City
for All Women Initiative (CAWI)
Initiative;
une ville pour toutes les femmes (IVTF)
What is the City for All Women Initiative?
It is a one-year project to identify ways of ensuring that women and men in Ottawa have equal opportunity to make and influence decisions about our city.
How did it come about?
In October 1999, Ottawa’s Regional Council joined with cities around the world to adopt the IULA Declaration of Women in Local Government. This is a commitment to ensuring women and men have equal opportunity to how our city is governed. The Council established a Working Group on Women’s Access to Municipal Services. In that project, women from diverse backgrounds worked in partnership with the municipal staff and politicians to identify ways of ensuring women’s access to services.
Why focus on all women being included?
In the previous project, the Working Group learned that women, especially women of marginalized groups, are less likely than men to be in positions where they can make and influence decisions. The project discovered examples of City activities that are of interest to women but there was no comprehensive gender lens being applied to City practices. Our city can become a better place to live when the ideas of women representing diverse backgrounds and concerns are taken into account.
Why is this important now?
We live in times in which city governments are being asked to do more with fewer resources. Given that women continue to be the primary caregivers in families today, women have important perspectives to bring to these difficult decisions. Given the rapid change of Ottawa’s population, women of ethno-cultural groups will be left behind without specific strategies in place.
How will we do this?
As we renew this partnership between women’s organizations and the City, we invite you to become involved in promoting a gender-inclusive city that enables all women to join with men in shaping our city.
q Listen to the experiences and concerns of diverse women across the City.
q Learn from what has worked in other cities in Canada and globally.
q Look at current practices and ways of operating in the city government.
613-526-5235, sdoerge@sympatico.ca