Inspirations, Concerns, and Encouragements of women working towards Sustainable Development: Part 2

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List of inspirations which influence my work towards S.D.: The need for equality, justice, peace, sustainability, rights; the great folks who are engaged in their pursuit; the wise feminist analysis and networking emerging these last decades; the sophisticated literature, films, resources,etc.; the growth of women's studies when it is embracing all these relationships in a critque of exponential economic growth and the corporations/banks/politics that run the world. (I'd prefer to use the term 'sustainability' instead of SD.) There is a need for change of present consumption habits and militarism (by the wealthy mostly male elites of the world) towards more sustainable actions through education and awareness. Once this need becomes understood, analysed and challenged, positive sustainable alternatives will become the agenda in communities and nations everywhere. I'd like to see more women's groups adopting the women's Action Agenda 21 (The Miami Statement) as well as the women's treaties developed in the women's tent in Rio. We do not have to reinvent too many wheels!

................................................................Dorothy Goldin Rosenberg

Inspirations: the inclusion of the creativity aspect into the conference, spending 5 days almost exclusively with women. Concerns: Learning to value our own experiences and not just our formal knowledge which comes from men.

................................................................Claire Gram

Concerns: There should be greater awareness (at least in Canada) about sustainable development. We need more outreach to the rest of the world and Canada. I am very concerned about the deteriorating social and physical environment.

................................................................Penny Gurstein

Inspirations: people, policy circles (at the Women and Sustainable Development Conference, U.B.C., May, 1994) List of concerns to be addressed in order to promote S.D.: Poverty of women in the world especially in the third world; militarization and state force which control women's lives.

................................................................ Parvine Guyarashi

Inspirations: 1986 Fate of the Earth Conference-- Ottawa. 1988 Conference on Sustainable Development--Trent University, Peterbourough 1991 World Women's Congress for a Healthy Planet, Miami 1994 Women and Sustainable Development Conference, Vancouver, 1994

People who inspire me: Ann Dale, Elizabeth May, Vandana Shiva, my environmental collegues. Most of all, my own animal family, the Earth, and all other species who share it with us.

List of concerns to be addressed in order to promote sustainable development: 1) Our progress is too slow. We have to get serious. We need to change our basic social paradigms for Sustainable Development to really happen. 2) I'm concerned about how the term "S.D" has been co-opted by industry, business, governments, etc. to become "sustainable development" with no understanding of what the term really is supposed to be. 3) Biodiversity must be a key component of sustainable development-really its guiding principle-otherwise, it won't happen. We must incorporate biodiversity into the core of S.D.

................................................................Heather Hamilton

List of S.D. Interests: centrality of women's subsistence work as a basis of a different view of development; cultural, social, spiritual, economic interconnections.

................................................................Mechtild Hart

Inspirations: People: David Suzuki; Vandana Shiva; Michael M'Gonigle; Adrienne Carr. Books: "Ecotopia" by Ernst Callenbach--lousy writer, great ideas. " Pigrim at Tinker Creek", By Anne Dillon.

The movement towards sustainable development is very slow going, but I focus on the infinitismal nuggets of hope out there, the paltry examples of alternatives which work, the determination of others; it's the only way I can survive!

................................................................Suzanne Hawkes

Inspirations: Ottawa Women's network. List of concerns to be addressed in order to pursue sustainability: power relations between individuals, communities, nations and the universe; empowerment of the human spirit - economic development/participation and health.

................................................................Sandra Hawkins

Inspirations: growing things, thinking. Miami Women's Congress 1991; James Robertson's Future Work; Wealth Beyond Measure

Concerns, women and men sharing political, economic and management power.

................................................................Eleanor Heise

Inspirations: a close friend - she was my residence advisor Stacie Chappele; "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf. List of concerns to be addressed to approach sustainability: Economics-poverty, violence-safety, security.

................................................................Marsha G. Henry

Inspirations: A lifelong commitment to wilderness preservation and concern for a rapid degradation of biodiversity. My concern is that S.D. is another name for business as usual - no real substantive change, little political will or commitment. S.D. at worst is a boondoggle-a corporation which obscures rapid degradation, both socially and ecologically.

