The Zontian April 2008, Issue Eight

Membership Voiceof Zonta International

2006-2008 Biennial Issue Eight • April 2008

The ZontianAdvancing the Status of Women Worldwide

Financingfor

Gender Equality

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IN THIS ISSUEFEATURES

5 Financing for Gender Equality

DEPARTMENTS3 President’s Message4 Foundation President’s Message9 The World of Zontian Giving

10 Zonta Programs: International Service11 Zonta International and the United Nations12 Membership12 Zonta International Finance Committee13 Zonta Action15 Convention 2008: Rotterdam16 Welcome New Clubs

World Headquarters557 West Randolph StreetChicago, Illinois 60661 USATelephone: +1 312-930-5848Fax: +1 312-930-0951www.zonta.org

Janet Halstead, Executive DirectorCathe Wood, Director of Development and CommunicationsTheresa Reynolds, Communications Manager

Photo Credits: Cover: Curt Canemark/The World Bank, Yosef Hadar/The WorldBank. Page 5: Curt Canemark/The World Bank. Page 6: Curt Canemark/TheWorld Bank. Page 7: Curt Canemark/The World Bank. Page 8: Curt Canemarkand Yosef Hadar/The World Bank.

The Zontian (ISSN 0279-3229) is published quarterly by Zonta International. As Zonta International’s official publication, this magazine carries authorizedarticles regarding the organization’s programs and activities. No responsibility is assumed for opinions of other authors. Annual subscription rate: US$8.50(USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland); US$17 (individual airmail outside USA). Publication office address listed above.Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, Illinois USA and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Zontian, Zonta International,557 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661 USA.

The

Zontian2006-2008 Biennial Issue Eight • April 2008Volume 89 • Number 1

DID YOU KNOW . . .

Payment received from 1 April – 31 May 2008

EUR 425

Payment received after 15 June 2008 and onsite

EUR 475

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5

2008 Zonta International Convention RegistrationRegister early for the 2008 Zonta International Convention in Rotterdamand take advantage of early registration fees:

Make sure your club delegate(s) are registered for this year’s Convention.For more information on club delegate(s), see the back cover of this issue.For additional information about the 2008 Zonta International Convention,including registration, visit www.zonta2008.com.

Zonta International Web siteThe most common question sent to the Zonta Webmaster is “What is myusername and password?”

You can retrieve your UserName and Password instantly online. Click theLogin Help link on the left side of your screen and follow the instructions.Requesting your UserName and Password from the Web site prompts anautomated E-mail to the address on file.

If you haven’t already registered your UserName and Password, do sotoday by visiting www.zonta.org.

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www.zonta.org 2006-2008 BIENNIAL ISSUE EIGHT 3

Olivia Ferry

"Very many thanks for

your support of the

2006-2008 Biennium,

which has allowed us to

move forward in our

goal of advancing the

status of women

worldwide through

service and advocacy."

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Zontians:

I write my last message to you this biennium having just returned from mylongest working trip yet for Zonta, weaving through the airports of Chicago,New York and Rotterdam over a period of six weeks.

At the Bylaws Committee meeting in Chicago, proposed bylaws changes and conference resolutions that will come up for discussion and decision atConvention were thoroughly and clearly deliberated upon. I hope that beforeyou come to Rotterdam in June, you will have studied and taken up theseproposed bylaws changes at your club meetings in terms of their impact on the future operation and direction of the organization. I suggest that these be discussed also during the District Meetings at Convention.

At the District Governors-Elect Orientation, incoming Governors receivedZonta knowledge and shared leadership experiences with one another and withZonta International. In between, there were the Board meetings of our twoorganizations, ZIF and ZI, where important decisions were made. Theseinclude: (a) the Memorandum of Agreement granting UNIFEM US$100,000for the project, Preventing Trafficking of Women in Thailand by Addressing theNormative Dimensions of Demand, which is awaiting the signature of UNIFEMas of the time of the meeting; (b) another anti-trafficking project in the MekongRegion with the Development and Education Program for Daughters andCommunities, which has been signed with initial grant payment made inJanuary 2008. These projects support ZISVAW’s focus on the issue of anti-trafficking of women and girls in this biennium. Furthermore, a new UN TrustFund project on Combating Violence Against Women and Girls in Sierra Leonehas been fully funded. For the highlights of the ZI and ZIF Board meetings,check out the ZI Web site at www.zonta.org, Member Resources.

New York’s weather was milder than Chicago’s bitter winter, but the snowand the rain fell on the pavement a few times while I was there to convene themeetings for Project Five-O and to attend the 52nd session of the Commissionon the Status of Women. If you have never attended a CSW session, you should seriously consider doing so. You will feel the energy and see the intensenetworking among women’s rights advocates, displaying the scope andmagnitude of work NGOs and civil society are undertaking for the world’swomen – all this, playing alongside the work of the Commission itself andparallel events of UN missions. This year’s priority theme is “Financing forGender Equality and the Empowerment of Women”…also our theme for thisissue of The Zontian magazine.

