ASATUW - Annual Southern African Trade Union Women's Forum
meets every year to discuss common issues and to develop
recommendations. It is a process of preparation and is a network,
where women of the federations maintain ongoing contact.
It is a philosophy. Women implement principles of
participation, self help, inclusiveness, effectiveness, result
orientation etc.
The Priorities :
- the involvement of "missing " participants from
Southern Africa, such as Angola., Lesotho.
- concentration on common priorities, and two priorities were
chosen: women in trade union leadership, and trade union
education for women
- a clearer concepts of preparation
for the conference
nationally
- the inclusion of concert elements of empowerment.
- better organization, information and integration in
general
The Focus :
1. Intensify women's Education in trade unions. It has
two strategies :
- Have a separate education for trade union
women ( but integrated into the mainstream education).
- Have gender issues and gender awareness introduced
into the main stream education of trade unions.
2. More women
in leadership. Following strategies
have been decided for this
- Affirmative action
- Sensitize women
- Sensitize men
- Qualify women for leadership position
- Support structures for women in leadership
This strategy has been
summarized as following :
- Women have to be promoted into
leadership: They have
to be elected as leaders or made leaders by affirmative
action.
- Women have to be supported in
leadership: Once women have taken a leadership position,
they need support to be able to cope with the position
effectively since they face traditional difficulties compared
to men in leadership.
Source : Proworker Voice :
Annual Publication of ITUN , Nepal
