This news article discusses the perspective brought by Latin American women to the women's conference held in Beijing in 1995. One major accomplishment was the inclusion of Caribbean women into the regional Latin American exhibition space and the regional gatherings. The Latin American conference space was used to present regional exhibits, music and dance performances, theater productions, and messages from country delegates. The official government conference included the well-organized advocacy efforts among Latin American delegates. This accomplishment reflected the improvement in skills among delegates since the Mar del Plata meetings. The nongovernmental organization (NGO) conference had some serious transportation difficulties due to its location in Huairou, 35 miles north of Beijing. The distance exhausted participants and reduced the NGO forum impact on the official conference. Participants at the NGO conference also were restricted in their freedom of movement by the Chinese Organizing Committee. There was insufficient infrastructure for handling planned plenary sessions, lack of access for the disabled, harassment of certain special interest groups, and obstruction of meetings in hotels. Secret searches were conducted by Chinese officials in delegates' hotel rooms. Non-English speakers were able to participate only in large plenary sessions and selected workshops. Non-Spanish speaking Latin Americans walked out of Latin American events held in Spanish. Women were also frustrated that views strongly articulated on the plenary floor were excluded from the Plan of Action and from press coverage. To be successful, plans for the post-Beijing period must account for the diversity of women's groups.
Programs to reduce infant and child mortality have led to improvements in most countries of the world, developed and developing alike. These improvements can be seen graphically on maps produced by the USAID Child Survival Program which was launched in 1985 and which provided a "package" of health interventions that has led to a 10% mortality decline. These interventions have led to an increase in life expectancy in developing countries from 50 years in 1965 to over 60 years in 1986. Unfortunately, the children whose lives have been saved face a cruel paradox because their prospects for improving their lives are slim. They are the victims of deepening poverty, the stresses of urban life, and war and violence. In addition, the education which could allow them to escape their fate is largely denied to them. Although 90% of the children in developing countries enter school, an estimated 100 million drop out before grade 5. To make matters worse, most of the child survivors live in countries where the young age of the majority of the citizens is straining government resources. Even young people in the developed world are not immune from these problems; in the US, children are worse off than they were 25 years ago. While the struggle to increase child survival must continue, the world must also nurture the children who survive. The vicious cycle of population growth, poverty, and environmental degradation (PPE), which causes and is exacerbated by political and social instability, has been weakened by child survival programs which have reduced fertility rates. Education, especially of girls, also has a positive effect on the spiral. The effects of education, health and nutrition, and family planning programs can create a "virtuous" cycle which can increase gross domestic income and equity of income distribution (resulting in shared growth and "human capital accumulation"). Such initiatives as innovative community youth programs and new financing mechanisms can have a longterm positive effect on the virtuous cycle if the political will exists to follow through on them. Otherwise, the PPE downward spiral will be the dominant mode of underdevelopment in the next century.
In Central America, women's productive roles are negated by the widely held belief that women do not work in agriculture or do so only temporarily for reasons of poverty. Working as unpaid laborers, working seasonally in cash crops, and engaging in informal sector activities off the farm, women are not seen as agricultural producers or full-time wage laborers. That notion is enhanced by rural women, who tend not to describe themselves as producers. Women farmers are therefore invisible and deprived of social and legal recognition and protection. Recent studies, however, have found that women throughout Central America have played a long-standing role in agriculture as permanent, not temporary, workers. Official statistics indicate that almost 20% of rural households are headed by women who are fully responsible for agricultural production. Indeed, there are villages in Central America inhabited solely or mainly by widows and single women and their children. Despite the growing body of evidence on women's true productive role in Central American societies, their agricultural roles still remain largely invisible in government census and labor statistics. The author discusses barriers to opportunity and supporting women farmers in Central America.
While child survival programs are making headway, the young people who have survival childhood in Latin America and the Caribbean are living in poverty, dropping out of school, and generally suffering to the extent that their potential contributions to society are obviated. For more than 2 decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been using innovative programs to combat these ills. The Inter-American Foundation (IAF), for example, has devoted 5% of its budget to youth-oriented development during the past 25 years. To choose appropriate recipients, the IAF has worked with NGOs to achieve a workable balance between designing quality programs around the developmental needs of a specific age cohort which keep in mind the myriad socioeconomic factors affecting the well-being of these children. One such program, in Santiago, Chile, provides recreational activities which allow low-income children to build their sense of community, instill values, and bolster self-esteem. With these connections in place, other problems, such as domestic violence, can be addressed. Donors must also choose between programs which aid children directly or those which work indirectly through the family and community. The key to making this decision is keeping the developmental needs of the children in mind. Programs must also be flexible and expect a constant turnover of membership, since youth is a time of transition. It is also vital to include youth in program design and implementation. In addition, donors must find ways to stretch limited resources; for example, by developing alternative strategies for youth development that can be expanded (such as providing technical support to community-based alternative schools). It is also important for information about innovative projects to be shared. Increasing international concern about the plight of children has opened the way for NGOs to play a broader role. The UN World Summit on Youth in 1990 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provided a framework for a policy dialogue between public and private groups working on behalf of children. NGOs can also influence policy, and the children they serve can play an important lobbying role.
The story is told of how several Chilean anthropologists and Bolivian colleagues helped the Jalq'a people to revive their traditional handicrafts as a model for microregional development. The quest was initially undertaken to find out about "potolo" weavings. The Jalq'a people were found in numbers totaling 25,000 impoverished and with very high infant mortality rates, low incomes, and social disorganization. although the traditional woven dresses were still worn, the color combinations and motifs had lost their originality and precision. The story was told about how during the 1960s and 1970s the poor cash economy had forced people to sell their textiles to tourists and traders for lower than market value. Eventually it became apparent that there were no longer models of the traditional garments to inspire new generations. Upon the anthropologists arrival and inquiries, it was related that local interest to revive production of these native textiles was still there. The craft revival took root because of the interest in the people not just as artisans but as people, and rapport was established. The background of the anthropologists is related. A grassroots support organization (GSO) was formed to assist in economic development that was rooted in the life of the community. The pace was set by participants and a few women at first were trained in commercial production. A shaman was asked to conduct a ritual ceremony which involved calling upon the mountain deities, the Mallkus, to give them a sign. The Mallkus agreed the project was good and the Jalq'a must conserve their language and culture and textiles. New workshops were blessed in a similar way. In the first workshop the challenge was for the women to determine how to make the many strange animals that appeared in Jalq'a designs; a photographic archive was put together and the hand-dyed colors restored with some difficulty. The exhibit of the textiles after several years led to new respect for the Jalq'a and indigenous peoples and a means of recognition for further sales. Women's status and Irupampa socioeconomic status has improved; migration to urban areas has been slowed. The experiences of the Navajo in the US has been helpful in the Jalq'a efforts in international marketing. GSO has been able to provide guidance to others in learning about their spinning machines, quality control system, and marketing strategy.