The 52nd CSW session provided a unique opportunity to specifically identifyand address critical issues related to resources for gender equality and theempowerment of women, providing a special focus on a subject long considereda part of many of the other priority themes since the Fourth World Conferenceon Women in Beijing in 1995. This subject examined how the allocation of public resources benefits women and men. The Agreed Conclusions areintended to raise awareness, particularly among elected representatives and civil servants, of the benefits of including a gender perspective in governmentbudgets and resource allocations to ensure women’s priorities are addressed innational policies and public expenditures. The session also looked at the broadertopic of development, articulating the goals and approaches for gender equalityand the outcomes to be achieved.

My final destination, Rotterdam, was just as challenging as it was happilyanticipated. Emerging from a wakeful night on the plane on a Sunday morning,meetings were set for me four hours after my arrival. For the next two-and-a-halfdays, details of the Convention were scrutinized, probing questions were asked,

Continued on page 11

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Dear Zontians and Friends of Zonta,

It is hard to believe that we are already approaching the end of our 2006-2008Biennium! By the time you are reading this, there will be less than two monthsremaining – that’s less than two months to reach the Foundation fundraising goals for the Biennium (all contributions for the 2006-2008 Biennium must be received at Headquarters on or before 31 May 2008).

As of 29 February 2008, we are about US$1 million short of our overallfundraising goal of US$3,805,000. If you have not yet seen The Zontian’s featurearticle, Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, please take a minute to read it. This article underscores the importance of the ZontaInternational Foundation and of your generous contributions in support of Zontaprograms. While we have seen progress made in global commitments to genderequality and the empowerment of women, more resources are needed to fundthese commitments.

Without adequate funding, gender equality may never be realized. Today,women continue to have little input into political and economic decision making.Yet women most feel the weight of the results of those decisions – globally andlocally – in their daily lives. Despite the advances and improvements in manywomen’s lives, women constitute the majority of the world’s poor.

On behalf of the Foundation Board, I extend our appreciation for the supportyou have already given this Biennium. I ask you to consider increasing yoursupport, if possible. If you have not yet made a personal contribution to theZonta International Foundation, I invite you to do so. Please consider the manyways that your generosity helps the Foundation support Zonta programs and theways in which those programs are funding gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Let’s take a minute to review what your generous donations have funded thisBiennium alone:

■ 70 Amelia Earhart Fellowships■ 12 Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarships■ 10 Young Women in Public Affairs Awards■ International Service projects providing for • Education for more than 2,500 women and girls in eight community-based

educational learning centers in Afghanistan, plus training for teachers andadministrators, as well as providing vital medical care services for womenand their children;• Establishment of 161 credit and savings groups to help meet the socio-

economic needs of 3,835 women affected by HIV/AIDS in Niger;• Vocational training for 428 girls and women in Bolivia; and •Hands-on assistance to women and women’s groups affected by the 2004

Tsunami and by the war in the North and East Regions of Sri Lanka torevive their economic livelihoods.

■ ZISVAW projects providing for• Efforts to prevent trafficking of women and girls in Bosnia and

Herzegovinia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, southeast and east Asia;• Combatting violence against women and girls in Sierre Lione; and• Implementation of laws, policies and action plans to reduce violence against

women in Niger.Please know that without your generous support to the Foundation, these

programs would not have been funded and the lives of these women would nothave been improved. I hope you are proud of Zonta’s accomplishments – youshould be – your contributions helped make them possible.

FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Betty Jane Bourdon

4 THE ZONTIAN APRIL 2008

"Without adequate

funding, gender

equality may never

be realized."

Continued on page 9

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“Vital financial resources for development

are increasingly being steered towards

meeting monetary and financial goals,

to the neglect of meeting basic human

needs, such as health, education and

social services. Debt servicing, lack of

development assistance targeted to women’s

needs and unregulated private capital

flows often increase the burden of care on

women, decrease their access to health care

and education systems and increase the

incidence of trafficking of women and

girls as families are forced to find

alternative means of survival.”

Leading Economists Explore Impact of Financing for Development Processon Women’s Lives, UNIFEM

Financingfor

Gender Equality

and the Empowerment of


Women

Curt Canemark/The World Bank

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mportant progress has been made in the development of globalcommitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women.Governments at the international levelare continuing to make commitmentsas seen by the Beijing Platform forAction (1995), the outcome of thetwenty-third special session of theGeneral Assembly (2000), theMillennium Summit (2000), theMonterrey Consensus (2002), and theParis Declaration on Aid Effectiveness(2005). However, more progress isneeded in allocating resources to thesecommitments. Without appropriatefunding, gender equality may never be realized.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women selected Financing forGender Equality and the Empowermentof Women as its priority theme duringits 52nd Session, held 25 February to 7 March 2008. Warning that there can be no sustainable development ifwomen and girls are left behind, genderequality experts addressing the 52ndSession urged Governments to workharder to ensure that all aspects ofdevelopment financing fully recognizewomen’s economic contributions and support their economic rights and integration.

During the 52nd Session’s openingdiscussion, Julio Peralta (Paraguay),Vice Chairperson of The Bureau of theCommission, said that the internationalcommunity has not fully implementedthe commitments on financing forgender equality. Despite a growing

body of evidence demonstrating thatinvesting in women and girls has acumulative effect on poverty reduction,productivity efficiency and sustainedeconomic growth, adequate resourceshave not been systematically allocated.He said that increasing resources forgender equality is crucial to achievingall development goals, including theMillennium Development Goals.

