ENOMW GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2019 24-26 MAY, LIBSON WOMEN: REVOLUTION AND RESISTANCE WELCOME-PACK W E L C O M E F R O M E N O M W In June 2018 our members met in Rabat, Morocco for the three days of intense exchange, training and fun. This year we are meeting in Lisbon, Portugal, hosted by the Portguese HIgh Commission for Migration and supported by our local partners and members. We expect this Assembly to be similarly rich and productive. Among the major tasks of the Assembly is the amendment of our Statutes and the election of the new Board. We will discuss two structural changes: replacement of one President with two Co-Presidents in the Board and the establishment of the Young Women Council, as an advisory body to the Board and other structures. We will also have a number of workshops, delivered by our members and guest speakers that were designed to facilitate internal skill-transfer among members and reinforce our individual and collective political analysis and advocacy. We hope that everyone joining us for this year's Assembly will leave Lisbon re-energised, strenthened in their work for the rights of migrant women and in our collective vision of a global feminist revolution ! S P E C I A L T H A N K S We would like to thank everyone at Alto Comissariado para as Migrações (ACM), Plataforma Portuguesa para os Direitos da Mulher, Mulheres Sem Fronteiras, Casa do Brasil de Lisboa as well as all the individual women in Portugal and within the Network who stepped up to make our General Assembly 2019 possible. Brussels Team: In the days before the AGM Many of you have communicated with the Network's Brussels Office's Team, Sinem Yilmaz (Brussels Officer) and Adriana Sthiago (#RadicalGirlsss), who worked very hard to prepare this Assembly. We are grateful for their continued presence, representation and support and are looking forward to the members meeting them in person in Lisbon ! The Portguese High Commission for Migration, hosting our AGM, is a public institute that, under the direct supervision of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, is responsible for collaborating in the definition, implementation and evaluation of public policies regarding the attraction of migrants, the integration of immigrants and Roma communities, and the management and enhancement of the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and religions through the promotion of intercultural and interreligious dialogue. www.acm.gov.pt Portguese Platform for Women's Rights, supporting our AGM, is a social, cultural and humanist non-governmental organisation, independent from political parties, religious institutions or governmental structures, whose members are women’s rights NGOs. Its main objective is to foster cooperation for collective reflection and action in the promotion of women’s rights through such means as research, lobbying, dissemination of information, awareness-raising and training. https://plataformamulheres.org.pt Mulheres sem Fronteiras is a feminism organization involved in promoting human rights of girls and women and combating gender-based violence. They execute community based projects in the great Lisbon area, working mainly with girls and young women of African descent, Roma & refugees. They also organise feminist memory walks. www.facebook.com/pg/mulheressemfronteiras Casa do Brasil of Lisbon, one of the founding members of the Network, is an association that promotes diversity and Brazilian culture in Portugal, providing cultural, political, social and legal support to its members and immigrants in general. Among its activities of various cultural and educational classes, lectures and debates, exhibitions, workshops and film screenings. https://www.facebook.com/pg/casadobrasildelisboa HOMEWORK FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS: WHO IS YOUR REVOLUTIONARY WOMAN ? We ask every member attendting the AGM to bring with you a printed portrait and a short description of a revolutionary woman that inspires you. (alternatively you can send it to [email protected]). She can be from your country of origin, the country where you live, from the past or the present. This revolutionary woman can even be a fictional character. RULES & PRINCIPLES AT AGM: COMMUNICATION: o We communicate with each other, at all times, in a sisterly way. In the network, we have roles and responsibilities, but we have no hierarchies. We encourage active communication, critical discussions, personal friendship and informal connections among our members o Disagreements are resolved in a civil and timely manner, never compromising the well-being of the Network o Our members come from different backgrounds; it is important to remember it when we speak to each other o Last but not least: we are here together and we need to support each other SPACE SHARING: o Convenience: It is advisable to bring everything you need to make your accommodation as convenient as possible o Cleaning: Keep