Many heartfelt tributes have been pouring in from organisations, colleagues and friends Gigi has worked with over the years.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Women and Media Collective (WMC)
Women and Media Collective shared a wonderful tribute on their website for Gigi: WMC bids farewell to Gigi Francisco
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
AWID
AWID Women’s Rights, in remembering Gigi, shared this heartfelt tribute: AWID remembers Josefa “Gigi” Francisco
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
UNWomen
UNWomen posted a beautiful tribute for our beloved Gigi on their website, at the following link: Josefa “Gigi” Francisco in Remembrance
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
SISTER FROM THE SOUTH
Great, Inspirational, Generous, Intelligent – GIGI Fighter for the poor, downtrodden, Fighter for women from Guatemala, Khayelitsha, Lagos, Chang Mai ….. Fighter for women all over the world Together we have ‘battled the brackets’ Strewn ashes of your husband on the shores of Cape Town Talked late into the night about things that matter, …and things not As we bid you farewell, I reflect on your life in this dimension and know Your work here is done, and through my sadness I smile knowing You are but beginning in a place where time and space are but illusion And as you continue finding the light with your own shining brightly a beacon as you did when you walked amongst us. HAMBA KAHLE – GO WELL I shall miss you my sister from the South, with much love and light to all who knew you and loved you. We are many,
Fatima
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
FAREWELL TO GIGI
by Marina Durano
25 July 2015
I was already missing Gigi at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia for the Third United Nations Conference on Financing for Development held last week. It is in this political arena that I worked with her the longest. She would have been right smack in the middle of the political action to establish an intergovernmental tax body and, rather quickly, she would made some quirky remark about the tax body’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Gigi’s sharp political nose would have immediately smelled the geopolitical machinations and compromises well before everyone else had settled into their issue-based comfort zones. The thing is that she wasn’t there. And, I felt it. I first met Gigi when she asked me to contribute a chapter to a book she was editing for Oxfam GB entitled “Gender Equity and Economic Reforms: Engendering Policy Critique and Advocacy of Philippine NGOs” published in 1998. She asked me to contribute a chapter on gender and public finance. I thought, “Finally, some so-called feminist was interested in economics and economic theory.” I honestly did not know that Gigi was already a recognizable name in the Philippine women’s movement. I would like to think that Gigi and I had a pretty good working political partnership even though we are both difficult personalities. Over disagreements, she always tried to bridge over and it was up to us to take that extended hand. Eventually, we built a profound friendship. We learned to laugh at the painful turn of events in our lives. Even better when we tried to learn from them. And, later, Gigi would have me considered a part of her family. The thing is that I am not a warm and fuzzy person so that in the final years of her life, when her family (otherwise, known as Barangay JF at siya ang Kapitana) would go on a trip or spend Christmas together, I would prefer to stay away. I am grateful to Anjani for sending a message to me last Wednesday to come and visit despite knowing that I was a bit of an imposition spending a considerable amount of time nagging about the details of funeral arrangements. A cloudy Wednesday afternoon was when Gigi took her last breaths of air. Then the rains fell as heavily as the tears on our cheeks. On Thursday morning, at the crematorium, Gigi was wrapped in a quilt that the women of DAWN created together for her. DAWN, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, is a global network of feminist activists and scholars with whom Gigi worked for more than a quarter century. DAWN was Gigi’s political home, where she was General Coordinator from 2008 to 2012. Gigi believed in DAWN’s vision of “…a world where the massive resources now used to produce the means of destruction are diverted to building ethical and socially responsive development alternatives, [a world] promoting lasting peace, and justice within and outside the home; a world where people interact with ecological systems in humane and sustainable ways.” She worked to make this vision a reality. She gave herself to it. She gave her organizing skills, unmatched, in my view, by no other feminist. She created platforms, such as the International Gender and Trade Network, the Women’s Working Group on Financing for Development, and Gender, Economic, and Ecological Justice, that allowed young feminists and allies to work together to advance women’s human rights in a variety of advocacy spaces around the world. She gave her teaching skills, not only to Miriam College, but to new generations of activists, as part of the International Council for Adult Education’s Academy for Lifelong Learning Advocacy and the DAWN Training Institute. She gave her writing skills to the crafting of countless political statements so that these may reflect that vision of feminist development alternatives. She coined the phrase “fierce new world” to describe the 21st century that is a “complex interplay among the economic, ecological, political and social challenges of today [that] have left the world lurching from crisis to crisis.” These are Gigi’s words from the latest DAWN book, The Remaking of Social Contracts: Feminists in a Fierce New World. I had to argue with the publisher to keep the phrase “fierce new world” in the book title. They wanted to replace it with some phrase that was meaningless to us, and certainly meaningless to Gigi. It felt to me that deleting the phrase would have been like deleting Gigi. I didn’t want that. She didn’t deserve that. Gigi gave herself selflessly. We come here, not to grieve, but to be grateful that our lives were enriched by Gigi’s generosity. We come here, not to feel sorrow, but to express appreciation that our world was made better by her strength and determination. We come here to honor you, Gigi. We have not done enough to honor you. We are here to honor your colorful life and your tremendous legacy.