Public Finance The single largest source of financingfor gender equality and women’sempowerment in most countries isgovernment budgets. It is throughgovernment budgets that promises aretranslated into practical policies andprograms. Findings show thatexpenditure patterns and the waygovernments raise revenue havedifferent impacts on women and girls,due to socially determined roles thatwomen and men play in society, oftenleaving women in an unequal positionin relation to the men in theircommunity.

Despite evidence of the importanceof gender equality for economicprogress, public sector expenditureshave not thoroughly addressed genderconcerns. However, efforts are beingmade in many countries to integrategender perspectives into nationalbudgets so that they can better alignpolicy commitments on genderequality with resource allocations.

At the 52nd Session, Caren Grown,Economist-in-Residence in theDepartment of Economics at American

WHY FUNDING IS NEEDED Despite the commitments to achievegender equality and the empowermentof women, the situation of women inmany countries remains bleak:

■ Violence against women is a majorcause of death and disability forwomen of reproductive age. It isestimated that worldwide, one in five women becomes a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.1

■ Young women are 1.6 times morelikely to be living with HIV thanyoung men – making up over 60percent of 15–24 year olds living with HIV.2

■ Today 980 million people live on lessthan one dollar a day – a majority ofthe world’s absolute poor are female.3

■ Every minute a woman dies inchildbirth and for every woman whodies, 20 more experience seriouscomplications. According to the World Health Organization, theestimated number of maternal deathsin 2000 for the world was 529,000. In terms of maternal mortality ratios(MMR), the world figure is estimatedto be 400 per 100,000 live births. By region, the MMR was highest inAfrica (830), followed by Asia (330),Oceania (240), Latin America and theCaribbean (190), and the developedcountries (20).4

1 Garcia-Moreno et al (2005). WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health andDomestic Violence Against Women.

2 United Nations. In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women Report of theSecretary General, 2006.

3 The Millennium Development Goals Report2007, pg 6.

4 Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimatesdeveloped by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA,Department of Reproductive Health andResearch, World Health Organization, Geneva 2004.

I


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University in Washington, DC, notedthat Governments have done a goodjob “incorporating the rhetoric ofgender equality in budgets,” but havemade no real moves to integrateconcrete gender development goalsinto the plans they themselves have set. She called for, among other things,increased efforts to mobilizeinternational resources and domesticresources in ways that are gender-aware.

Grown also noted that all countriesmust consider putting in place aprocess to estimate costs related togender financing and link them toconcrete planning and budgetaryexercises. That requires the politicalwill to allocate the money and achieveresults. “If we have the numbers, itgives us a starting point,” she said.

Gender-responsive BudgetingGender-responsive budgeting has beenidentified as a finance strategy in arange of international commitmentson gender equality. It has also beenidentified as a critical element of fully implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination against Women, aswell as the achievement of theMillennium Development Goals –specifically MDG3 on gender equalityand the empowerment of women.

Gender-responsive budgets involvetwo interconnected types of activities:

■ An examination of budgetprograms and policies for theirdifferent impacts on men andwomen, boys and girls; and

■ Decision-making that changesbudgets and policies so thatgender equality is promoted.

These assessments and decisionsshould take place throughout thebudget cycle. They should cover bothrevenues and expenditures, include a range of stakeholders, and be fullyintegrated into budget and policyprocedures and decision-making.

There are different ways of assessinggender-responsive budgeting, but acentral issue is that it can fostergovernment accountability forfinancing gender equalitycommitments. Gender-responsivebudgets were developed as a way toinsert women’s voices into thediscussions of taxation and spending, as well as to underscore that budgetsare not gender neutral.

At the 52nd Session, MireilleBrunings-Stolz, Head of the AnnualReports Division of the Central Bank of Suriname, said that despiteefforts worldwide to introduce gender-responsive budgeting as astructural way to achieve sustainabledevelopment and democracy, women have gained little ground.Government budgets soon resumetheir old “neutral” character, assuming that men and women can act the same as economic agents and benefit equally from the provision of public goods; however, this is not the case. If not adequately covered financially, the reproductive

functions and tasks for women lead tounequal distribution of income betweenmen and women. Government actionis, therefore, required to ensure equalopportunity for men and women.

MacroeconomicsMacroeconomic policies also haveimportant implications for financingfor gender equality. The removal oftariffs and other trade barriers has animpact on prices of goods and servicesconsumed by households. Decreases

“Gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) is about ensuring that government budgets and the policies andprograms that underlie them address the needs and interests of individuals that belong to differentsocial groups. Thus, GRB looks at biases that can arise because a person is male or female, but at thesame time considers disadvantage suffered as a result of ethnicity, caste, class or poverty status, location and age. GRB is not about separate budgets for women or men nor about budgets dividedequally. It is about determining where the needs of men and women are the same, and where theydiffer. Where the needs are different, allocations should be different.”

Debbie Budlender Community Agency for Social Equality


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in government revenues can lead tocuts in social spending with a directimpact on household budgets, and adisproportionate impact on women.

Evidence shows that macro-economic policies that are based onhigh levels of both tax revenue andpublic expenditure are more favorableto gender equality and theempowerment of women, whilerestrictive macroeconomic policy rules leave less room for governmentsto pursue a wide range of policies. A more balanced approach that iscontext-specific, rather than “one size fits all,” and that aims to bringtogether economic and social stability,would free up resources for financinggender equality objectives.

