International
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International White Ribbon Campaign We want to hear about your White Ribbon Campaign! Please send your photographs, newsletters, and updates to info(at)whiteribbon(dot)ca Working With Corporations, Unions, and Governments to Promote Gender Equity in the Workplace  c
Meeting participants at Ryerson University’s December 6th commemorative sculpture “Tree of Hope” The White Ribbon Campaign hosted our Brazilian partners, members of the Brazilian White Ribbon Campaign (Campanha do Laço Branco), and the Association of Brazilian Human Resources, in Toronto in June of this year for a weeklong series of meetings and technical exchanges. Canadian organizations, corporations, unions, and governments shared leading edge strategies, policies, and programs involving the promotion of gender equality in the workplace and the creation of safer workplaces. Discussions and information sharing also took place regarding the need for community-based organizations to partner with corporations, governments, and unions, to address gender inequity in the workplace. “Violence against women costs business in Canada millions of dollars each year in lost productivity and absenteeism,” said Beverly Wybrow, Executive Director of the Canadian Women’s Foundation, and one of the Canadian organizations present at the event. Sharon Pollock, a senior workplace equity advisor with BMO Financial Services referred to findings from a Fortune 500 corporate performance report where it was found that “companies overall with the highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial performance.” Marsha Smith, Manager of the Equal Opportunities Branch of the Ministry of Transportation (Government of Ontario), along with her colleague Maria Tejeda, Senior Human Resources Manager, recounted the evolution of gender equity and hiring programs and policies within this ministry. Not too long ago, in 1995, there existed a workplace where “male employees did not for the most part accept female colleagues willingly. They felt that women were not capable of doing physical labour for instance and would not pull their weight. What happened of course was that these women were often subjected to verbal harassment almost on a daily basis,” shared Ms. Smith. Thanks to the work of the Equal Opportunities Branch under Ms. Smith’s leadership, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has become a leading example for the private sector in the development of workplace gender equity and anti-harassment policies. Marsha Smith concluded her presentation by saying, “when I came to this male dominated organization back in 1995, I would never have believed that in 2006 both the Deputy Minister and Minister of Transportation would be – you guessed it – women.” Participants left with a very clear vision of leading, made in Canada, examples of workplace gender equality and anti-discrimination programs and policies. Currently, we are working on organizing a consultation with several Brazilian NGOs and government departments in Brasilia with the objective of developing strategies and educational resources for the involvement of men in promoting gender equality and safer workplaces in Brazil. New innovative international partnership between White Ribbon Campaign, Instituto Promundo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and Instituto Papai (Recife, Brazil)  We have begun working on a new three year international cooperation project to help strengthen the work of the White Ribbon Campaign in Brazil. Through this initiative, we will be working collaboratively with our partners in Brazil to address gender equality and equity in several important areas – schools and youth organizations; the workplace; fatherhood and families; and the community in general. Gender inequities are persistent in Brazil. About one-fourth of households in Brazil are women-headed and these households are more likely to be poor than two-parent households. Women’s incomes continue to be between 20-30 percent lower than men’s on average in Brazil. Also, gender relations in the workplace continue to pose serious challenges for women. Data from the International Labour Organization shows that 52% of Brazilian women have suffered sexual harassment. The need to promote campaigns to stop violence against women is practically unheard of amongst the private sector in Brazil. Meanwhile, a growing body of Brazilian and international research confirms that men’s participation as fathers can be positive for the lives of women, men, and children. Conversely, fathers’ absence, or the use of violence by fathers, can have an ongoing, inter-generational impact on children. In order to help address these disparities, we have planned several strategies to encourage men, boys, organizations, and businesses to take a greater role in the advancement of women’s equality and equity in Brazil and in the region. Under our Youth component, we will be adapting activities from our Youth Education and Action Kit together with Programa H’s Working with Young Men Series to create a new Brazilian youth education resource. This will be used in Brazilian schools and community organizations to promote and encourage gender equality and equity among young men and women. We will be working with Unions and Industries to promote gender equality and equity in the workplace. This will be done through the exchange of workplace education and outreach knowledge and skills between Canadian and Brazilian organizations. This strategy also includes the development of educational and outreach materials to promote gender equality and equity and reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace. In the area of Fatherhood and the family, we will be developing educational and awareness raising materials and campaigns to encourage fathers to taken on a greater child care and development role within the family. The project also includes strategies to support and strengthen the work of the National White Ribbon Campaign (Campanha do Laço Branco) in Brazil and to help establish a regional hub for organizations interested in carrying out White Ribbon Campaign activities in Latin America and the Caribbean. This project is made possible through funding from the Canadian International Development Agency. If you would like to find out more about this project, or our work internationally, you may contact Humberto Carolo, Project Manager, Canada-Brazil International Cooperation Program, at +1-416-920-6684, hcarolo(at)whiteribbon(dot)ca. If you would like to share information about the work your organization is doing in the area of gender equality and equity, please e-mail us at info(at)whiteribbon(dot)ca. 
 Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association visits the White Ribbon Campaign Home Office July 28, 2005. As soon as the delegation group from the Taiwan Gender Equity Education Association (TGEEA) flowed into the Toronto office, members gathered around our big world map locating White Ribbon campaigns abroad. One of the leaders of the delegation, Herng-Dar Bih, Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Building and Planning at the National Taiwan University, shared news of a press conference he held last year, after helping to launch a White Ribbon Campaign on his university campus.  Successful in his efforts, this professor translated “What Every Man Can Do” into Mandarin Chinese for publishing. As a small academic group short on resources, TGEEA dreams of opening their own office, encouraging growing support. In the meantime, this professor expressed interest in translation of more White Ribbon Campaign materials into Mandarin Chinese, such as “The Fact Sheet”, “The Seven Ps of Men’s Violence…” and other available documents, for posting on a website. In the case of the newly revised Education and Action Kit, a promise was made to send Professor Bih a copy of the new version upon its release, for a complete translation. There are or have been White Ribbon Campaigns in at least 47 countries, including: Africa
Asia
Austalia/Oceania
Europe
Latin America
Middle East & Former USSR
South Asia
South-East Asia
United Kingdom
The United States
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