2 2 March 2006

Dear Section Presidents, IEC Members, International Affairs Representatives and Committee Convenors,

Greetings from the Geneva Office. Today is World Water Day, and the Fourth World Water Forum continues in Mexico. More information about that can be found here: http://www.worldwaterforum.org/home/home.asp

Included in this mailing you will find the following:

Program Issues

-Commission on Human Rights- update

-Call to WILPF Sections for Nominations for 1325 Award

Organizational Issues

-Inside WILPF Geneva

-Fun with Fundraising- this month's tip

-Request for Section Membership lists.

As always, we welcome feedback and contributions to these monthly mailings. If you would like to submit something for circulation, please have it to the office in Geneva no later than the 10th of the month. We would also like to let you know that you can find archived section mailings from 2006 at the following hidden web address: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/updates/sectionmailings.html

Best wishes,

Geneva office team

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Program Issues

Commission on Human Rights- update

The 62nd Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights has been postponed, twice. Information is arriving slowly about how the Commission will transform into the newly established Human Rights council. In Geneva, we are following developments closely, and are posting regular reports on the WILPF International website. We will continue to follow these developments, and are happy to answer any inquiries.

Report on March 13th is available here: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/humanrights/2006/update1.htm

Report on March 20th is available here: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/humanrights/2006/update2.htm

In addition, we have recently circulated a letter to the Expanded Bureau of the Commission, asking them to use these last weeks of this last Commission session for substantive as well as procedural work. You can read that letter here: http://www.wilpf.int.ch/humanrights/2006/bureau_letter.html

Please feel free to contact Michele Arevalo-Carpenter ( michelle(at)wilpf.ch ) in the Geneva office with any questions or for more details.

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Call to WILPF Sections for Nominations for 1325 Award

Dear sister organizations in conflict countries and conflict areas in the world, we as Dutch WILPF Section want to invite you to bring to our section the name of your section or person who you think should be nominated for this award.

Here in the Netherlands the Dutch government has officially launched the 1325 Award which is an one-off prize granted to an individual or civil society organisation that has effectively and innovatively contributed to the enhancement of women’s rights in conflict situations and the resolution of conflict. The Women in Conflict Situations and Peacekeeping Taskforce, a taskforce initiated by the Dutch government, is the leading organization behind this initiative.

The award comprises a sum of € 15,000 of prize money, a work of art made exclusively for the occasion, and a tour through the Netherlands to present the prize-winner’s work to a diversity of audiences.

The main criterion concerning content will be Resolution 1325. The nominee is judged on the influence the work has on three different levels:

1. Is the nominee’s work an expression of the aims of UN Resolution 1325?

2. Has the nominee’s work influenced other actors on the national or international stage of conflict / peace issues? Or: does it have the potential to do so?

3. Has the nominee’s work influenced the public at large and contributed to the public’s knowledge of the concerns addressed by 1325? Or does it have the potential to do so?

Te be clear, it is not the Dutch WILPF Section who is going to select the name of the organization of individual, but an impartial expert jury will appraise the nominations for the 1325 Award, shortlist ten candidates and select a winner. On 19 October 2006 there will be the ceremonial announcement of the winner of this award, thus around the Resolution 1325’s birthday.

It is for the Dutch WILPF Section a great honour to bring the names of organizations and/ or individuals of our sister organizations to the jury as it is in the rules that organizations or individuals can not nominate themselves. It is also for us as section a great opportunity to let the Dutch audience know the important work WILPF is doing on the implementation of 1325.

We want to thank the Officers Team of WILPF International for supporting this initiative.

So please send to the Dutch WILPF Section before May 15 the name of your section or individual to be nominated for this award. We will contact you as soon as possible in order to get the necessary details for the nomination which has to be send in before 15 July.

Thanks in advance for your collaboration on behalf of the Dutch WILPF,

Coby Meyboom

For more information: see www.1325Award.nl

Contact address of the Dutch WILPF Section to send before May 15 the names of WILPF Sections and/ or individuals to be nominated: meyboom(at)gmx.net with a cc to anjo.kerkhofs(at)capgemini.com

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Organizational Issues

Inside WILPF Geneva
2006 Human Rights Intern - Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter We are very happy that Michelle joined us on 1st March. She will stay with us until 30th April. Michelle focuses on Human Rights and more specifically on the transition between the Commission on Human Rights and the newly established Human Rights Council.