I cannot reply sufficiently to these questions- swamped with work! We need to remember S.D. is not a new concept- there has been a strong movement towards sustainability, albeit in different rhetoric for over a century. It is important to include the her/history and contributions of local people struggling for these objectives as well as for more well known public figures; John Muir, Hazel Henderson, Wendall Berry, Paul/ Donella Meadows, Paul Ehrlock, Stan Rowe, etc, etc.

................................................................Melody Hessing

Inspirations: I have worked for many years on issues connected to protecting the environment and achieving social justice. Many people who I have had the good fortune to work with have inspired me to see the need to address environmental, social and economic issues on an integrated, interdependent basis, rather than pitting those concerns against each other. I am particulary encouraged by the people who are able to place these issues in a global context and maintain hope for a sustainable equitable future. I am increasingly concerned about the urgency of the issues we need to solve and the challenge of finding solutions within growing ecological constraints, But I am always encouraged to see the strength of citizen involvement in building those solutions.

................................................................Ann Hillyer

Inspiration: working with and learning from women from the South, learning stories of women's struggles and successes. Concerns that should be addressed to approach S.D.: the institutionalized power structures, global macro-economic capitalist policies.

................................................................Aileen Horler

Inspirations: A philosophy inculcated by professor K. Cumberland, at Auckland University, Geography Department in the 1950's ! I am concerned about the unwillingness of decision makers in governments and business to accept S.D.as a new way of doing business. People who have their own agendas and are not flexible enough to adust to new ideas.

Encouragement: governments are gradually moving from endless debates about definition to ideas for implementation.

................................................................Valerie Hume

Inspirations: My commitment to SD has been inspired when travelling to the Horn of Africa in the1980's as an international development worker and seeing the devastation created by monocropping. I have also being inspired by the Earth Summit, being elected to parliament and having children.

My concerns relate to our inability to transform the small "p" political activism of environmentalists and international development activists to the capital "P" politics of electoral office. The solutions to our problems are political and women remain on the fringe of political power.

................................................................Lynn Hunter

I hate the term "sustainable development" and am not committed to it; I call what we do "developing sustainably" and I am committed to that. I did meet Brundtland, and sat on the BC Round Table which felt like a waste of time. I am inspired because I want a future for us all. We're consuming the world's resources, not only our own, at an unsustainable rate; we in Canada have to clean up our own act first.

What encourages me? I like the role of women. I'm heartened by the Cairo conference on population and development and the challenge to male domination. I am encouraged by the goverment in BC admitting to mismanagement and overconsumption of forest resources, though it may not be there long enough. I am concerned about governments - provincial and federal - failure to move from the status quo to really reconizing the problems we're facing. I'm concerned that no one is moving fast enough to stop the overconsumption of resources. I'm concerned about the lack of broad-based education in the training of resource managers. I am concerned that the marine environment has not been looked at at all. We're dealing with the drftnet of the forest as well as the driftnet of the fishery. I'm concerned that we're not leaving anything for the children. I'm encouraged that some native people are showing real leadership from their perspectives and directions which could be very helpful; we need to work more with First Nations. I'm encouraged by the Kitlope Vallye decision. It is a gift to the world by the the Haisla people in the Kitimat area. I'm encouraged by Clayocquot -- it mobilized so manhy people in a spontaneious outpouring against injustice; it empowered native people -- there has been nothing like it in Canada. However, its success will depend on implementation. A scientific panel has been set up that will report in February, 1995; it could change the grame for forest management in Canada.

................................................................Vicky Husband

My children inspire me - from the moment they are born, parents want to keep their children healthy and safe. Women have played a nurturing role caring for their young. The Earth needs the same protection and care that women have given to their families and communities.

Great leaders who are working for human justice and a decent life for all (such as Indira Gandhi; the people who worked for the women's vote).

The Vancouver conference- there should be more conferences like this one. Women's Groups/organizations- they all are focused on the "Total Picture", the interconnectedness of all the issues concerning the environment and our communities.

Encouragement: I am encouraged that we are finally starting to realize the truth of the damage we have done to the Earth. Concerns : Actions are very slow; we are not moving fast enough. There is a tremendous urgency for action now. I have seen women from the most repressive countries coming together to make a difference. However, the women's movement and women's groups must become more organized and work together. If we had the power, protecting the environment would be a top priority.

An underlying theme of the Vancouver Conference was that there is an extreme urgency to put power into local communities. The governments and scientists must bring information to local areas, and then allow the people themselves to make informed decisions.