MicrofinanceGovernments and other stakeholdershave specified that working withwomen to deliver financial services and credit through microfinance offers immediate resources for meetingwomen’s needs. However, after three decades of experience withmicrofinance, a number of issues have been raised around its potentialfor the empowerment of women and sustained poverty alleviation,including:

■ There is a need to provide greateraccess to the vast majority ofwomen not yet being reached.

■ Microfinance increases women’sindebtedness by targeting womenwho already have a few assets andmay contribute to making theiroverall net-worth negative.

■ Microfinance puts the debt andpoverty burden almost exclusivelyon women, as women arerecognized as reliable credit takers.

Credit programs need to be carefullydesigned to benefit women. Programsare not empowering for women if theyreinforce gender stereotypes withinhouseholds and communities orincrease their work burdens. Situationswhere women have limited controlover their income, or where theircontributions to the household incomesubstitute for those of male householdmembers, can be disempowering.

Funding the Women’s MovementAchievements in the areas of genderequality and women’s rights could not have been possible without thepresence of women’s movements andorganizations working at all levels.The agenda of women’s rights andgender equality requires strongcommitments from all stakeholders,

given the need for a comprehensiveapproach to address the complex andinterwoven nature of women’s rightsviolations and issues, such as violenceagainst women, HIV/AIDS, maternaland infant mortality, illiteracy, anddiscrimination. Substantial investmentsare needed to build up the capacity ofwomen’s organizations, as well asensure their long-term sustainability.

ConclusionLeaders at the 2005 World Summitacknowledged that “progress forwomen is progress for all.” Increasingresources for gender equality and theempowerment of women wouldcontribute to the achievement of all other development goals. Whilecommitments are being made towardgender equality and the empowermentof women, funding is lagging anddesperately needed.

Sources for this article include:

UN Commission on the Status of Women,www.un.org/womewatch/daw/csw

Financing for gender equality and theempowerment of women, Report of the Expert Group Meeting, 4-7 September 2007

Report of the UN Secretary-General on financingfor gender equality and the empowerment ofwomen, January 2008

Curt Canemark and Yosef Hadar/The World Bank

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MORE ON FINANCING FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN —

WHY THE ZONTA INTERNATIONALFOUNDATION MATTERS

For more information on theZonta International Foundationand how you can make a differ-

ence, go to www.zonta.org. To make acontribution, use the envelope enclosed inthis magazine, or go to www.zonta.org,Contribute Now.

If you want to learn more about these wonderful programs, visit the Zonta International Web site, read The Zontian,or ask your District Foundation Ambassador to visit your club to share this exciting information with you and your fellow Zontians.

As in the past, members of the Foundation Board will be reporting to Zonta membership at the 2008 Convention. We look forward to seeing all of you in Rotterdam. Please visit us at the Foundation Booth so we can thank you personally.

With sincere appreciation,

Betty Jane Bourdon

FOUNDATION PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Continued from page 4

Progress toward achieving theMillennium Development Goals hasnot been as great as it needs to be. One significant reason for this is a lack of serious funding for the goal ofgender equality. As the United Nationsdebates better ways to finance thedevelopment of nations, the interna-tional community is failing to devoteadequate resources to realizing genderequality, a key to achieving interna-tional development goals.

A recent study found that less thanone per cent of official developmentassistance is being spent on genderprograms. Three women-specificagencies at the United Nations – theDivision for the Advancement ofWomen, the Office of the SpecialAdviser on Gender Issues and UNIFEM– are gravely underfunded. The budgetlast year for UNIFEM was US$57million – to implement the entireBeijing Platform for Action in countriesaround the world – as compared to thebudgets of UNICEF and UNDP that

are in the range of US$2 billion toUS$3 billion.1 Much more needs to bedone to channel funds towards women’sissues in a focused way.

While government funding is by farthe largest portion of funding, women’sfunds and organizations like Zontaplay a vital role. In the 2006-2008Biennium, the Zonta InternationalFoundation will provide US$2.2million in funding for Zonta programsfocused on achieving gender equalityand the empowerment of women. Thisfunding is made possible only throughthe generous contributions of ourZonta clubs and thousands of individ-uals committed to making the world abetter place for women.

What more can we do? We can:

■ Encourage and advocate forenhanced support for women’sorganizations, because they areessential to promoting genderequality and women’s empower-ment and promoting andprotecting women’s rights.

■ Encourage our own governmentsand government agencies to look at how they support genderequality and the empowerment of women.

■ As individuals and as ZontaClubs, make sure we are meetingour responsibilities to our ownFoundation.

■ Ask our family, friends, and profes-sional colleagues to participate.

1 Kerr, Joanna, The Second FundherReport:Financial Sustainability for Women’s MovementsWorldwide, Association for Women’s Rights inDevelopment, June 2007.

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INTERNATIONAL SERVICE PROGRAMIn the 2006-2008 Biennium, contributions to the Zonta International Foundation International Service Fund provide support to four International Service Projects. Here are brief updates on two of these projects; see The Zontian, Issue 7, January 2008, for updates on the CARE International Mata Masu Dubara projectin Niger and the Afghan Institute of Learning project in Afghanistan.

