by Yvonne Lipman
"Women's Leadership - Help Women Help Themselves" was the theme of the 21st
Biennial Seminar held within the framework of activities of the Golda Meir
Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC). This year's seminar
coincided with the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel and the 40th
anniversary of MASHAV. Twice as many participants as in previous years took
part, a result of coordination with two other international organizations
working for similar aims. These were the International Council of Women
(ICW), an international non-governmental organization committed to the
promotion of the status of women and their integration in development and
decision-making bodies, and Soroptimist International, a non-political
professional women's organization which is particularly committed to the
advancement of the status of women.
Ripples from the 4th UN World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995,
still resound, and this year's Seminar theme related to that part of the
Beijing Conference Platform for Action which aimed at "removing all the
obstacles to women's active participation in all spheres of public and
private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural
and political decision taking." Awareness of the continuing need to monitor
the achievements of concerned women in pursuit of this goal led to the 1998
International Seminar theme of "Women's Leadership - Help Women Help
Themselves" and a decision to incorporate project planning within the
program.
The Seminar program was thus practically oriented, looking at ways in which
international organizations and governments contribute to women in
development, and at how individual women have overcome their constraints to
become leaders within their society. The concept of project planning was
central to the Seminar, and time was devoted, both in plenary and workshop
sessions, to the theory and practice of planning and presenting projects
which would have real relevance to the women in the countries which the
participants represented.
Forty-seven countries from every continent sent delegates to the Seminar.
For the first time there were delegates from Malaysia, Mauritania, Egypt and
Jordan. All in all, 100 women took part in the proceedings representing
women active in public life, including government ministers and high-ranking
officials in international institutions and in non-governmental
organizations, particularly those representing women's interests. There was
a large representation from the International Council of Women, whose
current President, Pnina Herzog, is Israeli, and from Soroptimist
International.
After an orientation trip around Haifa, including a visit to the magnificent
Bahai Shrine and Gardens, the Opening Ceremony marked the official start of
the proceedings. The one and only woman member of the Israeli Cabinet, Limor
Livnat, honored the Seminar by her presence to deliver the keynote speech at
the Opening. She made a forceful plea for the advancement of women's
empowerment, as she noted: "The ability to lead is not linked to a male
chromosome.... (yet) the path taken by a woman to the thrones of power is
endlessly more difficult than that of a man's."
In the first Plenary Session participants heard from women heading
international organizations and holding positions in government in their
countries. The difference in status of woman across the globe could be
measured by the contrast between the work of the Norwegian Gender Equality
Ombudsperson, Ann-Lise Ryel, whose office promotes gender equality in her
country, and that of Jerri Dell of the Economic Development Institute of the
World Bank, whose Grassroots Management Training Scheme seeks to reach
illiterate women in Africa and give them basic training in functional skills
to help them rise above their problems and their poverty.
Personal stories from women who had achieved eminence in their fields,
political and academic, were featured in the second Plenary Session. Key
factors in their presentations were the need for equality of education and
opportunity: all pointed out the vital importance of tackling women's
illiteracy and of the need to network - to transfer knowledge from woman to
woman.
One afternoon was devoted to professional visits in different fields of
interest. Those participants who chose to look at ways of encouraging
women's business initiative in the rural sector toured a rural region of the
Lower Galilee where a Small Business Development Center provides
encouragement and support systems for small businesses, including many women
entrepreneurs. The group heard the personal stories of several women: one
who created attractive alternative tourist experiences in the community
where she lives and now markets them; another, whose English teaching method
began as a very small, home-based enterprise now has world-wide franchises;
and a woman who built and developed a restaurant for the reason that she
loved that particular view!
Participants with an interest in early childhood education were able to
visit a support system for mothers of pre-school children in a town
adjoining Haifa. The "Nest" Program functions through volunteers and is
aimed specifically at families where children are considered to be at high
risk because of multiple problems.
A third group observed local community governance in action in Netanya, a
city south of Haifa. They met with the Mayor - a woman- and with the Head of
the Department of Community Services, and heard from women at the Community
Center who spoke about how they had been changed by their ability to
participate in decision-taking processes within their own community.
The theme of the final day in Haifa was project planning - and the
participants heard the theories first. Two Israeli women academics spoke
about the process and the content of planning respectively, keeping women
particularly in mind. The Seminar members then divided into workshop groups
based on common language and common interest, and each workshop spent
several hours planning projects which were later presented to the Plenary
Session. A francophone and an anglophone group both planned projects on
"Decision-making in the community - how to widen women's participation." The
small group of Spanish speakers worked in parallel with an English speaking
group on "Upgrading microenterprises - how to help women be more competitive
in the market," while a fifth group planned a project to tackle "Raising
women's awareness to taking preventive action against sexually transmitted
diseases."
Despite the disparate topics and the three different languages in which
these five separate workshops were held, common motifs could be discerned in
each one: * the need for accessible support systems, due to the social and
cultural factors which isolate and weaken women. * the necessity to have a
realistic representation of women in politics in order to gain influence and
have the ability to affect the decision-making process. * the education of
girls as a prerequisite for improving the status of women.
En route to Jerusalem for the final events of the Seminar, the participants
visited, according to their individual preferences, either the northern
Galilee area or the central region of the country. Those visiting the
Galilee were given guided tours of such sites sacred to Christians as the
Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the baptismal site on the Jordan
River. They lunched in the guest house restaurant of one of the kibbutzim on
the banks of the Sea of Galilee. Those who took the central region tour made
a visit to a kibbutz, ate lunch in Jaffa, and visited a community center in
south Tel Aviv.
The Seminar drew to a close with a two night stay at the new Hilton Hotel in
Jerusalem. Participants awoke to a working breakfast with Member of Knesset
(the Israeli Parliament) Prof. Naomi Chazan, whose rousing speech about the
specific barriers facing women active in politics in Israel was received
very warmly. She mentioned religious fundamentalism, the centrality of the
security issue, and the difficulties experienced by women in gaining entry
to and remaining in political life due to gender roles and societal
influence. This was followed by a reception at the President's Residence,
given by Mrs. Reuma Weizman, wife of President of Israel Chaim Weizman, a
guided tour of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a lunch hosted
by the ICW at the new Jerusalem Municipality building, where Mayor of
Jerusalem Ehud Olmert addressed the Seminar participants.
The Closing Ceremony and Farewell Dinner took place at the Hilton Hotel
hosted by the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Eytan
Ben-Tsur, and the Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry and Head
of MASHAV, Haim Divon. Those participants whose flight plans allowed it were
able to spend time on the following day sightseeing and shopping before
returning home.
This Seminar aimed at providing the participants with practical tools for
putting projects relevant to the women in their regions into operation. It
is indeed this action of helping women to help themselves which will attest
to the success of the Seminar. We at the MCTC eagerly await the feedback
that we are confident we will receive!