................................................................ Dorothy Inglis

List of Inspirations towards a commitment to S.D.: people who are succeeding in making changes; people who continue to work in the area in spite of major obstacles; organizations that are sensitive to the issues; conferences where people working in the field and concerned people share their ideas.

Concerns: With the present emphasis on economics, issues of sustainability will take a back seat - in the present unstable political climate (e.g. Bausnia, Rwanda), our concerns are going to shift to immediate relief (justifiably so) and put back the sustainability issues by decades. Women's issues are definitely getting low priority apart from acknowledgement of rape of 20,000 Bausnian women, no significant achievement has taken place. I have always enjoyed meeting people working in the field, although I am not working in the field.

................................................................Rozina Janmohamed

Inspiration: people - participants, volunteers' commitments (at the Women and Sustainable Development: Canadian Perspectives Conference, Vancouver, May, 1994) Concerns: childrearing; education

................................................................Biren Juttun

Inspiration: people, events There should be more opportunity for education for the girls and women involved in agriculture in developing countries.

................................................................Nelago-Saima Kasuto

Inspirations: fellow women.

Interest Areas: South African reconstruction and development in the context of Southern African cooperation, integration and development, the subordinate insertion of Southern African and Africa into the Globalized world economy and the role of international and multilateral institutions in this situation.

Concerns to be addressed in order to pursue sustainable development: 1) the removal of policy development and decision making from any democratic control and into the hands of remote, powerful organizations (eg.GF) and institutions (eg.IMF/WB) and corporations (TNCs). 2) the ideological hegemony and destructiveness of neo-liberal capitalism.

................................................................Dot Keet

Inspiration: people; women from so many different parts of the world sharing views, respecting differences of opinion-willing to listen (at the Women and Sustainable Development Conference, U.B.C., May, 1994).

I am concerned about women's lack of control over their resources and decisions made about them and women's lack of participation (equitable) in the implementation of decisions that affect them.

................................................................Rabia Khan

S.D. Interests: women and international development, community development and social planning in relation to gender and other employment and community equity issues; anti-racism and gender, childcare and education, health and wellness.

................................................................Frances L. Kirson

Inspirations: Books: Rachel Carson "Silent Spring" ; Judith Plant (ed) "Healing The Wounds."List of concerns to be addressed in order to approach S.D.: healthy communities-access to clean and poison-free air; water and food everywhere; environmental justice for humans and natural beings.

................................................................Erica Bremner Kneipp

Inspirations:

Books: Anna Marie West, "Between Two Worlds: The Human Side of Development." National Round Table, "Review: Sustainable Communities." Jeanne Vickers, "Women and the World Economic Crisis." Annabal, Rodda, " Women and the Environment."

Conferences: Women and Sustainable Development: Canadian Perspectives Conference, May 1994. No Place Like Home: Building a Sustainable Future, February, 1994. Calgary Institute for Local Initiatives.

What encourages me about the concept of sustainable development is that: 1) everyone's needs must be addressed, even those who do not have a voice or strong enough voice. 2) it sometimes challenges the status quo: political systems, economic systems and the existing value system. 3) it is an iterative and evolving process.

My company is taking a pro-active approach to understanding and incorporating the concepts of sustainable development to our project management. We are currently forming a " Sustainable Development Think Tank" which is multidisciplinary, multicultural and gender balanced.

................................................................Ena Kuang

Inspiration: L'etat de la planete par Lester R. Brown, World Watch Institutate; Saving the Planet, How to Shape an Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy by Lester R. Brown et al, ed. Norton & Co., Inc. New York, 1991.

Concerns: compagen d'information et d'educations, oression sur les decideurs a tares les niveaux.

................................................................ Estelle Lacoursiere

Inspiration: a 1970's poster of Golda Meyer that said: 'But Can She Type'; a 1970's book - "The Lace Ghetto" I am concerned about the invisibility of women in technical jobs (i.e. they cannot affect decisions in areas of science, technology, agriculture, engineering..etc.), and lack and invisibility of women in decision making at all levels.

................................................................ Héléne Lalonde

Inspiration: people, books, the process of the whole workshop-policy circles (at the Women and Sustainablle Development Conference, Vancouver, 1994) , women's creativity and of course, Food.

I am concerned that women have limited access to resources (including information for participatory development processes) and thus are unable to share their knowledge in many situations.

................................................................Kanchan Verma Lama

Inspirations: self-determination of Anishnabai people.