CARE International Education andLeadership for Girls and YoungWomen in BoliviaPoverty forces many indigenous girls and women to leave their ruralcommunities to seek better opportu -nities in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz.Arriving in the city without identifi-cation documents, money or family,young women are extremely vulnerableto exploitation.

CARE’s Education and Leadershipfor Girls and Young Women is helpingworking young women and girls in LaPaz address the social and economicbarriers they face in their everydaylives. It is not only empoweringwomen with essential literacy andmath skills, but is also enabling themto take control of their futures byteaching them to exercise their human,legal and reproductive rights. Theproject offers vocational training tohelp girls and women obtain safer,higher-paying employment andimprove their quality of life.

Between April and September2007, CARE reached 428 girls andwomen (315 under the age of 18),who are students at six night schoolsaround La Paz. More than half of thesestudents are indigenous; the majorityare employed, many as domesticworkers. Education materials focused

on literacy and math skills and, takinginto account the social, economic andeducational realities facing femalestudents, were developed and distributed to 700 students at the sixschools in January 2008. In addition,80 teachers attended a three-dayworkshop designed to raise awarenessof the specific education needs ofworking young women and girls.

CARE played an active role inorganizing events to support theGlobal Campaign for Education inBolivia, including advocating forchildren’s rights to education andcreating and distributing 1,000 postersaround the city to raise awarenessabout the importance of equitableaccess to school. To commemorate theUN World Day Against Child Labor,CARE distributed brochures in the sixschools on children’s rights and childlabor laws. Project staff conductedinteractive discussion sessions with450 students in which participantstalked about what they had learnedfrom the brochures and discussed how child labor had affected their own lives. CARE also distributedinformation to parents, teachers and education authorities.

United Nations IndustrialDevelopment OrganizationSupport for Revival of RuralCommunity-Based Self-HelpInitiatives in Sri LankaThis project was designed to providehands-on assistance to the women andwomen’s groups affected by the 2004Tsunami and by the war in the Northand East Regions of Sri Lanka. Thegoal is to revive their socio-economiclivelihoods by increasing the agricul-tural productivity and promotingcommunity-based entrepreneurship to create opportunities for income-generation and employment among

the women. The focus is on two majordistricts of the East Region, Batticaloaand Trincomalee, where the impact ofboth hardships on women has beenmost prominent.

Implementation of this project wasinitially delayed due to the changingsecurity situation in the area, securityrules of UN operations in the EasternRegion and related mobility problems,and consequent difficulties with theestablishment of project offices. Twoproject vehicles have been purchasedand a contract prepared for spaceaccommodating the project activities.

Arrangements have been made toenable local staff to move aroundwithout restriction by UN securitymeasures. The organization ofawareness building activities, andcommunity meetings and preparationsfor the first skill development trainingare underway.

The Tsunami disaster that occurred on 26December 2004 caused severe damage to thesocio-economic activities in Sri Lanka, affectingthe coastal belts in the Southern, Northern andEastern Regions. Women suffered significant lossof income sources and increased difficulty insustaining their families. Four years later, manywomen still live in relief camps and in schools,and have not been able to return to thenormalcy of life. Women still need access tovarious financial resources and technical assistance for their productive activities.

For more information, visit theZonta International Web site atwww.zonta.org.

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ZONTA INTERNATIONAL AND THE UNITED NATIONS

The report of the Expert GroupMeeting on “Financing for GenderEquality and the Empowerment ofWomen,” organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women in Norway in September 2007,provided NGOs attending this year’sCommission on the Status of Women(CSW) with a challenging frameworkfor interaction.

There have been many internationalcommitments over the years to thenecessity of providing adequateresources specifically focused onwomen’s empowerment and achievinggender equality. However, the reality isthat women are still the majority of theworld’s absolute poor and those withoutaccess to education. Disparities in equalsalaries for equal work, continued highmaternal mortality, HIV infection ratesin young women and the pandemic ofviolence against women are just someevidence that resources and political willhave not measured up to the commit-ments made.

The Expert Group report identifieda number of global factors that oftenhave a negative impact on financing for gender equality, including: tradeliberalization, international privatecapital flows, economic growthpatterns that increase inequalitiesbetween and within countries and the privatization of public services and enterprises as well as migration,international security issues and

increasing religious fundamentalism.These issues were discussed at CSW.

The Expert Group Report is a guideto looking at national and global issuesfor gender financing along four themes:1) Macroeconomic policies and theMonterrey Consensus, 2) Public financeand gender responsive budgeting, 3) Bilateral and multilateral aid, and 4) Funding for the Women’s Movement.

Among the recommendations of theExpert Group report is the need forgender equality advocates to be involvedin the Financing for Developmentfollowup meetings taking place later thisyear. These meetings need to establishcoherence between economic and socialpolicies, including gender equalityconcerns – a focus that has largely beenmissing to date.

In most countries, governments arethe largest single source of financing for gender equality and women’sempowerment and the translation of governments’ promises into actualpolicies and programs is critical. Howgovernments spend and raise moneyoften has a very different impact onwomen and men. It is, therefore,suggested that governments developmethods for incorporating a genderperspective into their public financialmanagement systems building on theconcrete experiences of what works.This would include costing unpaidlabor and investing in water provisionand child care facilities so that women’s

productive contri-butions through their investment of time and efforts are recognized.