the space safe and clean for the others and yourself o We are here together, so try to engage with all participants. You can learn from everybody TIMING: o We have an intense schudule and we will be monitoring time strictly (especially in the mornig !) o Start-times are documented in the agenda; please try to be always on time o Respect other women when they speak and give them the room they need o If you are the speaker, time your contribution well and leave space to others to respond There have been so many WOMEN IN unsung sheroes, women who contributed to World PORTUGAL'S War I efforts, to the 1974 revolution efforts and to so REVOLUTION many other defining moments in history, without ever having been Portugal, a small country of just over 10 acknowledged. We also million people, had one of the longest celebrate and commend all dictatorships in Europe during the first the anonymous women half of the XX century. Prior to 1974, who every single day give women in Portugal were restricted by the so much of themselves for Penal Code and had little organizational others, often at a cost to power. Women's groups were formed their own health and well- within the Catholic Church to teach being. women about cooking, child care, and home economics. There was no contact Maria Antónia Palla: She is a with international women's groups. The feminist journalist, one of press only reported events such as "bra the first women journalists burning", which was the equivalent of in Portugal. As a journalist "fake news" of today. 80% of all illiterates and citizen of the resistance in Portugal were women. After the against fascism, she was dictatorship fell in 1974, women received witness to some of the most legal equality with Portuguese men important moments in the including the right to vote and full history of Portugal, she equality in marriage. A generation later, always fought for women's many women were making full use of rights and freedom of their new status. Present roles are expression and gave voice to those who didn't have it. She discussed for work, health, education, has always exercised the religion, trade unions and political capacity of criticism with parties, and women's organizations. commendable independence. Sara Amâncio: As a citizen of The Three Marys - Maria the anti-fascist Resistance, Teresa Horta, Maria Velho she stood out, from a very da Costa and Maria Isabel young age, in the struggle Barreno - were accused of against the regime and for writing a pornographic freedom. She was tried in book and of being Plenary Court, persecuted detrimental to public and, prevented from teaching, morality. Their book ‘New was forced to go abroad. She Portuguese Letters’ is a full-fledged woman who denounces the colonial has maintained civic and war, the judicial system, political activity, in parallel the violence, women with her teaching, dedicating situation, the feminization much of her time to the of poverty, the absence of construction of democracy freedom, the colonization and the causes of the memory of the political body and of the dictatorship. immigration. DAY1: FRIDAY 24 May DAY3: SUNDAY 26 May 13.00 - LUNCH (served at the ACM Venue) 08.15 - DEPART FROM HOSTEL to ACM Vennue 14.00 - WELCOME from Salome Mbugua, ENoMW President 09.00 - WOMEN'S LIBERATION MOVEMENT ( Linda Bellos ) 14.10 - WELCOME from the Portguese High Commission for 10.15 - #RADICALGIRLSSS: Presentation and Discussion Migration 11.30 - STRATEGIC DISCUSSION 2 ( Noura Raad, FFM & 14.20 - HOUSEKEEPING Anna Zobnina ) 14.30 - WORKING GROUPS & STAFF REPORTS 13.30 - LUNCH (served at the ACM Venue) (Financial (Anna Zobnina), Communication (Adriana Sthiago), Membership (Sodfa Daaji), Brussels Office (Sinem 14.30 - UN ARCHITECTURE / CEDAW (Dalia Leinarte, Yilmaz) CEDAW Committee) 15.30 - ACTIVITY REPORT (Anna Zobnina & Salome Mbugua) 15. 30 - THREE WORKING GROUPS: parallel sessions followed by reporting back 16.30 - NEW FULL MEMBERS: Presentations & Votes 17.00 - MEMBER WORKSHOP 3: Women Taking Space, 17.30 - FILM-IN-PROGRESS: Fundamentalism & Neo- Unlocking Your Voice (Sodfa Daaji, Radical Girlsss) followed Liberalism. Discussion with Members ( Saddie Choua ) by a ***street protest * 19.00 - 21.00 DEBATE at Casa do Brasil 20:30 - Dinner (Restaurant Ho Caldas ) 20:30 - DINNER ( Restuarant Casa Madeirense ) ADDITIONAL DETAILS: *optional Debate (Pre)concepts/prejudices of feminine migration is in Portuguese however a whisper-interpretation will be made available to non-Portuguese speakers. If you wish to attend, you will have to leave ACM at around 18:45 DAY2:SATURDAY 25 May and be at the Dinner by 20:30 08.15 - DEPART FROM HOSTEL to ACM Venue ** optional WALKING TOUR organised by Mulheres Sem Fronteiras and Feminist Lisbon. The tour will show us what 09. 00 - AFRICA DAY: Women of African Descent ( Salome can streets, squares, buildings, cafes, parks and theaters tell Mbugua & Linda Bellos ) us about the daily lives, struggle and achievements of women in Lisbon.