Our Spaces GRASSROOTS WOMEN FORMALIZE THEIR LEADERSHIP & ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES Ayse Yonder Marnie Tamaki Our Spaces GRASSROOTS WOMEN FORMALIZE THEIR LEADERSHIP & ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES Ayse Yonder Marnie Tamaki Grassroots Women Formalize Their Our Spaces Leadership & Access to Essential Services ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION NICARAGUA Unión de Cooperativas de Mujeres Las Brumas (“The Mists”), Jinetoga | p. 6 JAMAICA Construction Resource and Development Centre and the Women’s Construction Collective, Kingston | p. 12 NEPAL Lumanti Support Group for Shelter and the Pragati Mahila Utthan Savings and Credit Cooperative, Kathmandu | p. 17 PHILIPPINES DAMPA and “Botika Binhi,” Women’s Community Pharmacy Outlets, Manila Metro Region | p. 22 SRI LANKA Kanta Ran Arunalu Kendraya Mother and Child Clinic & Women’s Resource Centre, Moratuwa | p. 27 RWANDA The Rwanda Women’s Network and The Polyclinic and Village of Hope, Kigali | p. 32 TURKEY Women and Children Centers and Kadin Emegini Degerlendirme Vakfi, Istanbul | p. 39 Ìlk Adım Women and Children Center and Women’s Environment, Culture, and Enterprise Cooperative, Istanbul | p. 39 INDIA Mahila Mahiti Kendras: Grassroots Women’s Knowledge and Training Centers and Swayan Shikshan Prayog, Mumbai | p. 49 Samiyarpettai Village Community Center and ASHAA Self-Help Group, Tamil Nadu | p. 52 GERMANY Mother Centers and Mother Centers International Network (MINE) | p. 56 Mother Centers Stuttgart and the Eltern-Kind-Zentrum-Stuttgart-West e.V. (EkiZ), Stuttgart | p. 58 CZECH REPUBLIC Czech Mother Centers Network, Prague | p. 64 CANADA Aboriginal Mother Center, Vancouver, British Columbia | p. 69 Centre for Northern Families and The Yellowknife Women’s Society, Yellowknife, Northern Territories | p. 73 KENYA GROOTS Mathare and the Mathare Mother’s Development Center, Nairobi | p. 77 UNITED STATES National Congress of Neighborhood Women and the Neighborhood Women House Living Learning Center, New York, New York | p. 83 CONCLUSION p. 89 APPENDIX A Our Practices Exhibition at UN HABITAT Conference, Istanbul, 1996 p. 94 APPENDIX B Our Spaces Exhibition at WUF, Vancouver, 2004 | p. 98 Published by: The Commission on the Legal Empowerment of the Poor: A Huairou Commission Perspective Copyright: © 2010 Huairou Commission Women represent two thirds of the world’s poorest people. They serve as primary caregivers for children, the elderly and the infirm. The Huairou CommissionThis publication considers was that made any changes possible to improve by funding the lives in part of the from poor require a strong gender perspective if they are to truly be effective in eradicating poverty.Summary The recommendations Cordaid Financial in this reportPolicy have been deliberated and presentedKBS, by February grassroots 2005 women leaders, often with large constituencies. Their recommendationsReproduction ofas womenthis publication caregivers, for as localeducational advocates, or entrepreneurs other non-commercial and individualsIntroduction with needs make their perspectives highly relevant for the poor in general.purpose is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder The provided Cordaid Financial the source Policy memorandumis fully acknowledged. has been drawn up to make the Cordaid policy and the While womenpracticalities suffer of burdens financial ofpolicy poverty and financial and lack ma ofnagement implementation more unified of andtheir consistent and to attune rights, theythese also to the provide organisation’s innovative development strategies vision. and solutions. The Huairou CommissionReproduction seeks ofto sharethis publication these best prac fortices resale with or others, other socommercial that the strides purposes is made byThe empowered relevant points poor of women departure themselves are: may be resourced and replicated byprohibited partners• To of contributewithoutinfluence. optimallyprior Such written partnersto the main permission include objectives the of localof Cordaid the and copyright asnational an organisation, holder. namely structural governments,poverty towards eradication whom via Legal direct Empowerment poverty eradication, aims societyits advocacy building efforts. and advocacy. In partnership, grassroots women, governments, the UN and other supportive institutionsCitation:• To canThe find support Huairoua specific legal (policy-related)Commission. empowerment niche 2010. to in becomewhich Our financial Spaces. reality. support New from York, Cordaid USA: has The clear value (‘added value’) and is distinctive from flows of funds from authorities, multilateral and bilateral