WICEJ Launches New Publication—

Seeking Accountability on Women’s Human Rights:  Women Debate the Millennium Development Goals

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WICEJ launched its new publication, Seeking Accountability on Women’s Human Rights:  Women Debate the Millennium Development Goals, at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, in January 2004 and at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March 2004.

There is much discussion among women’s organizations about the MDGs—on whether and how to engage. From internet conversations and articles to national and international meetings, women are exploring whether the MDGs are useful tools for advancing their agenda of gender equality, economic justice and peace.

WICEJ has invited women from different regions, working on diverse issues, to contribute to the debate from their particular vantage points. These take the form of articles as well as brief opinion pieces. The contributions range from great skepticism to energetic endorsements of the opportunity at hand. As the MDGs and initiatives for implementation are still relatively new, it is clear from these articles that there are many different understandings of what they are, how they emerged, how they work, what level of flexibility there may be in adapting them, and how broad the engagement of civil society should be.

Through these debates, many women are seeking to reframe the development dialogue, once again, to put gender, racial equality and human rights, including social and economic rights, center-stage. Thus, many are exploring how to use the MDGs as tools to challenge the status quo, to demand action on women’s key concerns, to mobilize civil society in both North and South, to highlight labor rights and employment needs, and to push for a global reordering of the world’s resources.

In Seeking Accountability on Women’s Human Rights, WICEJ does not seek to take a position. Our goal is to place in your hands key elements of the current debate, so that women’s organizations around the world can assess how, why and whether to engage with the MDGs.

To download printable PDF files of this publication:
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Front Cover

Table of Contents and Introduction

"Seeking Accountability on Women's Human Rights"
and "Local Voices"

"Contextualizing the MDG's" and "Local Voices"

"Debating Strategies for Approaching the MDG's"
and "Local Voices"

"Transforming the MDG's as a Tool for Rights, Equality, Sustainable Development and Peace"

Millennium Indicators

Resource List

Back Cover with list of WICEJ Members