The Expert Group Report emphasizes that gender equalityand women’s empowerment are criticalcornerstones of development effective-ness and core to the achievement of alldevelopment goals. Civil society musttherefore play a critical role in holdinggovernments accountable for theircommitments.

The Expert Group Report statesemphatically that strong and effectivewomen’s organizations, working at alllevels, are key to the advancement ofwomen’s rights and gender equality.Funding women’s groups can contributeto strengthening civil society.

Finally, the UN must play a criticalrole in supporting countries to fullyimplement their commitments tofinancing gender equality andempowering women. To do that mosteffectively requires the strengthening ofthe UN gender equality architecture toprovide a stronger operational mandate,more vigorous presence at the countrylevel and the meaningful involvement of NGO gender equality advocates,especially women’s organizations.

*The full report of the Expert Group meeting andthe Secretary-General’s Report on “Financing for gender equality and the empowerment ofwomen,” can be found on the Web site of theDivision for the Advancement of Women,www.un.org/womenwatch/daw.

and assurances were given. But the bestassurance came on Wednesday, when,overlooking a panoramic view of the cityfrom ABN AMRO’s headquarters, thesponsorship of the ABN AMRO galaconcert featuring the RotterdamPhilharmonic Orchestra was officiallysigned by the bank’s and Zonta’s officials,witnessed no less by more than a dozenaccomplished and influential women inRotterdam’s city council and the privatesector. More than four years ago whenthe ZI Board decided to bring the 59thZonta International Convention to

Rotterdam, Zonta’s work towards genderequality and women empowerment wasvirtually unknown in Rotterdam. Today,through the Convention Committee’singenuity, energy, perseverance andcommitment, the Zonta name has afamiliar ring, Zonta’s work is highlypraised and the Zonta Convention isgreatly anticipated – an assurance thatwhen you step on Rotterdam soil in June,you will be hospitably welcomed by a citycommemorating the triumphs of womenin a predominantly masculine environ-ment, and celebrating with Zontians our

Convention’s theme of GlobalEmpowerment through Local Action.

See you in Rotterdam!!!Very many thanks for your support

of the 2006-2008 Biennium, which has allowed us to move forward in our goal of advancing the status ofwomen worldwide through service and advocacy.

Cheers!

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Continued from page 3

MAKING MONEY WORK FOR WOMENBy Jackie Shapiro, Chairman, Zonta International United Nations Committee

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This is my last article for The Zontianas Chairman of the Organization,Membership and ClassificationCommittee. It’s been a wonderfulexperience to interact with so many of you during the last four years as wehave worked together to keep Zontagrowing. I’d like to use this finalcolumn to recap some things we’velearned and should remember as wecontinue our quest for growth.

■ Growth is a journey, not an event.Activities and programs thatsupport growth must be on-going,month after month, year afteryear, biennium after biennium.

■ Club membership should be 25 ormore to ensure a thriving club withsufficient resources to accomplishits goals. Declining membershipmust be addressed quickly.

■ Clubs should recruit at least 10%new members each year andshould lose no more than 10% of members each year. Recruitmore prospects and have morerecruiting events to meetrecruiting goals. Survey membersand make changes to improve theclub and member retention.

■ Our classification system includesa range of occupations; use a widevariety.

■ Attracting young women in theearly stages of their professionalcareers and mentoring them asthey mature into senior positionsis a pleasure.

■ Zonta service projects haverewards well beyond additionalmembers. The opportunities forexpanded service speak to ourmission in a very real way.

■ Members join because of their

identification with our mission;they remain members because oftheir experience of fellowship andnetworking. Projects thatemphasize service and advocacy forwomen while involving membersworking together create anatmosphere for retention andgrowth.

■ Membership tools are available inthe “Member Resources” sectionof the Zonta International Website. They have been contributedby clubs and leaders with experi-ence and success in growingmembership. Districts can alsoprovide assistance.

Goals, tools and processes arenecessary, but not sufficient, forgrowth. When they are applied withZonta Zeal – a “will to win” – together,we can.

PARTING THOUGHTS…By Glenne Harding, Chairman, Zonta International OMC Committee

As the 2006-2008 Biennium comes to an end, on behalf of the FinanceCommittee, I would like to tell themembers of Zonta International someof our accomplishments and some of our goals for the next biennium.

Before I begin, I want to stress tomembers how important it is for yourclub to pay your dues on time and toensure that the club roster is attached.The organization spends time andresources determining the properallocation of dues. This staff time couldbe better spent serving our members in other capacities. Remember newmembers are not Zontians until dues are received and posted to theiraccount at Headquarters.Accomplishments:

■ The Board approved implementa-tion of an Audit Committee. ThisCommittee will consist of theZonta International Treasurer, theInternational Finance CommitteeChairman and a Certified PublicAccountant (CPA) who isindependent of the Board. This

allows another layer between staffand auditors, which is a bestpractice recommended for non-profit organizations.

■ The Board approved increasing ouroperating reserve from one year toone and one-half years. This willallow our organization to fulfill ourincreased contractual liabilities andmeet routine operating needs incase of a catastrophic event.

■ This committee performed aninternal control audit to ensurethat the organization is in compli-ance with the newly enactedinternal control auditing standards.

