By Byron Mutingwende
GLOBAL WOMEN’S MOVEMENT TO SHOWCASE TOP-SHELF SOLUTIONS ON URBAN ISSUES AT WORLD URBAN FORUM 9
The Huairou Commission have announced the launch of their inaugural Global Grassroots Women’s Congress, as well as their participation in the World Urban Forum 9 to be held from February 2-5, 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Instrumental in enabling the voices of grassroots women leaders in global action along with their community-minded processes and solutions on urban issues, the global women’s movement is entering a new phase in furthering the global women’s agenda.
Following acknowledgment of their status as an official stakeholder group recognised by UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign, grassroots women’s core beliefs will now be repurposed with the launch of the inaugural Global Grassroots Women’s Congress (GGWC).
The intent of the Congress is to link local-to-global community organising efforts among grassroots women leaders.
The Global Grassroots Women’s Congress will bring together one hundred (100) grassroots women leaders, who are representing more than a million others across their communities in fifty-one (51) countries.
GGWC marks a milestone for the movement of grassroots women, and aims for the adoption of a common vision for sustainable, community-driven development practices among those involved, as well as strengthened capacity to impact development outcomes and influence policy through participatory governance, unparalleled at that level of decision-making.
Solving global issues by fostering local change
The Congress is strategically timed to address and contribute to solutions to urban issues at the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum, which is organised around the theme “Cities 2030, Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda.”
About the Huairou Commission
Founded in 1995, the Huairou Commission is a movement-based organisation, with the mission of developing strategic partnerships and linkages among grassroots women’s organisations around the world, advancing their capacity to collectively influence political spaces on behalf of their communities, and enhancing their sustainable, resilient community development practices.
Original reporting by Muriel Vincent, Resilient Community Development & Communications Associate