Gigi, nuestra amiga, nuestra companera, la lucha continua.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— It is with a heavy heart that we send this note of condolences to the family of Gigi, the DAWN family and all feminists the world over, on the sad passing of our beloved Sister Gigi Francisco. We are the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) hosted by the Third World Network-Africa Secretariat; as well as the Women’s Manifesto Coalition (WMC) hosted by ABANTU for Development in Accra, Ghana. We have worked with Gigi on many, many platforms including the 3rd High Level Forum held in Accra, Ghana; CSW meetings; and other Financing for Development and Aid Effectiveness Meetings. We have admired Gigi’s passion and have benefited from her deep insights on issues of the South and women’s rights. So the news of her sad passing away has been greeted by feminists in Ghana with shock and dismay. But Gigi has done her part and left an indelible mark on the stage of world politics and development, women’s rights and feminism for all of us in the global south. The lesson for us is that there is no time to waste here on earth: make your contribution for the world to be a better place for others. That is what Gigi did and we love her dearly for that!! From Ghana, we the members of the women’s movement wish to say “thank you” Gigi, for being a sister to us and for working with us with such deep commitment anytime the opportunity arose. May the family of Gigi find peace at this time, knowing our Sister has left a great legacy and is indeed resting in peace. Sister, ‘Sleep Well’!!! May the Lord be with you!! Rest in Perfect Peace, Dear Friend!!! Amen. Thank you. Regards,
Rose Mensah-Kutin – Director, ABANTU for Development
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
A tribute to a truly remarkable woman
Gigi Francisco has touched, helped and inspired the lives of countless women and men around the world. I am one of them. I have known her for a few decades as our lives and work crisscrossed each other under varied circumstances and occasions. Throughout her life, Gigi remained steadfast in her commitment towards making the voice of women, the poor and vulnerable be heard and that their interests and well-being are served by those of us who teach, do research, develop models, conduct fieldwork and write academic papers. As for me, her wonderful voice and writings always kept me grounded; she made sure that whatever knowledge we create, as with art, must serve the greater good and particular those who are marginalized. I am privileged to have worked with her closely when I was in the Philippines conducting a survey/fieldwork among the urban poor in Metropolitan Manila. I will never forget how, in her motherly “dear” tone, Gigi took me right down from my academic pedestal, and told me straight-faced that my proposed survey questions about savings and decision-making will be poorly understood by the respondents in the squatter areas. What was I thinking? Her leadership, spirit of solidarity, and mobilizing capacity clearly showed when in 2010, Gigi, along with the DAWN and WAGI staff, brilliantly arranged for the GEM-Asia Pacific Region Gender and Macroeconomics intensive course to be conducted in Miriam College, Manila, after unexpected tensions in Bangkok have made it difficult for AIT to host it. I share the sadness and grief in the passing of this truly remarkable woman. But I also know that her spirit of courage, justice, and struggle for a better world will continue to live on in each of us.
Sergy Floro
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
TO GIGI
The text said you left your body at 2:30 p.m. today Yet you are still here darting in and out of our minds No iron gate with a capital J and F can hold your spirit So free and so bold, and yet so fragile in a bittersweet way You could not stand being alone You are not alone Now more than ever We are here – your sisters, your children Soulmates bound to you Having shared common spaces and platforms You fought a global battle with reams of words Punctuated by passion and praxis We have not yet won Does it matter now? What matters is your being in the front lines Being brave and being close To nearest and dearest Family, friends, comrades The wounded and the excluded Breaking barriers and rules And sometimes, perhaps, even your heart? We say goodbye even as we always wish to say hello To someone who will never leave Someone who will keep darting in and out of our minds until we win Until our dream of a new dawn truly begins Big hugs to all,
Inday Pineda Ofreneo
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Isis International joins other feminists and human rights activists around the world in grieving the loss of Josefa “Gigi” Francisco
Isis International joins other feminists and human rights activists around the world in grieving the loss of Josefa “Gigi” Francisco who passed away after a period of illness on the 22nd July 2015. Gigi was many things to many people, and we in Isis International had the privilege of having her as a member of our General Assembly and our Board Secretary from 1999 to 2002 and a close ally and advisor over the years that Isis has been based in the Philippines. From 2003-2007, Gigi was the representative of DAWN on the Feminist Dialogues Coordinating Committee on which Isis was also a founding member. We recall this period as one of engaged and invigorating collaboration with Gigi. Many Isis women knew and loved Gigi as either a trusted comrade, inspiring mentor and teacher, cherished friend and/or powerful collaborator. We will sorely miss her astute and fiery intersectional analyses and insights, her no-nonsense truth telling, and her immense courage and passion in putting forward advocacies that sought to defend the rights of marginalised peoples of the South. Click through for an interview with Gigi where she shared her thoughts on women’s movement, Southern feminisms, the role of young feminists, the politics of LGBT, sex and love. (http://www.isiswomen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17…)
