I Social Forum of the Am�ricas

I Social Forum of Am�ricas (FSA)
Quito, Ecuador, 25 to the 30 of 2004 July

Factory to “Mujer and house adecuada”

They summon: Regional office for Latin America of the Coalition the International for Ha'bitat (HIC-AL), the international network Social Watch and the Network Mujer and Latin Habitat-America and the Caribbean of HIC

Like pursuit to Latin American Consulta on Woman and Suitable House

26 of July 2004, 14 to 18 hours
PUCE, tower 1, classroom 20

DRAFTS

Participants: between 60 and 70 people of 18 countries:
Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Uruguay (to see attached directory).

Opening

Graciela Dede (Social Watch-Uruguay) introduces convoking and objective the subject of the factory, agenda,

1ª session: Latin American consultation of Women and House, Mexico, December 2003

Presentation of Consulta, of the work that makes the networks and their approach to the subject:

v Lorena Z�rate (Coordinating of HIC-AL) exposes briefly what is HIC and their work in the recognition, the defense and the accomplishment from the right to a suitable place where to live (ample concept that goes beyond the diverse house and Integra elements of human rights, economic, social and cultural civilians and politicians as well as). Also, it speaks of the antecedents of Regional Consulta on Woman and Suitable House made in Mexico in December of 2003, at the request of the Special Relator of United Nations Miloon Kothari.

v Lucy Cardona (Network Woman and Habitat of HIC-Colombia) exposes briefly how it arises and that it does the Network Mujer and Latin Habitat-America and the Caribbean like work group within HIC, approaching diverse subjects related to the house from a sort perspective and introducing an ample concept of the habitat, that before was only considered from the environmental perspective.

v Bissio Robert (Coordinating of Social Watch) exposes briefly how and why Social Watch in 1995 arises, makes emphasis in the importance of which from the civil society the fulfillment of the commitments calls to each other to the governments that they themselves acquired in the matter of social development and human rights and comments that the work of its organization is centered mainly on the monitoreo of such commitments, pursuit and publication of an annual international report.

v Areli Sandoval (Social Watch-Mexico) indicates that through the experience and joint work between the networks they have been developed to mechanisms and concrete strategies of exigibilidad of economic rights, social and cultural.

v Maria Silvia Emanuelli (HIC-AL, Mexico) exposes briefly of what it consisted Regional Consulta on Woman and Suitable House of Mexico, in the presence of the Special Relator and 20 women of base of 14 different countries from Latin America, and the previous factory that it managed to enrich the concept of house adapted from the perspective of the participants. Also, “Vivienda with face of mujer” presents/displays the publication; on findings and compilation of testimonies of Consulta, obstacles and challenges in the matter of fight by the right to the suitable house. Successively it introduces to some of the participant women of Consulta who attend the FSA.

Presentation of testimonies of some of the participants of Latin American Consulta

Delegates of base organizations share about their situation, its fight and the importance of having participated in Regional Consulta on Woman and Suitable House.

v Maria gives Gra�as (National Uni�o by Popular Moradia, Brazil) among other questions comments that after Consulta her organization initiated a national campaign against the domestic violence so that prison is not only sanctioned to the guilty with communitarian work but even. It also remembered that President Lula decreed this one the year of the women and who one first national conference was made on policies for the women. In addition, several laws have been approved that diverse groups came promoting years ago (the legalization of the abortion, the titularidad of the property of the house and others directed to the color women). Her organization has stopped being only one organization of denunciation and to vindication to be also an organization of proposal, that works in incidence in public policies to obtain services in favelas, titularidad of the possession of the house, etc. In S�o Paulo, thanks to the joint work with the government of the city, have been obtained advances so that the construction of the houses goes directed specially to the women. Nevertheless, the organization has found greater obstacles to collaborate with the state government. According to the type of situation, the strategies that they develop are diverse, from the mobilizations and occupations of lands, to negotiation with the control systems. It concludes emphasizing that the movement (UNMP) articulates diverse actors: other organizations of base, ONG, advisers, technicians, academic, and all those that support with their fight.

v Maria Hernandez (Movement Women by the Life, Ecuador) emphasizes that it was very valuable to attend Consulta in Mexico because it stated that not only the poverty reality is shared, discrimination and of lack of access to the right to the worthy house in the region, but which the women of diverse countries also share the fight by a ampler concept of house, that she has to do with the community, the relations, the feelings, the services, etc. About the Ecuadorian reality it emphasizes the difficulty of access on the credit for house (project of the Inter-American Development Bank that implies incentives like bond, saving and credit) and that when the women home female leaders obtain it is almost impossible them to pay the interests. As opposed to the difficult situation her organization has decided on the earth occupation and the resistance to the evacuations with strategies as the linking to the houses even though were in danger the life. “S�lo therefore the government has seated to dialogar”. She emphasizes that when still participated to the consultation her organization was taking the pacific earth occupation but recently they have obtained the first houses (85 square meters to a value of 3.800 USD). She stood out that although the house is a responsibility of the State, also is incumbent on to the construction companies, the society in general and the women in individual. Her organization has learned who with the union and the organization, and combining strategies of fight and negotiation, is obtained one better defense and accomplishment from the right to the suitable house.

