting DAWNs analysis and advocacy through its own portals. During the DAWN Development Debates in Mauritius, DAWN established close linkages with Gender Links, who have assisted the network in its publicity needs. Through its local contacts, Gender Links arranged for media coverage such that the debates got a special TV coverage by the Mauritius Broadcasting Company, as well as news releases by LExpress and Le Matinal Mauritius newspapers that contained substantive interviews with renowned feminist participants of the event. This way, DAWN was able not only to expand its network but also to stimulate and mobilize new activisms especially from the South.

Sign-Ons
DAWN has also signed a total of 33 statements, mostly coming from CSOs from the South, to promote feminist activism as an expression of its strong support for human rights causes as well as commitment to gender justice together with its partner organizations and individuals. All statements signed by DAWN had been posted in the issues box of our homepage, which is one of the most visited sections of our website.

Measuring Impact of Web Infrastructure on DAWNs Advocacy Work

In order to objectively evaluate the impact of the website on DAWNs advocacy work, the Info-Com officer regularly tracks web traffic by using internal and external tracking statistics. Internal web statistics are generated by the web host while external web statistics are taken from Google Analytics. It is deemed crucial to have 2 available sources of data for objective comparison. Both statistics have shown that web traffic was most busy on the months and days when there were DAWN events. In October 2009 when the AP-NGO was held, the website gained the highest number of unique visits on the day it was launched (October 20), numbering to approximately 125. For the period of the DAWN Development Debates, both statistics also showed that the website was visited the most on January 20, the 3 rd day of the DDD where podcasts have already been uploaded. The unique visits
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generated on this day numbered to around 140. Web traffic, was however, most full in the month of March. Not only was this the month of the CSW but this was also when more podcasts and videos had been uploaded. Unique visits per day averaged to 160 for this month. Apart from tracking unique visitors, statistics have also shown that web viewers come from as far as South Africa and Brazil, to Fiji, Malaysia and India, which represent countries from the economic South. However, visitors from the US, Canada and even Europe also frequent the site, to visit mostly the resources and appeals pages. In fact, North-based organizations have also established links to DAWNs website such as the Center for Womens Global Leadership (CWGL), AWID (Association for Women in Development), and the Center for Asia Pacific Initiatives of the University of Victoria. Connections to the site are recorded to have mostly come from direct traffic, meaning through the website url itself, followed by the Google Search engine which displays the DAWN website as its top entry when the key word DAWN women is entered compared to last year when it was not even in Googles 3rd page.

Info-Com Plans
Apart from the regular upgrading of its existing info-com platform that mainly consists of its revamped website and listservs, DAWN consistently seeks to improve its info-com strategy by tapping new ICTs and embarking on innovative projects that will bring its advocacy and analyses to more women especially those in the South. For FY 2010-2011, a number of info-com projects are already in the pipeline, some of which have, in fact, already been started although full implementation has been postponed to first ensure the technical and operational capacity of the network to absorb these new info-com interventions. The first of which is the web-based database which will house DAWNs master list of contacts. This database is a systematic way of organizing and safeguarding all the contact information of DAWNs partner organizations and individuals, which is crucial not only for staying connected but also for strengthening its partnerships with them. The second is the online forum integrated in the website for DAWNs improved internal communications. This online facility is aimed at systematizing exchanges between and among the EC, the Board and the Secretariat. Through this forum, all correspondence are centralized, privately secured and systematically arranged for easy tracking of decisions. DAWN also intends to release its new media packet, containing relevant information about DAWNs work for wide circulation in various advocacy platforms and events. Lastly, former DAWN Intern, Linley Faulkner, initiated a special project3 that will assess DAWNs overall infocom strategies and recommend new info-com tools that the network can use for its global advocacy. Entitled, DAWN Info-Com Strategies: A Way Forward for Information and Communication Management, this project was welcomed by
3

Faulkner, Linley. ADMN Proposal School of Public Administration, April 20, 2010.

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DAWN as a way of recognizing the importance of emerging technologies and new social media for inspiring and stimulating change in a highly dynamic world. Linley Faulkner will work closely with the Info-Com Officer to attain the projects objective, which is to research and recommend options for effective use of emerging ICTs. The results of this project will help the global Secretariat move forward its current info-com strategy in order to have a more vibrant, dispersed and creative reach of various public.

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