1998 Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights

The 1998 Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights was launched by the Center for Women's Global Leadership, in collaboration with hundreds of organizations worldwide, with the theme Celebrate and Demand Women's Human Rights. In 1998, the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR enshrines far-reaching principles of human dignity with the proclamation that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," and the stipulation that human rights apply to all equally without distinction of any kind including sex. Unfortunately, documentation of human rights abuses in 1998 illustrates all too clearly that the bold sentiments of the UDHR have not been effectively translated into concrete protection.

María Gerardina López Cortés from Costa Rica (left) delivers her testimony at the Global Tribunal to Celebrate and Demand Women's Human Rights as Claudia Hinojosa (right) translates her testimony from Spanish to English. (Photo by Joan Roth)

The campaign had three primary goals: visibility, accountability and action. First, it sought to ensure that human rights abuses against women remained at the forefront of public attention throughout the year. Second, it used this global focus on human rights to demand the accountability of governments and the UN to their human rights obligations to women. Finally, it framed each of these in the context of action, as in the campaign slogan "take action to make it happen."

The 1998 Global Campaign sought to translate the rhetoric of world conference agreements and human right treaties into concrete demands and strategies as well as tools and opportunities for women's human right's advocacy. In consultation with a wide range of women's human rights advocates throughout the world, a Take Action kit was developed to facilitate public education, advocacy and mobilization directed toward a variety of arenas. The material in the kit included five demands, two postcard actions, a poster, and background information to link the demands to advocacy activities utilizing the UDHR, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The demands, the poster, the postcards, and the kit were distributed widely throughout the world and disseminated in March 1998 in New York at the UN Commission on the Status of Women and in Geneva at the Commission on Human Rights. A Campaign website was developed and featured an online version of the kit as well as space for exchange of messages and information about events. From Buenos Aires to Bucharest, Nairobi and New Delhi, women throughout the world participated in diverse ways, adapting the campaign themes and materials in a manner appropriate to their own goals and context.

The Campaign culminated with two major events around December 10: a Global Tribunal, with the theme "Celebrate and Demand" and an international solidarity activity, "Women Light the Way for Human Rights." These themes were selected to commemorate women's human rights victories, and the outstanding efforts of women's human rights movements around the world. At the same time, they focused a "spotlight" on the continuing violations of women's human rights that take place in massive numbers everywhere.

The Global Tribunal, held on December 9, 1998 in New York City included:

• testimonies from other tribunals held in 1998: from Zimbabwe, the denial of full property rights to women and from Costa Rica, the mistreatment of women workers and the abuse of their right to work in a safe and healthy environment;

• successes achieved by women's human rights movements: the passage of CEDAW as a local ordinance in San Francisco/USA, the inclusion of gender issues won by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice in the International Criminal Court, and the incorporation of a broad anti-discrimination clause including gender, race and sexual orientation into the new South African Constitution; and

• stories reflecting issues that women have identified as human rights crises requiring far greater attention: trafficking from Central and Eastern Europe, gender apartheid and the systematic abuse of women in Afghanistan, and domestic violence and the particular obstacles faced by immigrant women survivors of domestic violence as they seek justice through the courts in New York City.

The postcard below shows graffiti symbolizing "lesbian power" with text on the reverse reading, "The human right to lesbian visibility." It was created by Labris, a group for lesbian human rights from Belgrade, Serbia that has been active since 1995. As part of the 1998 Global Campaign, the group used the slogan "celebrate and demand lesbian rights." The postcards they produced cover four rights important to lesbians' lives: the right to visibility, the right to lesbian culture, the right to work without discrimination, and the civil right to lesbian partnership. The postcards were distributed on the streets of Belgrade on the 10th of December together with other human rights leaflets. The postcards were also sent to human rights organizations and women's groups outside of Belgrade, as well as to many friends as a Labris New Year's card. (© Fabienne Hidreau)

The Tribunal was followed by a local Women Light the Way event. This was a multi-media vigil featuring a slide show with images of women projected onto a wall across the street from the UN. A small delegation from the tribunal met on December 10 with Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to present the results of the tribunal and the 1998 Global Campaign.