■ This committee implemented a more hands-on method ofpreparing the 2008-2010Biennium budget. We requestedeach department (President-Elect,Headquarters, and programcommittee chairmen) to give us their requests. The FinanceCommittee reviewed the requestsand prepared a balanced budgetthat was approved by the Board.

These changes will ensure ourmembers that the Finance Committeeand the International Board are takingtheir fiduciary responsibility veryseriously. Non-profit boards shouldkeep that responsibility in theforefront of their agenda.

Goals:President-Elect Sten consulted withmembers of the Finance Committeeregarding her goals and objectives forthe 2008-2010 Biennium. The goals ofSimplicity, Transparency, Accountabilityand fiduciary Responsibility will beimplemented in the next biennium. We are excited to say the incomingGovernors have embraced these goals,even using them to name the governorsclass of 2008-2010 the “STARZ.”

It has been our pleasure to servePresident Olivia Ferry, the InternationalBoard and most importantly theMembers of Zonta International. If you have any questions, feel free to contact any member of the Finance Committee.

ZONTA INTERNATIONAL FINANCESBy Darlene Kurtz, Chairman, Zonta International Finance Committee

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FINANCING FOR GENDER EQUALITY


“Women’s rights are human rights. We,the members of Zonta International,understand that now that we havebroken the silence, we must break the cycle.”

Past International President (1996-1998) Josephine G. “Josie” Cooke’swords are as inspiring today as when shespoke them at a 1998 conference. Josiedied 4 March 2008 at the age of 76.

Diagnosed with sickle-cell anemiaat the age of 19, Josie was told her life

expectancy was 30 years, but with her characteristic tenacityand optimism, she pursued an education and a full familyand professional life, despite an illness that was often painful and debilitating. She was a lover of music and anaccomplished singer, sharing her joy even in the face ofmany personal challenges.

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), Josie beganher career teaching functionally illiterate adults. In 1967, aftermoving to southern California, she began a second career inthe mortgage banking industry. In 1990, Josie and a partner

organized C & L Mortgage Services, Inc., providing consul-tative training and regulatory compliance audit services tomortgage lenders.

During her service as Zonta International President, Josieopened the country of South Africa. She was instrumental inthe formalization of the Zonta International Strategies toPrevent Violence Against Women (ZISVAW) program toreduce the incidence of violence against women and girls bysupporting prevention and advocacy strategies.

Besides her deep commitment to Zonta activities over 32 years of membership, Josie was actively involved in herchurch, her community and other industry organizations. In addition, she was an activist and Board member of theSickle Cell Disease Foundation of California.

“Josie was a positive bright light, a determined woman, anextraordinarily wise lady, and a great inspiration to me and tomany,” said Zonta International Executive Director JanetHalstead.

Josie’s daughter, Tracey Harris, is a member of the ZontaClub of Los Angeles. Josie’s family has requested anymemorial contributions to the Zonta InternationalFoundation be directed to the ZISVAW Fund.

Josephine G. Cooke (1931-2008) – Zonta International President 1996-1998

Norwegian Clubs help girls in BelarusIn 2001, Norwegian Zontians (District13) passed a proposal to begin helpingdisadvantaged girls from the Tsjernobylarea in Belarus. The proposal was toprovide 20.000 Nkr per year for fouryears to pay for boarding school atBelarus Folk Highschool, livingexpenses, and excursions for four girlsevery year. The Belarus Folk Highschoolis vital for future studies at universitiesor colleges.

The girls who receive scholarshipscome from underprivileged districtsaround Tsjernobyl. If families have anypossibility of providing an education for their children, boys are given prefer-ence. Without support, these girlswould not have had any education.Since the program began, all partici-pants have continued or fulfilled theireducation at a university, teachers’training college, or other institution.

Norwegian Zontians decided tocontinue the project and increased theannual sum to 25.000 Nkr, so that fivegirls can be given this opportunityevery year. The project gives hope for

a prosperous future for many girls – a project in the real Zonta spirit!

Unique Boutique raises funds for scholarship programs The Zonta Club of Marietta andEnvirons (Ohio, USA) sponsored aUnique Boutique, where gently usedclothing was sold to area residents, withproceeds benefiting local scholarshipprograms. The Zonta club scholarshipsare awarded annually in May, with asmany as four awards for as much asUS$500 each. The scholarship fundwas created to help women who areovercoming barriers in pursuing theircollege degree at Washington StateCommunity College.

Zonta East Auckland Award InspiresYoung AviatorsIn recognition of Amelia Earhart day,the Zonta Club of East Auckland, NewZealand, created a new award for 15 to19 year old girls who aspire to a careerin aviation, with the winner receiving an introductory flying lesson. Applicantsare asked to write a brief essay on why

they should win the award. This year, Katherine Stevens, an 18

year old in her final year at MacleansCollege, was selected to receive theaward. Katherine has been interestedin airplanes and flight since she wasyoung. Her plans for the future are toundertake training in aeronautics. She has been offered a place in the AirNew Zealand aeronautical engineeringtraining programme for next year.

This unique annual award wasdesigned to inspire young women likeKatherine to pursue their dreams andencourage other young women toconsider careers in engineering andaeronautic sciences.

