Invitation to
Women’s Major Group Rio+20 Side Event
Women’s Resistance and Resilience

9:30 – 11:00 am, Friday 15 June 2012
Pavilion 6 (formerly T), Room 10, Rio Centro, Rio de Janeiro

Social equity, gender equality and environmental justice must form the heart of sustainable development, and of the outcomes of the Rio+20 UN conference. Twenty years after the first Rio conference, great social and economic inequities still remain. These inequities especially affect women and children, who make up the majority of those living in poverty. The women’s major group supports the transformation from the current economic system to
a sustainable and equitable economic system, which ensures gender equality, human rights and environmental justice and supports sustainable livelihoods and poverty eradication.

This side event will present testimonies from women resisting extractive industries, unsustainable energy,
agro-fuels and land-grabbing attempts. The side event will also show examples of women’s initiatives towards sustainable and equitable economies followed by an interactive discussion on lessons for international cooperation and national and local action.

Preliminary
Programme

9:30 - 9:35 Welcome by organising partner Sascha Gabizon for the Women’s Major Group
Introduction by Moderator Gita Sen, DAWN, India

Panel I: Women’s Resistance – Countering Unsustainable Models of Development

9:35 - 9:40 Kaisha Atakhanova, Social Eco-fund Kazakhstan - Harmful effects of uranium mining on
women and communities in Central Asia

9:40 - 9:45 Carmen Capriles, Reaccion Climatica, Bolivia - Challenges to protecting
the climate, forests and indigenous peoples lands



9:45 - 9:50 Sophea Chrek, Social Action for Change, Cambodia - Challenging
corporate greed and defending women’s land rights

9:50 - 9:55 Maureen Penjueli, Pacific Network on Globalisation - Resisting trade agreements and
sea bed mining in the Pacific

9:55 - 10:00 Caroline Usipeko-Omoniye, Niger Delta Women, Nigeria - Challenging land grabbing

10:00 - 10:05 Wrap up by Moderator Gita Sen


Panel II: Women’s Resilience - Creating Sustainable and Equitable Development

10:05 - 10:10 Introduction by moderator Gita Sen

10:10 - 10:15 Winnie Kodi, Sudan - Moving towards energy independence and political
empowerment with women in post-conflict regions

10:15 - 10:20 Norma Maldonado, UNITIERRA-IGTN, Guatemala - Defending territories and
practicing agro-ecology and permaculture

10:20 - 10:25 La Via Campesina (tbc) - Resisting unsustainable agriculture and false solutions to climate change

10:30 - 10:35 Adi Vasu, Pacific Center for Peace Building - Building solidarities with women in rural
and remote areas

10:35 - 10:55 Open Discussion: Post Rio+20 what are key areas for activism and policy-making to
secure women’s rights and support for women’s sustainable development initiatives?

10:55 - 11:00 Wrap up by Moderator Gita Sen


Contact in Rio de Janeiro: Contact organisers:
Andreia Da Silva, Tel: +48-33 89 58 49 Sascha Gabizon, WECF,
Tel: +49 - 172 - 86 37 586
wecf@wecf.eu

The Women’s Major Group Rio+20 activities receive support from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, UN Women and Sustain Labour.

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