LegalHuairou rights channelsCommission. are an important and the business framework community; for women, yet these rights co-exist with cultural, social, economic and political realities that often obstruct poor To encourage, via partner organisations, other organisations, authorities, multilateral and bilateral women •from enjoying their rights. In seeking to strengthen women's access to Cover designchannels and and layout the business by: Jessicacommunity Wyman to make more funds available for the poor and take and controlaccount over assets, of their for interests example, in their tr aditionalpolicies. rights-based approaches often prioritize legal rights and legal reform, overlooking the underlying power dynamics• thatTo adoptexist anwithin organisation-based families and communitiesapproach (instead that o fkeep a project-based women from one) which offers room for owningCover and photo:civil-society controlling Simge organisations land Women and busine to and developsses Children andand overlookingmake Center an effective women’sin Izmit, contribution successfulTurkey. to development now and practices atin the the communityfuture, based level. on a recognition Together, of thesethe autono perspectivesmy of civil-society can lead organisations to to determine tangible changetheir own at high course. levels of government as well as community levels. Printed Printed in Long Island City, New York, USA Women •leaders To ensure from internalinformal and settlements external transparency and rural – communitiesa culture of integrity. provide solutions and contributions. They collectively support one another as well as • To encourage learning within organisations in developing countries and within Cordaid through men and youthcontinuous in their reflection communities on the points to travel of departure to courts an dor through to lobby vision for andtheir practice. Dealing propertyAbout rights.theconsciously authors: The Huairou with risks Commission – encouraging recommends innovation and that continuous governments learning draw – in contrast to the on these localintroduction practices of allas kindsa resource of administrative for their assessmcommonents. goals. Organized groupsAyse ofYonder, women PhD.,that already is a tenured work to professorovercome the at thebarriers Graduate to the legal Center for Planning empowerment of the poor and marginalized can bring services and community knowledgeand the Environmentto government representativesat Pratt Institute seeking in Brooklyn, to disseminate New information,York, and a partner of includethe Huairou the poor Commission. in consultations or train communities on accessing their rights. Marnie Tamaki, MAIBC, is an architect with AMU:Architects in Vancouver, Canada, and a founding member of GROOTS Canada. 1 The designation of geographical entities in the book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Huairou Commission concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Huairou Commission. 1 Acknowledgements This document is a result of teamwork. Our heartfelt thanks go to all those who generously shared their time and information to make it possible. Our thanks to Nicole Ganzekaufer for coordinating the process through the Huairou Commission office and for conducting interviews in Rwanda and Kenya; Matt Wade for compiling and organizing the survey information; Dahlia Goldenberg for helping with interviews in Nicaragua, translation and review of the case; Katie Meyer for interviews in Yellowknife; Sengul Akcar, Suranjana Gupta, Rut Kolínská, Andrea Laux, Jackie Leavitt, Jan Peterson, Sandy Schilen, Peter Smith, and Viviana Zanocco for reviewing parts of the document; the HC and GROOTS staff for administrative support; Jennifer Gardner for copy editing; and Jessica Wyman for her design talent, patience and helping to us keep to the schedule. This project was made possible with financial support from CORDAID, and support from the Huairou Commission and GROOTS International. The case studies in this document only partially reflect the vision, courage, persistence, and relentless energy of the grassroots leaders that made it possible to claim and sustain these spaces. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn more about their work. We are also grateful to Jan Peterson for starting this project, for her support and relentless drive; and to Sandy Schilen for her encouragement and wisdom. In special memory of Monika Jaeckel, founder of the Mother Centre Movement, colleague and friend, for claiming space for mothers and children that has grown into a global movement and hundreds of mother centers. Introduction 1 Claiming space is an important yet little discussed