................................................................Mary Laronde

Areas of Interest and Concern: The social well being element of sustainability. Only until there is a shift of the concept of sustainability towards human well being, will the concept be grasped by the public at large.

It is my personal belief that individuals have a responsibility to play a greater part in developing solutions to problems that the world is facing. There is a great deal of change that we can achieve that is within our individual control. Being involved and committed to this change gives a person a sense of individual empowerment. An example that comes to mind is one set by a young man in Kelowna, who started the Environmental Youth Alliance. He was instrumental in changing the food wrapping policy in a fast food chain by asking to have his food to be served on his own plates that he brought into the restaurant instead of disposable plates. Upon refusal of his demand, he encouraged others to do the same, and this eventually brought about change in this policy.

I am concerned with the lack of commitment (personal and political) to the environment and sustainability. Today's discussions on sustainability should include ways of generating more public participation and how we are going to do this. I am also concerned with the lack of resources for obtaining sustainability.

I am encouraged by the National Round Table's social marketing strategy. It is a long term strategy which focuses on public participation which will eventually lead to a shift in social values. In order to achieve sustainability, we must shift society's thinking towards one that is aware of the interconnection of people and the environment. The National Round Table has aimed at this by evoking awareness, and implementing understanding which will eventually lead to change in behaviour.

Sustainable development needs a broader audience. Right now the concept of sustainable development is trapped in the hands of the policy maker and needs to be placed in the hands of the people.

................................................................Lorraine Lee

Inspirations: Conference such as; The changing atmosphere, 1988; NOX/VOC Management Plan and Implementation-ongoing; newsletters, magazines; other members of the council of women

I am encouraged by the number of people working for SD. I am concerned about the attitude of governments when a conflict develops with business; economics plays a big role, sometimes outweighing SD promises.

................................................................Mary Lemyre

Concerns: The basic misinformation the general public is getting out of the media and how it is not permitting conscious decision-making for community development. Too often old models are still being used (education, meetings conferences..) which keeps things the same but only with new words. Every level of society needs to be focusing on empowering the individual so we can all gain the "feeling" of belonging and being a real participant to our communities. Hierarchy...exists very much in women's circles.

................................................................Anne Levesque

Inspirations: people: I've met incredible women here ( Women and S.D. Conference, Vancouver, May, 1994); workshops- I've had an amazing learning experience. I am concerned how to get young women involved and active, to really ensure that the kind of development going on around the world is sustainable and more importantly, is benefiting those whom we are trying to help.

................................................................ Tamara Levy

List of Inspirations: Research as a student at York University; Participation in preparation for UNCED; participation in the work of the Commission on Sustainable Development.There is a need for more integrated approaches to S.D. practices and management; need for strategic planning and participating approaches.

................................................................Shirley Lewchuk

Inspirations: My involvement with CAUSE Canada, a development agency working in Guatemala. Encouragements: Seeing first hand, changes in third-world communities through improved health care and education as well as improved methods and attitudes towards ecology, environment and natural resources.

................................................................ Kathyn Lipke

Inspirations: people, popular theatre performance, folk music. List of concerns which need to be addressed to promote sustainable development; 1) unequal representation of women in high powered jobs because of making it difficult for women to work in this environment, 2) understanding the concerns of aboriginal women, 3) good childcare.

................................................................Connie Lippold

Inspirations: living in communities under adverse conditions and witnessing a sense of positive perseverence; the land and forests where I lived in my 'growing up' years and returned to live with again.

I am concerned by: the institutionalized issue of power through trade and education and resource extraction and finance; the acceptance of current social structures as a 'norm'.

............................................................. Brennain Lloyd

I have been interested in women's issues for many years: this has led me to work for changes to our system based on a woman's way of working. I am convinced that empowering women means the opportunity to change our world. I am inspired by the Christian example of Jesus. I have been encouraged by the gatherings of women from all around the world. They are dedicated to changing the system from being patriarchial to being egalitarian. My concerns stem from the growing "grab" by transnational companies that seems to limit the power of people and governments.

We have reached the 50th anniversary of the World Bank, I.M.F., GATT, etc. and I think we need to re-evaluate what they do and to require them to be accountable. In my opinion, they have not lived up to their mandate--they have failed to make the world economic system better for poor nations. We have changed from colonialism dominating the world to trans-nationals dominating the world and we still have a few rich and many poor in our courntries. My group (national), has the theme "Gender Development" for this year. We have workshops ready as resource material for our 85 groups across Canada.

