DAWN has described the first decade of the 21st century as the painful birthing of a “fierce new world” in light of the paradigmatic shifts induced by a run-away neoliberal globalization; a militarized and financialized political economy; a crisis in climate and other natural systems; a deepening food crisis; an energy crisis from fossil-fuel dependence; the decline of the nation-state and the reconfiguration of the geopolitical context. These crises have resulted in the emergence of a multilateral terrain that is replete with complicated contradictions, serious fractures, severe backlash, broken promises, and uncertain outcomes for the world’s women, especially women from the economic South, including the Pacific.

In order to gain better understanding of how to make sense of and address these challenges in the region, DAWN  convened a back-to-back consultation with Pacific researchers, analysts and policymakers, and training institute for young women activists. The overall aim was to provide a space for exploring issues and responses from a DAWN interlinkages perspective, where economic and climate justice coincide with gender justice.

This meeting, which ran from September 6-9, was part of DAWN’s Gender, Economic and Ecological Justice (GEEJ) Regional Consultations and Training Institute series that will also be carried out in various regions of the South. The program included three main activities – Consultation with Experts, Training Institute with Young Women Activists and Public Forum – that will cover three core issues: Double Standards in Triple Crisis Response; Financing Development with Climate Justice and Women’s Empowerment; and Incoherence between Trade, Environment and Gender Policies and Agreements.

DAWN members from India, Philippines, Madagascar and the Pacific facilitated the meeting, hoping to learn with Pacific policymakers, academics and women’s rights activists with knowledge of linkages between gender, economic and climate justice, and enhancing intergenerational capacities in region-specific women’s movements.

Organized in collaboration with the Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG), this event was held at Holiday Inn Hotel, Suva, Fiji to be attended by 35 participants from the Pacific and sponsored by the Ford Foundation, Global Fund for Women and UNIFEM Pacific (part of UN Women).
GEEJ Pacific and Africa discussions are available at DAWN Informs December 2010 Issue.

Download the Concept Paper: concept-paper_dawn_regional_geej_consultations_2010_pacfinal