22-11-2021
The general assembly is an important part of member organizations and thus also at WO=MEN. As a student member I was allowed to take a look behind the scenes and see how the GA Gender, Climate and Conflict came about from a cozy studio in the Museon.
By Nieves Blaauw
My only experience with a GA was that of my former study association and I remember it as long, one-sided and tough to get through. The GA of WO=MEN was exactly the opposite and very interesting, dynamic, informative and interactive, although the latter was unfortunately a bit more complicated due to the online setting because of the COVID measures.
Before the GA started, I was allowed to watch the briefing where I noticed that everything had been worked out and arranged down to the last detail to make the GA a success. It was clear from everything that the employees of WO=MEN wanted to speak to their members in the best way possible in order to emphasize the important role played by the members. The first part was specifically intended for the members.
To start off the GA, WO=MEN Director Laila Ait Baali paid attention to the departure of Ans Laven, the arrival of Stephany Ackson and of Dewi Keppy, the new programme manager Gender and Sustainable Economy. This way, she informed the members of the current WO=MEN team. The annual plan was then discussed, and the program managers talked about their highlights of the past six months and their goals for 2022.
A question was asked about the safety of the employees of WO=MEN, especially in connection with the online climate. Showing solidarity, standing together and having a zero-tolerance policy on harassment are ways to deal with this, Laila said. In a society where everything is increasingly done online, it is even more important to take good care of the safety and mental health of everyone who is working on societal challenges. However, the online environment not only has dark sides, because as the program managers pointed out, this gives everyone an opportunity to participate in meetings. This especially applies to people with a handicap of people who, for example, cannot get a visa. Diversity & inclusion is stimulated this way, and this was a nice message to close the general part for the members.
WO=MEN's employees had some time to pause after this, and prepare for the next part of the GA. Everyone looked forward to the panel discussion on Gender, Climate and Conflict. The panelists had arrived, and they were preparing to join the discussion. Everyone was excited and curious about what new insights and ideas would be discussed. Laila supervised the discussion and the rest of the WO=MEN team was ready with a notebook to write and post updates on Twitter. For a moment I also felt part of the WO=MEN team and just like the others I wrote along extensively, and I was completely absorbed in the fascinating discussion.
The panel discussion kicked off with an interesting introduction by Hannah Bond (Deputy Director ActionAid UK). She explained her recently published research on the nexus between gender equality, climate and conflict to the public. She discussed five key areas in her research and the subsequent recommendations. The latter focused on, among other things, involving girls, young women and indigenous groups in the policy-making process and supporting local networks and organizations to decrease corporate power and create action plans.
During the following panel discussion, attention was drawn to the importance of focusing on the relationship between gender, climate and conflict. It was emphasized that this connection must be considered in order to find out who exactly is affected by it and to be able to change the behavior of everyone. By looking through different lenses, larger groups of people can be reached, and different socio-economic problems can be tackled simultaneously, according to Aniek Moonen from the Jonge Klimaatbeweging. Daniëlle Hirsch, director of BothEnds built on this by explaining that by putting the emphasis on the connection between gender, climate and conflict, a one-sided approach can be avoided, and all parties involved can contribute their ideas.
An important topic was then raised by Laila, how do these organizations ensure that they do not become part of the problem themselves? Amr Abdo Mohamed of Oxfam Novib emphasized the importance of local input and practical recommendations that can actually be implemented. This also relates to involving indigenous epistemology in development work and Erika from Mama Cash mentioned the focus on decentralization to ensure that the money actually ends up at local initiatives. The subject of COP26 was also briefly mentioned and in order to make future COPs more successful, Aniek underlines the need to involve more local, indigenous parties and especially more young people.
To make the conversation a bit more personal, Laila asked all panel members what they would do if they became the future Prime Minister of the Netherlands. Interesting ideas arose, which clearly demonstrated the passion that the panelists have for this topic. After this, the topic of the COVID-19 crisis was briefly discussed, and Hannah discussed the adverse consequences this has had when it comes to gender equality, climate and conflict. To counter this, even more work will have to be done by NGOs and Laila closed the discussion by elaborating on this. What can NGOs themselves contribute to meeting these challenges, in addition to the work that policymakers and donors are doing? The importance of working from different perspectives is repeated and we must also continue to challenge ourselves and each other to view different situations independently to arrive at suitable solutions. Daniëlle adds that it is important for NGOs to counter and challenge power in order to get governments to take action.
After all these different topics, one thing is clear: it continues to be an ongoing process to address the importance of the nexus between gender, climate and conflict. Solutions to the problems in this area can therefore come from all corners, but it is fundamental that we remain critical of ourselves and each other and by working together with different fields we can arrive at new insights.
The GA concluded with an exhibition showing the stories of women and the ways in which they deal with climate change. Various photos were demonstrated to the members, while Marina de Paiva of the Mercycorps explained more about the creation of the exhibition and provided information about the photos.
After Laila's word of thanks to the panel members and the members of WO=MEN, the team breathes a sigh of relief. The GA is over and despite the necessary flexibility due to COVID, they managed to make it a success. WO=MEN is really an organization for and by its members. For the next GA it is therefore hoped that the members can really reunite and meet each other in person once again.