................................................................ H. (Sue) MacKay-Smith

Inspirations: A formal architectural education, University of Manitoba; a love of nature and a commitment to quality of life; a human instinct towards self-preservation.

There is a lot of talk but too little action. For example, in the area of city planning, many sustainable planning practices are available to us, however, municipalities are very slow to learn and act.

................................................................Lillian Mei Ngan Mah

Inspiration: F. Copra's 1982 book " The Turning Point" ; overt pollution eg. City of Buffalo, New York in the 1960's; clear cutting in B.C.. There is a low representation of women at the highest levels of decision making in governments and corporations, ie. below the critical mass, lack of women's voice; suppression of feminine models of decision making; and recognition of feminine perspective.

................................................................Diane Malley

Inspirations: Conferences on Energy Alternatives; Writers such as Hazel Henderson; Green Party's Bioregional Concepts; Friends who attended Miami; women's pre-'Earth Summit' meeting.

I am concerned that changes are too often only incremental. Water issues are not generally understood and valued as they should be. As well, I am concerned that powerful interest groups block public knowledge of radically different alternatives which could mean clean, inexpensive, decentralized sources of electrical power for planetary cleanup.

.............................................................Jeane Manning

Concerns: Sustainable process: I think how we do something is as important as what we do.

.............................................................Wendy Martin

I am concerned for mother earth and nature's living system.

................................................................Jayshree Mehta

Inspirations: I am a student of Marine Affairs and International Relations (since graduating from University of Washington in 1980). My studies, work activities, NGO activities (UNA Canada) have contributed to my knowledge base and experience. My inspiration is a deep commitment to improving the human condition (existentialism humanism). There is a continuing short-sightedness on the part of government and industries, the unwillingness of countries to assume responsibilities for their actions and to cooperate instead of holding tenaciously onto 'sovereignty' and sovereign governments: an archaeic concept in today's interdependent world. I am encouraged by the "new international order" and underlying ecological ethic.

................................................................Evelyne Meltzer

I am inspired by my work in development projects. My resource management and training/ research in ecology has led to a concern that development (equals advancement, not growth) cannot continue to proceed at the cost of ecological viability of systems and species. I am encouraged by the significant progress in better environmental management, processes/technologies that have been been made in the last twenty years. Although there is much further change needed, the pace of change and progress towards sustainability in Canada has been rapid and dramatic.

................................................................Colleen Mercer Clarke

Concerns: l'action et l' écriture parce qu' elle sait que les méres qui se battent pour leurs petits sont la derniére chance de l'humanité.

................................................................Hortense Michaud-Lalanne

List of inspirations: an individual environmental law professor who I encountered as an undergraduate; participating in Youth '92 - a process to facilitate the participation of young people at UNCED.

List of concerns to be addressed in order to promote sustainability: 1) ideas and knowledge that women have at the grassroots level regarding sustainable livelihoods is not getting connected to the policy level. 2) young women need mentors and all women need strong, dependable networks.

................................................................Lisa Mitchell

Inspirations: events

................................................................Salla Mohamed

Experiences of other women and the determination of women to change policies which affect women is inspiring. Poverty first must be eliminated and there must be greater public education concerning sustainable development in order to reach the goal of sustainability.

................................................................Sibongile Mokoena

I am inspired by my work with native communites across Canada and by elder women and hunters. I see that, over the course of human history with indigenous people in North America, sustainable development has worked. Native people have known about sustainability forever; native people have lived on the land for thousands of years with little impact. Our inspiration comes from our philosophy and spirituality in which our relationship to the Creator and to other beings is through the earth. We communicate with the Creator outdoors, in quiet places, in calm, beautiful environments.