Finally, the Global Center collaborated with UNIFEM in a UN interagency exhibition, "A Life Free of Violence Against Women," in the visitor's lobby of the UN in New York as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign. The items displayed by the Global Center included posters and postcards received from women around the world with messages and images on the theme "Imagine a World Where All Women Enjoy Their Human Rights."

A full report of the 1998 Campaign, with articles from Nigeria, Japan, Croatia and Costa Rica was published in English and Spanish in the Latin America and Caribbean Women's Health Journal available from the Latin American and Caribbean Women's Health Network, Casilla 50610, Santiago 1, Santiago, Chile; fax: + 56 2 6347101; e-mail: redsalud@ctcreuna.cl; website: http://reddesalud.web.cl. Also available in English from the Global Center.

1998 Around the World

Last year, the Global Center received information on a myriad of activities coordinated by individuals and organizations from around the world for the 1998 Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, and Women Light the Way for Human Rights. For example,

• Tribunals were held in at least 15 countries, including Barbados, Bolivia, Cameroon, Fiji, Kenya, and Poland.

• Many individuals and organizations filled out both postcards in the Take Action kit - both paper copies and on-line. A number of organizations also produced their own adaptations of postcards addressed to local and national officials - in Argentina, Australia, Croatia, Serbia, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Poland, among others.

• Organizations developed posters and had poster, photo and essay contests, including in Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Peru.

• A wide range of organizations also participated in the Women Light the Way activities, both by sending messages to the Global Center to be delivered to the High Commissioner for Human Rights and by incorporating the theme of "light" into their activities. For example, in Ahmedabad, India, a meeting of grassroots women was held which included a lamp lighting ceremony in support of "Women Light the Way." Similar activities were held in Armenia, Ireland, Japan, the Philippines, and the USA, among others.

Descriptions of these activities can be found in the Latin America and Caribbean Women's Health Journal (see ordering information above).

OÑrodek Informacji rodowisk Kobiecych (OKA) produced and distributed polish translations of the 1998 Global Campaign postcards. The postcard here is addressed to Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, calling for "bold actions to remind the world that there can be no security for the human rights of any without respect for the human rights of all." Furthermore, it calls for the allocation of resources to addressing women's rights and needs within all UN bodies and activities and the full integration and mainstreaming of the human rights of women throughout the UN system. Other postcard campaigns in Europe were coordinated by Be Active, Be Emancipated (B.a.B.e.) in Croatia and Humanistisch Overleg Mensenrechten (HOM) and Vrouwenberaad Ontwikkelingssamenwerking (VbOS) in the Netherlands as part of the Presto! Campaign for Women's Human Rights.

In 1998, UNIFEM launched a series of UN Inter-Agency Regional Campaigns to Eliminate Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and in Asia and the Pacific. With the overall theme, "A Life Free of Violence...It's Our Right," the campaigns shared three goals: raising public awareness about violence against women as a violation of human rights; celebrating women's rights achievements; and bringing together the efforts of the UN system on this issue in a coordinated manner. The regional campaigns are continuing in 1999.

As part of the regional Campaign in Asia and the Pacific, 40,000 copies of the poster "Our Rights: Women's rights related to police," were produced in 14 official languages and distributed to police stations throughout India. UNIFEM is also assisting the Police Training Institute there to develop a curriculum on violence against women that will become a compulsory course for all police officers.

In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on December 10, 1998, Sunila Abeyesekera (center) received one of six United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights. Executive Director of INFORM in Sri Lanka, Sunila has been an activist for almost 30 years, focusing mainly on women's rights, armed conflict and conflict resolution. Shown here presenting Sunila with the award is Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations and Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. During the ceremony, an award was also given in honor of all human rights defenders and in recognition of the historic passage of the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. (Photo by Roxanna Carrillo)