DO YOU WANT TO SEEYOUR CLUB’S NEWS HERE?Zonta Club members are encouraged to submit articles by logging ontowww.zonta.org and clicking “ZontaAction.” To increase the likelihood of seeing your article published, consider thesubmission guidelines on our Web site.

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Members of the Zonta Club of Everett join Washington, USA, Governor ChristineGregoire as she signs proclamation to eliminate violence against women.


16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCEZonta Clubs around the world partici-pated in 16 Days of Activism AgainstGender Violence, an annual interna-tional campaign begun in 1991. Sinceits inception, campaign participantshave been instrumental in bringingissues of violence against women to theforefront of local, national, regionaland global arenas, and this year was no exception. From 25 November to10 December, Zontians worldwideworked to highlight the connectionsbetween women, violence, and humanrights, and call for the elimination ofall forms of violence against women.

The Zonta Club of Greater Reno(Nevada, USA) distributed bookmarkstied with white ribbons to generate

awareness about the issue of domesticviolence in the United States andthroughout the world. To help educatethe community about the horrificcrime of human trafficking, the ZontaClub of Melbourne (Florida, USA)joined forces with the Women’s Centerof Brevard County and contractedwith a local theatre to screen Trade, arecent independent film that addressesthe topic. The Zonta Club of NewRochelle (New York, USA) recentlypremiered a new monthly radio showto increase awareness about gender

violence. On 5 December, the showexplored the specific issue of DomesticViolence. At the Zonta Club ofBonita Springs’ (Florida, USA) 10thannual Woman of the Year luncheon,each of the 250 guests received apurple awareness pin with a cardexplaining the 16 Days of ActivismAgainst Gender Violence and askingfor their support and help inincreasing awareness of the impact

of violence against women, includingengaging men and boys in preventionand other eradication efforts. Inresponse to the Zonta Club ofEverett’s (Washington, USA) request,Washington Governor ChristineGregoire proclaimed 25 November2007 the Day for Eliminating ViolenceAgainst Women in Washington State.Members of all the Zonta Clubs inWashington were invited to attend the signing.

It is not too early to begin thinkingof ideas for your club’s participation in the 2008 campaign. And in themeantime, an easy way to take actionagainst gender violence is to visithttp://www.saynotoviolence.org/ andadd your name to the number ofpeople speaking out against thishuman rights violation. The simple act of adding your name helps providefunding for UNIFEM’s campaignagainst gender violence.

Members of the Zonta Club of GreaterReno distribute bookmarks to generateawareness about gender violence.

Zonta Club of New Rochelle presidentRoxanne Neilson premiers monthly radio show.

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Join us!

This 59th Convention in Rotterdam/The

Netherlands is a very special, unforgettable,

fascinating, exciting event in the most

interesting small country of Europe! Small

but beautiful and great in actions! Don’t miss

it: Please go to www.zonta2008.com and

download the Call to Convention to find the

extensive and very interesting programme.

What you see is what you really get. Go

to the menu and click on “Registration &

Hotels”. It is so easy to do your registration

digitally. Of course you can also send it by

fax or by conventional mail. Anyhow, we

are expecting you! Join the lucky group of

registered Zontians.

www.zonta2008.com

See you in Rotterdam!

PHOTO’S: JAN KLERKS

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Zonta InternationalAdvancing the Status of Women Worldwide

557 West Randolph StreetChicago, Illinois 60661 USATelephone: +1 312-930-5848Fax: +1 312-930-0951www.zonta.org

Every Zonta Club has a Vote at Convention! At the 2008 Convention in Rotterdam (27 June -2 July), your Zonta Club delegate will vote on the followingvital matters and more:

■ Election of Zonta International officers, directors and international nominating committee■ 2008-2010 Biennial goals (including the International Service and ZISVAW projects)■ Bylaws amendments■ Resolutions

Who will voice your Zonta Club's opinion on these issues at Convention? You must elect your club votingdelegate(s) and then register the delegate(s) with Zonta International Headquarters by 22 May (if submittedonline). Zonta Clubs are able to complete this process online (submit by 22 May) or download paper forms from theZonta International Web site (mail by 24 April; fax by 7 May). For all the details, Zonta Club presidentsshould log onto www.zonta.org.If your Zonta Club will not be represented in person at Convention, your Club President can request anotherclub carry your club’s proxy vote. This must be arranged in advance with the proxy-carrying club, and thenregistered with Zonta International Headquarters by 22 May (if submitted online).

Cadillac, USADistrict 15, Area 1

Oamaru, New ZealandDistrict 16, Area 5

Schwetzingen, GermanyDistrict 30, Area 2

50 yearsBergen I, NorwayBonn, Germany

25 yearsKlagenfurt Area, Austria

Mariehamn, FinlandMontpellier, France

Daejeon, South Korea

WELCOME NEW ZONTA CLUBSThe Zonta International “family” around the world extends a warm welcome to our new Zonta Clubs. We rejoice in the experience you will share with us and with those you serve!

As of February 2008, Zonta International has 1,232 clubs in 66 countries and geographic areas.

Zonta ClubsMembers of Zonta International

CLUB ANNIVERSARIESCongratulations to the following Zonta Clubs celebrating their 25th and 50th charter anniversaries:

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Documents

The Zontian April 2008, Issue Eight