I'm concerned that TECUM, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Management Systems -- the academic perspective on our way of life, looks only at techniques and not at what underlies them. Native approaches are old, well-established and proven. This imposes a double burden on native people: on the one hand we are expected to be environment supermen (as in Dances with Wolves) and are criticised for not being so; and on the other, there is criticism of those who are assimilated. A major challenge is to take the best of what we have and combine that with the best of what non-native people have. Another concern: white people behave like visitors to the land; they don't take the time to really know this country. I'm concerned about the vagueness of the language of sustainable development; it is so vague that it can be used against its original purpose. I'm also concerned about the usefulness of the dollars devoted to sustainable development. I don't like the word "development" because it means "growth" which in turn means "taking away." Sources of encouragement: at least the need for sustainability has been recognized; the Brundtland report is useful and accessible, with clear language and good examples; SD is part of being "green" and environmentally friendly, and it's good to do anything to wake people up; native people are being listened to now -- there is am emerging recognition of the value of traditional knowledge and of what native people have to offer; native people continue to be willing to contribute and to participate in the discussion, which in view of our many negative experiences, surprises and softens me.

It is our belief that one can only have healthy people with a healthy land. The exercise of treaty and aboriginal rights to harvest fish, wildlife and plants; to manage the land under aboriginal title, to retain culture and self-sufficiency is dependent on a healthy ecosystem. Yet this can only be done with community-based research and support to protect the land for current and future generations. Out role is to train ourselves out of a job so that the community can take over with confidence.

................................................................Laurie Montour

Areas of Interest and Concern: Economic Literacy: Demystifying the economy so that people and other marginalized sectors can start to make economic concepts work for us while infusing community based values.

I have always had a love for the outdoors. The earth, wind and water have given me a comfort and taught me respect. When I lived with a dog team in the Canadian Arctic the winter of 1983/84, I was appalled at what was being done in the name of 'progress'. The oil exploration activity had devestated the land with its cutlines and had grave effects on the trapping activities of the first nations people in the region. The social havoc and the physical destruction moved me to go to university to learn about 'development'. Part of the requirements for the undergrad degree, World Issues Program, out of the School for International Training in Vermont, was to be at least 7 months in another culture. I went to work for Peace Brigades International as an unarmed body guard for human rights activists. Nineth de Garcia, the founder of the Mutual Support Group for Families of the Disappeared, became my mentor and friend. I started to make the connections between the globalization of the economy, human rights violations, imperialism and the destruction of the environment.

If people are going to live dignified lives, they need to have access to an income in this capitalist world. Income generating activities must respect the earth, for she is the one who sustains us. Working in the area of economic literacy and community development has given me an avenue to channel my skills and passion for a just world.

If sustainable development is going to be implemented, the economic system as it stands today (capitalist) will have to change. The whole premise of the capitalist system is to make a profit today, thus any effort to protect the earth only brings grief to the ones struggling to defend the earth and her people. I have seen people suffer greatly in Guatemala as they attempt to maintain their culture and have access to land. Here in Canada, the exploitation of the earth and its people is reflected in , upheaval in the First Nations Community, high unemployment, and social disorder as the gap between those who have and those who do not widens in all communities.

Stressing local economic development is a means to revitalize communities.

................................................................Mary Morgan

Inspirations: events of this conference have been set so well and I think we were kept busy as all the workshops were good; the people were very kind and the conference was well organized (The Women and Sustainable Development: Canadian Perspectives Conference, Vancouver, May, 1994).

There should be more public education relating sustainable development and the environment.

............................................................. Lucy Mulenkei

List of concerns to be addressed in order to integrate sustainable development into our community: women's access to education/education that empowers; elimination of violence; health as it relates to a healthy physical, mental, emotional and spiritual environment.

.............................................................Lillian Nakamura Maguire

Inspirations: A speech by Vandana Shiva on 'monocultures of the mind', and women, inspire me.I am concerned by the increasing use of women of colour in sweatshops as the third world 'joins' the international capitalist system. There should be more emphasis on healthcare for women and education.

................................................................Geeta Narayan

Inspirations: I am inspired by women and the diversity of life. I am concerned by the unequal North-South relations as well as the effects of militarism on the environment.

................................................................Caroline Newton

Inspirations: I am inspired by the continuing efforts by women (especially rural women) and the down-trodden people all over the world to improve their lives and the need for all the marginalized peoples of the world to work together to seek a solution to the problems of poverty, hunger, sexism and racism.

Concerns: I am concerned by women's underrepresentation in positions of decision making, the rise of poverty, homelessness and violence/war of which the majority of sufferers are women.

.............................................................Agatha Nnazor

Inspirations: I am inspired by feminism and the women in my life. Concerns: Women's concerns/experiences/ideas should be included in 'sustainable' development. As well, there should be co-operation with women all over the world to sustain a women-centered vision of this 'development'.

................................................................Paula Norrena

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