Coming Up in 2008
September, Manila:
“International Conference on Gender, Migration, and Development: Seizing Opportunities, Upholding Women’s Rights,” a conference on trafficking co-sponsored by the Philippines National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, UNIFEM and the Lola Grande Foundation. FWAsia is participating in strategic planning for the conference.
May, New York:
The Fund for Women in Asia fundraiser presented a premier screening of film clips from SOLD, a feature length documentary about sex slavery and child prostitution in Southeast Asia. Rachel Sparks, Founder and Chairman of The Sold Project, spoke about her efforts to exposing the truth about child sex trafficking. Taina Bien-Aimé, the Executive Director of Equality Now, moderated a Q&A session.
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Alicia Kershaw, Founder of FWAsia, |
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Alicia Kershaw, Founder of FWAsia, Taina Bien-Aimé, the Executive Director of Equality Now, and Donna Martell, Board of Director of FWAsia. |
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Rachel Sparks, Founder and Chairman of The Sold Project, and Taina Bien-Aimé, the Executive Director of Equality Now, during the Q&A session. |
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It was a full house with a lively Q&A session. |
January, New York:
FWAsia is granted membership as an associate of the International Alliance of Women, which has consultative status with the UN, the WHO, UNESCO and other international organizations.
Events 2007
October, New York:
France Pepper, Director of Arts and Culture Programs at New York’s China Institute, joins the Fund for Women in Asia to serve on its Board of Advisors and Sallie Gouverneur moves from the Board to the Board of Advisors.
July, New York:
FWAsia participated in a National Organization of Women effort to stop sex-related ads, which often involve Asian women and indirectly encourage trafficking, in New York Magazine, which agreed to stop accepting the ads; the effort was recently featured in Ms. Magazine.
June, Port Douglas, Australia:
Alicia Kershaw attended Asia Pacific Economic Council Women Leader’s Network meeting, preceded by the Digital Economy Forum for Women. WLN gathers women to prepare recommendations for the APEC ministers regarding women in their economies and trade. The DEW group focused on Tech issues and is issuing a report on technology access to and use by women.
May, New York:
Donna Martell attended “Human Trafficking, Human Rights: Redefining Challenges”, a panel discussion held by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in conjunction with the UN Commission on Population and Development, with speakers from the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United States, the New York UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, Project Hope International, and the former US Ambassador at Large on Modern Day Slavery.
April, New York:
FWAsia hosted a reception at the Max Protetch Gallery for Chen Qiulin, a young Chinese artist whose performances, photographs, and videos incorporate sculptural elements and a dramatic approach to the changing Chinese landscape, most notably the Three Gorges Dam area, including her home town, now flooded. Characters dressed in traditional garb interact in post-industrial spaces, among rubble, rivers, and factories, evoking the forces that are transforming modern China: personalized, local, mythic, and grand all at once. Chen discussed her work and her life as a woman artist. Many thanks to Josie Brown at Max Protetch for supporting FWAsia!
Founder Alicia Kershaw’s Remarks during the Chen Qiulin Reception:
Here are the three questions we are asked all the time: Why women? Why Asia? What does the Fund for Women in Asia, committed to facilitating social change driven by women, actually do?
First, why women?
World experts agree that we cannot improve the world if half its citizens are left behind. And they are left behind. A recent UN report concludes that in the Asia Pacific region alone, the under-employment of women costs the region $40 billion per year, and unequal education costs another $15-30 billion. Throughout the world, women do 2/3 the work, earn 1/3 the income and own less than 1% of the means of production.
Why Asia?
In either our or our children’s lifetimes, Asia is projected to have 2 of the world’s superpowers. What kind of world will those superpowers create if women do not have a role in their civic life? We need women to have equality in Asia in order to protect the hard fought gains won elsewhere.
What is FWAsia doing about it?
We believe that women in Asia know what they need. They know what needs to change and how to change it. What they lack too often are the skills and resources to effect the change. They need money, staff, office equipment, training, expert advice—they need help building the organizations that will do the work to bring about change. FWAsia is committed to bringing those resources to women in Asia. As a practical matter, that means we have paid for staff, written newsletters and reports, helped with strategic planning and finding resources for projects involving VAW, economic self reliance, and basic research.
Going forward, we have identified the development of web based networking as a tool that can deliver resources to these funds, and are working on the design of an inexpensive simple but effective web tool.
And what has this to do with the art of Chen Qiulin? On the factual, practical side, we know from our research that the dislocation of people in China due to the Three Gorges Dam and the rapid urbanization is massive – 80 to 100 million people so far and a projected 300 – 500 million to come. This dislocation is gendered – it affects men and women differently, and in most cases is harder on women than on men. Ms. Chen’s work speaks to this dislocation. Chen Qiulin is an example of what a woman can accomplish when she is free to speak, free to be an artist and express her own mind. Her themes, of loss, dislocation and a yearning for conservation of culture and community, are themes that speak for women everywhere. FWAsia hopes to encourage more women to make themselves known to the world.
March, New York:
Alicia Kershaw spoke on a panel called “Small Funds Big Ideas” organized by the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund, as part of the NGO meetings of the UN Committee on the Status of Women.
March, New York:
Donna Martell attended two seminars, “A Pragmatic Approach to Managing Your Organization and Proving Your Value”, on risk management, communications, and demonstrating the value of a nonprofit organization; and “Financial Planning and Fundraising Management”, on strategic and financial planning and fundraising strategies, sponsored by Goldman Sachs Capacity Building Academy.
March, Seattle:
Pam Smith and Alicia Kershaw went to the Women’s Funding Network Conference on behalf of The Hong Kong Women’s Foundation (TWF) www.thewomensfoundationhk.org and FWAsia. Major conference themes included Funding for social change; Facilitating collaboration between grantees and other NGOs; Measuring change: evaluating effectiveness of grants; and the Importance of I.T. in connecting to stakeholders, donors and other women’s funds. Along with the Executive Director and a Board member of TWF, they attended retreats and workshops on fundraising, making grants, organizing to effect social change, and the role of women’s funds in eradicating poverty. WFN Member organizations have made more than $50 million in grants to women and girls. www.wfnet.org