Michelle moved from Quito, Ecuador to Canada at age 17 to study Human Rights and Political Science at St Thomas University in Fredericton. While completing her studies, she was an active volunteer for campaigns on social justice, literacy, and human rights. As a researcher and a journalist her interests included issues such as free trade, the welfare state, and indigenous rights. She founded and co-organized a development project which brought Canadian volunteers to an impoverished community in the Ecuadorian highlands to build sanitary units. She also worked in the north of Ecuador as an interviewer of Colombian refugees displaced by the armed conflict. Michelle is looking forward to gaining experience at the U.N Human Rights Commission. She is currently completing a Master's degree in International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford. Michelle hopes to return to Ecuador upon graduation to work on issues affecting indigenous peoples and refugees.

Michelle can be reached at michelle(at)wilpf.ch or on the Geneva tel number +41 22 919 7080 2006 Human Rights Intern - Brianna Burtman

We are very happy that Brianna joined us on 6th March. She will stay with us until the end of April and does not work on Fridays when she goes back to her studies. Brianna focuses, together with Michelle, on Human Rights and more specifically on the transition between the Commission and the Council.

Brianna, from Albany, New York, is in Geneva on a study abroad program with her University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York. She is in her second year at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and is majoring in Public Policy Studies with a focus in Gender and Law. She is minoring in Economics and Women’s Studies. Her other interests include, travel, literature, writing, and tennis. Brianna can be reached at brianna(at)wilpf.ch or on the Geneva tel number +41 22 919 7080 2006

Inga Thorsson Disarmament Intern - Alex Sundberg We are very sorry to see Alex go before the end of the year, but for personal and family reasons she will be leaving us at the end of March. We sincerely hope that we'll have the opportunity to work with her again in the future and we wish her the best things in the world. She has been of tremendous help in the Geneva office and a constant and valuable contributor to all of our work. We'll take what you did for us further, Alex, we promise! Alex will go home on 31st March. Until then, she can be reached at alex.sundberg(at)wilpf.ch or on the Geneva tel number +41 22 919 7080 2006 Economic Justice and Inga Thorsson Disarmament Intern - Beatrice Fihn We are very happy that Beatrice joined us on 20th March. Beatrice will focus on women working in export processing zones as an Economic Justice Intern until the end of April and then will take over the Disarmament Internship until December. Beatrice is 23 years old from Sweden, a student at Stockholm University in international relations and political economy and a member of WILPF Sweden. Beatrice, as a member really wanted to work for the organization. So she's done 10 weeks of internship at the office in Stockholm and now has just started her internship here in Geneva. Beatrice can be reached at beatrice(at)wilpf.ch or on the Geneva tel number +41 22 919 7080 The office is a full house these days, and we are really happy about it!!! Susi and Marie

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Fun with Fundraising- this month's tip

In January we suggested that you develop a relationship with a local business owner, becoming friendly with one another, but not yet asking for a donation. In this month's tip, we recommend that you use that relationship to build a good WILPF anniversary event. Asking for donations of goods or services can support local work, as can cash donations.
Good luck, and let us know how any anniversary events turn out. (Remember, WILPF celebrates it's 91st Anniversary on 28 April 2006)

We also welcome any region-specific fundraising tips, that can be included in future mailings.

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Request for Section Membership lists
In order to strengthen our communications with local members, and also to make it easier to track members who might want to attend WILPF events or UN meetings, here in the Geneva office we are kindly renewing our request for a copy of your national membership lists. We will not distribute these lists to anyone, nor will we allow access to anyone. Our request is simply to build our own international database, and to be able to verify membership claims more easily.

Lists can be sent electronically in the following formats:
Excel (.xls), tab-delineated text files (.txt), Word (.doc) or Access.

We will also take the lists as printed copies, if you don't have them electronically.

Thank you!