v Innocent Epifania M. (Strategy, Peru) presents/displays with the contribution of photos a experience of qualification to men and women to form a social microcompany from which three models of house have arisen. When the Special Relator of House visited Peru in March 2003 found them working and becoming qualified. When she participated in Consulta in Mexico (December 2003) commented to the Relator that was going to construct 10 houses, that now already are finished. From this profit the local government has been interested in subsidizing house for the poor man (before only they did it for the middle-class) and has integrated to “Campa�a for the right to a worthy house for all and todas” that he has the purpose of verifying the fulfillment on the part of the State of the recommendations of the Relator of the UN. When the finishing he emphasizes that the consultation was very important to allow the interchange of experiences.

v Asuncio'n Lopez (Indigenous Advice Popular Ricardo Mag�n Flowers, Mexico) exposes the problems arisen because of the tourist project of Huatulco, in Oxaca, “que before was a place of forests, was pretty, clean, were many animals, were hotels nor no machines, seeded Creole maize that until today is conservar”. During sexenio of President Miguel of Madrid (1982-1988) earth were expropiaron leaving unprotected to many families, “tierras who now are so that the tourists can rest whereas many people been born in the place are without house and they cannot buy nor a meter of earth; they watch with sadness everything what it was lost; no longer they can seed, nor fish; there is much discrimination, they do not employ to them and they do not allow them to enter where there are foreigners because they are ind�genas”. “Tampoco lets them pass through beaches to sell their products, strikes them and expels, although they have permissions federales”. Before this many of the affected ones they were united to the organization. It indicates that they occupied a lot but the police violently evacuated them of the estate and robbed their properties. It insists on which they do not want to leave the place in whom they are, do not want to die in another side; they make marches, are organized, but they strike them, they hurt and by this they ask for support for his cause. Finally denunciation that the government does not do case to them, does not take care of them, rather represses them.

2ª session: the panorama from the right to the house in Latin America. Evaluation of the situation and impact in the women

Inequalities of sort in Latin America

Karina Batthy�ny (Coordinating of the equipment of social sciences of Social Watch-Uruguay), explains some of the causes and dimensions of the inequality of sort in Latin America, putting examples of the breaches between men and women in the matter of education, work and remuneration in several countries. It emphasized that Report 2004 of Social Watch presents/displays “ranking” for the first time; on fairness of sort to show that although in Latin America the women have advanced much, it continues being areas discrimination critics that have been tried to measure and to quantify for visibilizar them. In this general panorama one registers the problem of the access and the accomplishment from the right to the house for the women.

The house like right: formal equality and real inequality

Lucy Cardona (Network Woman and Habitat of HIC-Colombia) approaches the subject “caracter�sticas significant of the experiences of the women from the formal equality and the inequality real” one of the subjects of the article “La House like Derecho” (including in the publication “Vivienda with face of mujer”) that it along with wrote other authors from the analysis of the presented/displayed testimonies in Regional Consulta. It begins saying that the testimonies of the experiences presented/displayed in the consultation (corresponding to 14 countries) agreed in which in most of the cases the constitution of the countries it does not restrict the legal equality between men and women and that simultaneously protects the right to the property; but a thing is formal (the law) and the other thing the real thing (the daily practice). It is to say that in spite of counting on a property title (the formal thing that does not discriminate) many women they suffer the loss of his house since they do not have guaranteed the possession by the inequalities of sort in the social relations (the daily thing, the cultural thing that yes discriminates). It approached the subject of the discrimination take refuging in the definition given by the Convention on the Elimination of All Formas de Discriminacio'n Against Mujer (CEDAW) affirming that “es discriminatory all treatment that has like result desigualdad”. It is to say that if a woman receives an identical treatment to the one of a man and that treatment she relegates it to an inferior position, is in discriminatory himself although its objective has been the equality. According to the exposed thing one estimates that men and women have different necessities, but not that due to those differences the masculine ones must be identified like the necessities of the women. Resisting norms and cultural practices of the region one concludes that the legislations of the countries are discriminatorias because they do not recognize the own necessities of the women and try to “elevar his condition to masculina”. Consulta also allowed to conclude that the access to a worthy house for the women goes bound to doubles and triples work days, in the relative, the premises, regional and national. When finishing, it exposed some final reflections from Consulta like is the necessity to reinforce the application of affirmative policies in each one of the countries that favor to the women and specific groups of these and the necessity to consider the different modalities from property (individual, collective, it combines) that allow to harness the women. It finalizes saying that to promote the rights of the women to the property and the house it demands the representation by sort in the national instances of government, local and communitarian leaning in the programs of fortification of feminine leadership.

