From Rhetoric to Reality: Grassroots Womens' Actionable Ideas for Social Inclusion and Collaborative Problem Solving

Title of Event:

Name of Organisation:

Date and time of the session:

From Rhetoric to Reality: Grassroots Womens' Actionable Ideas for Social Inclusion and Collaborative Problem Solving

GROOTS International

June 22 nd, 1:30 - 3:30

Key Highlights

1. Estimated no of participants: 50
2. Stakeholder group representation at the event: Grassroots Women Leaders and Partner Organizations (NGOs, donors, etc.)
3. What were the expected objectives: Elevate grassroots women's expertise and knowledge, show the particular concerns and recommendations of grassroots women in urban environment - not to speak to women's issues as a whole.
4. What did the networking event achieve: Shared the contributions, actionable ideas and recommendations of grassroots women (including the particular recommendations of indigenous women) and sparked a dialogue between partners on how resources and collaborations could be better constructed to enhance grassroots women's power and place internationally.

2. What were the core issues identified in your event as they relate to the theme and sub-themes of WUFIII?

Sub-Theme 1: Urban growth and the environment

Sub-Theme 3: Social Inclusion and Cohesion

Why knowledge and expertise of grassroots women matters; Opportunities that can be created for grassroots women learning from each other as problem-solvers and practitioners; How partners can offer support and what is the most successful form; Particular needs and issues that grassroots indigenous women face in their communities, both in the North and South.

3. What were the main points raised by panellists and participants in relation to these different issues? What new ideas have been generated as a result of the discussion?

1. Consult Grassroots and Indigenous Women as Key Experts -Given longstanding contributions and demonstrated knowledge and skills in improving the quality of life and building democracy, grassroots women must be represented as experts in all global, regional, and national dialogues
2. Areas of expertise include sustainability, housing and land, post disaster and conflict recovery, HIV/AIDS, caring communities and economic development
3. Community focused indigenous women and women-led slum dwelling groups are among the most innovative, yet they are also the least recognized and consulted.
4. We pledge our own networks, and call on donors and other partners to help us mainstream our experts in upcoming opportunities that include: Global AIDS Meeting in Toronto, Afri-Cities in Kenya, and WUF 4 in China.

Establish new funds for Grassroots Women's Peer Exchanges, Public Spaces and Organizing

1. Peer exchanges transfer effective skills and knowledge
2. Grassroots ownership and management of public space sustains women's participation in public affairs, from planning and governance.
3. Expanding community organizing builds long-term movements.

Donor Dialogues: International aid agencies should schedule dialogues with grassroots women leaders and local authorities to redirect funds and programs

Support Grassroots and Local Authority Collaborations and Local-to-Local Dialogues to sustain Women's Participation in Local Decision-Making.

1. The Huairou Commission and UCLG are seeking resources for a 3-year joint initiative to sustain women's representation in local decision making and stave off burnout and turnover
2. Local-to-Local dialogues are locally designated strategies whereby grassroots women's groups initiate and engage in on-going dialogues with their local authorities for: Negotiating issues and priorities, Joint planning, and developing on-going partnerships - They should be resourced and replicated.

Women from grassroots indigenous groups North and South have come together to discuss common issues and have come up with the following steps to achieve the goal to strengthen North and South indigenous women's groups so we can be recognized for our work and come to the world stage with a collective voice:

1. Develop an international indigenous women's network
2. Conduct peer exchanges among indigenous women's grassroots organizations North and South
3. Work to access partners and funds for exchanges and network building initiatives.

4. What process steps have been identified in your event that could help turn ideas into operational reality? We (grassroots women) call upon officials from international aid agencies, government ministries, local authorities, and professional associations to share decision-making power and financial resources with low income grassroots women's groups by:

1. Locating settlement planning, program implementation and contracting, and monitoring and evaluation activities in the community and establishing procedures to ensure grassroots women's groups are formally and equitable represented in each aspect.
2. Creating new financial mechanisms and budget lines that enable grassroots women's groups to: own and operate public space (for programs and public meetings) so that our participation in civic life is supported and sustainable, and undertake ongoing community to community peer learning exchanges that recognize grassroots expertise, transfer and scale-up effective women-led development strategies, and provide peer technical support that will reduce the reliance on high paid, non-local technical assistants who drain financial resources from our communities.
3. Resourcing our ongoing, long-term initiatives as community developers with the capacity to negotiate with government, private sector and other development actors to advance pro-poor and democratic programs and policies over the long term.
4. Establish venture capital, affordable credit and insurance services, and other financial mechanisms to increase low-income women's access to land, housing, markets, and enterprise opportunities and to ensure we receive our fair share of the economic growth and development of our cities.