A Process of Consensus-building

In many ways, the process of networking and consensus-building which produced the Call to Action was as important as the actual statement itself. According to participants, it demonstrated the distinctive capacity of women for inclusion and non-adversarial decision-making -- which is itself another overall point that NGO leaders hope to showcase in Beijing.
The Bahá'í delegation to the Vienna NGO Forum '94 included representatives from the Bahá'í International Community, identified by city, and representatives from various national communities in Europe and North America, identified by country.
Shown in front, left to right, are: Wendy Momen (UK), Mary Power (New York), Françoise Teclemariam (France), and Lois Hainsworth (UK). In the back row are Michael Penn (Philadelphia), Kit Cosby (USA), Jenny Field (New York), Roberta Law (The Netherlands), Giovanni Ballerio (Geneva), Ann Mannen (The Netherlands), Brenda Maxwell (Canada), Sepideh Taheri (UK), Nateghe Saffar (Germany) and Shoreh Rahmatian (Romania). Not shown are Bahia Ettehadieh (Vienna), Neda Forghani (Vienna), Rebequa Getahoun (USA) and Bridget McEvoy (Iceland).

"People are not here with their own agenda and that is one of the things that has impressed me the most -- the willingness of all these different organizations to listen to one another," said Patricia Daniels, the president-elect of Soroptimists International, a women's professional service organization. "We agree on certain points and agree to disagree on certain other points and then we build a consensus. What is important is that all points of view come out for discussion."

Another important aspect of the Forum, said participants, was the degree to which it brought women representing newly established organizations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics into the existing network of women's NGOs in Western Europe and North America.

Anna Syomina, the director of "Mama 86," a mothers' environmental organization in Kiev, Ukraine, said she made many useful new contacts during the Forum, which she hopes will lead to new joint projects. To discover the great diversity of the women in the region was also enlightening, she said.

"I recognized for the first time how wide is our world and how different are its people -- but women, really, all of them, from all nationalities and all colors of skin, are very beautiful," she said. "It was a very good experience."

The Integration of Issues

In addition to traditional concerns related to greater equality, better access to political participation, and specific "women's" concerns about reproduction and women's health, the Forum and its Call to Action also addressed questions of global governance, environment and ecology, and disarmament.

"The women's movement today is about connection," said Sue Tibballs of European Women for a Common Future. "You've got to understand how women's issues connect to broader questions such as the globalization of the economy, trade policy, overseas aid policy, community development, and social justice."

The theme of partnership continues to emerge at conferences in the preparatory process for Beijing. Women activists are recognizing that further advancement for women will require changes in the attitudes of men, and that those changes can only come as men are drawn into the movement in a spirit of partnership.

"At this conference, it seemed to me that this theme of partnership was increasingly talked about," said Françoise Teclemariam, who represented the Bahá'í community of France at the Forum. "This I think is a very important point, which will be a main theme at Beijing."

Ms. Teclemariam was one of 18 Bahá'í delegates to the Forum. In addition to representatives from the Bahá'í International Community, the communities of Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States sent delegates. As well, a Bahá'í representative was sent to a special youth consultation sponsored by the UN Secretariat for the Fourth World Conference on Women.

The Bahá'í International Community, in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW), also sponsored a workshop entitled "Bringing Human Rights Home: The Creation of Violence-Free Families and Communities."

"It has become widely acknowledged that violence against women is a major problem worldwide," said Mary Power, director of the Office for the Advancement of Women of the Bahá'í International Community. "The focus of our workshop was not only to illuminate the issue, but also to offer creative solutions. Specifically, we want to promote the idea that we can work to build a new type of family, a unity-based family, which will be violence-free. The workshop sought to explore that."


OneCountry (e-mail: 1Country@BIC.Org) | Contents | 1994 Issues