Questions/commentaries

� Graciela (Social Watch, Uruguay) and Lorena (HIC-AL, Mexico) explains that previously to the different regional consultations in the matter of woman and suitable house (to see 3ª session of these drafts), the Relator prepared a questionnaire directed to the civil governments and organizations to collect information on the subject. The HIC-AL office considered useful to simplify it to facilitate to the social organizations the task of responding it and of preparing the testimonies that would take Latin American Consulta (Mexico 2003).
� Graciela makes reference to the book of Gerald Pisarello “Vivienda for all: a right in (de)construcci�n”, in where it is clarified that the State must do something more than to respect the human rights, must promote, must invest them resources, etc. and even stands out that generally the civil and political rights are prioritized, in resources, and the DESC are relegated.
� Ariel of an organization of Paraguay explains that in its country the legislation of protection of family it is not respected and asks if in other legislations exists the figure of the homestead.
� Elbe (CLADEM, Paraguay) considers that it is very important to tie the right to the house with other DESC and a series of questions that condition the access of the women to this right. Question if in Regional Consulta the problem of the large estates were considered (earth into the hands of few) and if it has considered the indigenous subject of the property of the towns and women.
� Felix (CMLK, Cuba) congratulates east factory that combines experiences and strategies and asks porqu� did not participate a Cuban woman who for years has been working the subject (Maria Silvia, of HIC-AL, conversation that from the beginning made contact with the enemy with her but who never it responded to the communications).
� an Ecuadorian woman indicates that there are many legal difficulties and of public policy to guarantee the right to the house of the women and it talked about to the problems caused by foreign companies like TEXACO that do not take responsibility of the environmental deterioration. It stood out that the houses that are being constructed for the workers are not worthy (25 square meters).
� Ivanna (Amnesty International, Uruguay) emphasizes the importance of complementing perspective and strategies between diverse sectors and comments that AI already is working on DESC.
� Carmen, Ecuadorian housewife, tells that during 14 years it underwent domestic violence and that with value it is trying to revert its situation and it indicates that so that all the people know their rights the education is fundamental. The governments would have to change the educative system to manage to modify the cultural practices and the women also would have to do changing it the form of education towards their children.
� Carmen, of an Ecuadorian movement, comments that in spite of the program of the I.A.D.B. many of the women do not have access to the house. Question how to be able to interchange actions and ideas to be able to organize the women and to concientizar them.
� a Peruvian woman emphasizes that another difficulty for the women is the citizenship of second class, because the barriers have not been eliminated to obtain the identity cards that are condition to accede to the rights and the credits

Answers

� Lorena (HIC-AL, Mexico) proposes to pass information to the woman of Peru over some experiences of Mexico and Brazil in where it has obtained to the access on the credit under different schemes impelled from the civil society and the local governments.
� Lucy (Network Woman and Habitat of HIC, Colombia), reacting to the interventions, indicates that the right to the house happens through the right to the citizenship: “si we are not ciudadanos(as) from the legal point of view we did not exist and therefore we do not have derechos”. The woman must feel citizen and with rights and only thus she will be able to fight by the property of its house. The citizenship right is for all, to have titularidad of rights, from the right of and the children to have full name. From century XIX laws of familiar patrimony are had. First they only gave rights to the family father but around 1920 they changed on this point although conserving the part of badly not leaving to the woman and the children in case of use of familiar patrimony on the part of the men unprotected. In Regional Consulta the subject was not the large estates. Anyway it explained that legally the expropriation exists in the legal marks but is not directed to the redistribution of earth but for public work investments.

3ª session: Missions of the Special Relator of the UN on house to Latin American countries: Participation and pursuit of the organizations of the civil society

Lorena (HIC-AL) explains that the Special Relator, Miloon Kothari, have visited three countries of the region in the last two years: Mexico (2002), Peru (2003) and Brazil (2004) in where the joint of diverse organizations and networks, many of them members of HIC, was very important and have been generated strategies of pursuit of its recommendations. It comments as the civil agenda of the visit of the Relator between diverse organizations of human rights were organized, development, etc., of all the country (meetings and encounter with social organizations, ONG, academic, and activists of human rights) and as that had weight in the organization of the agenda of encounter with the civil employees. It emphasizes that the Report of the Relator becomes a tool for the exigency of rights and is promoted within the framework of diverse processes.

