Catégorie : Z – OLD + privat

First of all: Please read the 2006 May 24 Action Pack.

Linked with our presentations of Annelise Ebbe, and of War on Iraq,

The Programme of the WILPF, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, is Economic and Social Justice, Respect for the Environment – and the Foundation of Peace.

WILPF PROGRAM AND PLAN OF ACTION 2004 -2007

Building a Culture of Peace: The heart of WILPF’s work from its founding almost 90 years ago to the present is to study and make known the roots of conflicts and wars and to strive for their eradication. It is to help build a society without war, one in which there will be economic and social justice, respect of all human rights of women, men, children and the rights of every living thing; a society in which every person participates fully in decision-making. Our task is to help construct this necessary foundation upon which a durable peace can be achieved.

We remain united in achieving that goal in spite of the turbulent times history has brought us through and today challenges us in unprecedented ways. We are challenged by the violence in our societies and the increasing number and the intensity of national and regional conflicts in all parts of the world. We are challenged by the erosion of human values that gave birth to the United Nations Charter and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international standards and laws. We are challenged by the marginalization of the United Nations and the return to unilateralism where a powerful state and a few allies impose their economic and political doctrines and military rule on others, by force if needed. We are challenged by the powerful transnational corporations’ control of resources and the economic and social policies of nations to amass profits for their shareholders at the cost of meeting citizens’ needs. We are challenged by the dangers the new weaponry and military strategies represent to all humanity and the environment.

Continuer la lecture de « Womens International League for Peace and Freedom »

Linked with our presentation Sakhibakhon Irgasheva – Uzbekistan.

UNDP efforts on developing microfinance in Uzbekistan: UNDP efforts on developing microfinance in Uzbekistan
The United Nations proclaimed 2005 the International Year of Microcredit. The year offers to scale up efforts for making financial services more accessible to poor and low-income people. It will aim to raise public awareness about microcredit and microfinance, and promote innovative partnerships among governments, donors, international organizations, non-governmental organizations the private sector, academia, and microfinance clients.

UNDP, as one of the important development programs in the world actively involved in supporting successful achieving goals of International year of microcredit.

UNDP Uzbekistan has developed a national participation Strategy and action plan for the Year of Microcredit. The strategy includes conducting number of events and activities aimed at strengthening capacity of government of Uzbekistan in building sustainable microfinance sector.

Continuer la lecture de « Microfinance in Uzbekistan »

Linked with our presentation of Sakhibakhon Irgasheva – Uzbekistan.

Women Economic Empowerment – Presentation of the partners: The Business Women Association (BWA) of Uzbekistan is one of the first Non-Governmental Organizations in Uzbekistan which was founded in 1991 by 12 women entrepreneurs that had their own business activity.

During the first years of its activity, BWA faced a lot of problems, such as the lack of understanding of what a non-governmental organization is and the negative attitude towards entrepreneurship. In 1991-1992 there were absolutely no woman organizations where women could address their problems and ideas. That was a very complicated instable time (transition period, USSR collapse, all economic links broke-up, industry development problems, etc.). All those problems had an impact mostly on women. They were fired in case of staff reduction. BWA felt that women needed assistance and it had to undertake some measures.

Thus, BWA started providing vocational education towards women entrepreneurs, with its own resources. Women were taught the basics of market economy, marketing, accounting and taxation. There was no other place, where women could learn about these topics, since in the former USSR there was no knowledge about private entrepreneurship. For three years BWA used only its own resources to train women on entrepreneurship. BWA’s Chairperson published her first book « Learning to pay taxes ».

Continuer la lecture de « Business Women Association BWA -Uzbekistan »

Linked with our presentation of Probir Sikdar – Bangladesh.

Despite pledges by authorities to uphold the freedom of the press, journalists are frequently targets of attacks, intimidation and harassment. Dozens of journalists have been assaulted with impunity either by the police when covering demonstrations or by armed gangs affiliated to various political parties. In addition, several journalists have been arrested and accused of a range of politically motivated charges including sedition. They have been taken into custody for weeks or sometimes months and many of them have been tortured or ill-treated whilst being held.

Amnesty International has started the Human Rights Defenders Project aiming to increase protection and seeking justice for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Bangladesh. The twelve month project hopes to initiate systemic change in the treatment of violence against Human Rights Defenders and public appeals will be a mechanism to help this process by raising international scrutiny and making the Government of Bangladesh more accountable to ensuring justice for these abuses. We will keep updating the project monthly, so stay tuned. Below is the case of Tipu Sultan and AI’s recommendations. Take Action Now to ensure his safety! (To read more, especially on the cases, go to this page of Amnesty International).

‘Legislative’ leadership distinguishes nonprofits from businesses, author says.

March 8, 2006

Nonprofits operate differently from businesses and so must be led differently, says Jim Collins, author of « Good to Great ».

An interview with Collins in the February issue of Bridgestar’s « Leadership Matters » publication focused on his recently-published booklet, « Good to Great and the Social Sectors. »

The booklet discusses distinctions between the types of leadership needed in the business and social sectors.

While businesses have more « executive » leadership, with decision-making power held by one or a few individuals, the social sector has « legislative » leadership, Collins says.

« In the social sectors, composed of a much more complicated governance and power structure, » he says, « rarely do we find a single individual…with enough concentrated power to make the big decisions by himself or herself. »

He says nonprofit leaders must use tools such as language, coalitions and persuasion to cultivate conditions for the right decisions to happen.

A factor the business and social sectors share, he says, is the importance of collaboration and the resulting development of discipline among leaders.

In both types of organizations, « under the right conditions and with the right mechanisms, » he says, « collaboration increases discipline, as you will be held accountable for high standards by your peers and colleagues. »

While businesses can easily measure their success in terms of profit, nonprofits must measure their success using other standards, Collins says.

He says nonprofits might measure success in terms of time donated by volunteers or board members, sustained cash flow, and the organization’s ability to cultivate emotional good will and shared ideas among supporters.

Collins also says nonprofits should be able to identify strong individuals as potential leaders and study leaders of successful nonprofits to better understand what it takes to be led well in the social sectors.
(Read more on Philanthropy Journal).