v Carlos Escalante (Campaign for the right to a worthy-Peru house) explains that in its country an impelling group of the proposal of visit of Miloon formed, was elaborated and negotiated the agenda of the visit. From the Report of Miloon a process began to make come together its recommendations with the advances obtained by the campaign by the right to the suitable house. It is very important that proposals at national and international level articulate; for example, facing the I.A.D.B. and its policies that are imposing the same scheme in the Latin American countries, it must have a global proposal of the civil society; also resources of the I.A.D.B. are due to manage that until now are monopolized by the deprived companies of construction.

v Nelson Saule (POLIS-Brazil) explains that six national relatores in their country to elaborate information on the violations of the human rights and the evaluation of experiences of promotion of the DESC, in joint with the Brazilian Platform of Human rights, Democracy and Development have named, the program of volunteers of the UN and other institutions. For the visit of Miloon forums and encounter in several cities with civil employees in the matter of development and visits to zones with greater problems were organized, joint with base organizations, having looked for to construct common agendas. Information are becoming of each visited place and it is had contemplated to continue the monitoreo.

v an integral woman of an organization who works house in Peru indicates the importance of working on the recualificaci�n of the urban habitat, that surpasses the subject of the deficit of construction of house to speak of quality of the house. The subsidy is due to demand base that impels the remodeling of worthy house like a right. It is very important to speak of integralidad of rights so that people have tools to defend themselves, as well as of other components like the recovery of the self-esteem to fight by a worthy place where to live.

v Martha Vald�s (In front Continental of Women, Venezuela) speaks of two programs of house WASP and REVIVA, in where the military were the executors. Successively the Tierra Committees formed Urbana (CTU) that have worked well by the participation of the women, who do not turn aside themselves in political discussions like the men. It considers that it is possible to be affected legislation but make lack education and is very important to continue elevating the conscience level so that the house in relation to the community is understood, etc.

v Felix (CMLK, Cuba) indicates that it would be a crime to generalize the situations because there are cultures and different policies, different advances, and also would be a crime to leave to the Forum without no action or at least systematization of the experience. It is required to elaborate a methodology that allows to cross information and to extend the reach of the consultation.

v Guadalupe M�rquez (CESEM, Mexico) indicates that it is very important to make get the information at municipal level and to give to qualification to the governments locales.Se jeopardizes to work in this sense.

v Rosary (CIPO-REM, Mexico) reaffirms the importance of assuring an alert network, that it is not spoken only of the house but of indigenous towns and that relation with other subjects becomes.

v Andrea Carri�n (Secretaryship the International of HIC, Chile) proposes that the interchange of experiences is canalized through networks and already existing resources so that efforts do not disperse. It comments that in these days it is being developed Consulta in the region of the Middle East and North Africa and that members of HIC very are involved.

v Nelson (POLIS-Brazil) presents/displays information on another factory that will be in the FSA on the World-wide Letter from the Right to the City, the 27 of July, to 2 of afternoon in the Polytechnical University Salesiana.

v Sebasti�n (COHRE Am�ricas, Brazil) informs on the campaign on the quilombos sent by its organization in Brazil.

v Lorena (HIC-AL, Mexico) indicates that all the information of Consulta, including the book, will put in the Web sites of convoking networks (HIC: www.hic-net.com, Social Watch: www.socwatch.org.uy) and will be left the questionnaire open on the situation in other countries, since the process is not closed and rather there is intention to make pursuit along with other networks.

Pages Web of the networks involved in the organization of Latin American Consulta and the factory:

Coalition the International for the Habitat: www.hic-net.org

Social Watch: www.socwatch.org.uy

Network Woman and Habitat of HIC: to www.redmujer.org.ar

General documents available:

to Pact the International of Economic, Social Rights and Culturales (PIDESC).

b. Observation n.4 of the Committee of Social and Cultural Economic Rights of the UN on the right to a suitable house.

c. Observation n. 7 of the Committee of Social and Cultural Economic Rights of the UN in the matter of evacuations.

d. Observation n. 15 of the Committee of Social and Cultural Economic Rights of the UN on the right to the water.

and Report of the Special Relator on the right to a house adapted on its visit to Mexico (2002)

f. Report of the Special Relator for the right to a house adapted on its visit to Peru (2003)

g. Rough draft of the Report of the Special Relator for the right to a house adapted on its visit to Brazil (2004).

h. Convention on the Elimination of All Formas de Discriminacio'n Against Mujer (CEDAW)

i. Questionnaire prepared by the office of HIC-AL to collect information on the subject in view of the consultation being summarized the questionnaire of the Special Relator.

Draft elaborated by Areli Sandoval (Social Watch, Mexico) and Maria Silvia Emanuelli (HIC-AL).

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