> The foresight Process:

 

The Foresight Vision of Millennia2015 for women's empowerment and equality

Millennia2015, An action plan for women's empowerment

Foresight research process and international conference organised by

The Destree Institute and

the Millennia2025 Women and Innovation Foundation (Public Utility Foundation),

with the patronage of the UNESCO

at its Headquarters in Paris, 3-6 December 2012

 

The vision of Millennia2015 results from the work of the Think Tank: the phases are presented here.

> The translations in 13 languages, see below on this page:

Bahasa, Indonesia - Deutsch, Germany - English, United Kingdom - Español, Spain - Français, Francophonie - Greek, Greece - Igbo, Nigeria -  Igbo Etiti, Nigeria - Kinyarwanda, Rwanda - Nepali, Nepal - Swahili, République démocratique du Congo - Turkish, Turkey  - Urdu, Pakistan.  

 

 

Introduction of the session

 

Written on the basis of the Millennia2015 Think Tank contributing to the foresight process and particularly the answers to the seven macro issues, the vision of Millennia2015 has been sent by email to the network and the suggestions embedded. Coordinated by Marie-Anne DELAHAUT, the first version has also benefited from the advice of Eleonora BARBIERI MASINI, Philippe DESTATTE, Françoise MASSIT-FOLLÉA, Véronique THOUVENOT and Coumba SYLLA. The English version was finalized thanks to Jocelynne Annette SCUTT.

 

During the second plenary session at the UNESCO, 3rd December 2012, Marie-Anne Delahaut has read the vision of Millennia2015 in order to open up the discussion to final comments. Philippe Destatte reminded that the vision is a text of reference that strengthens the strategy basing on experience and on the present. That strategy will lead to reaching the vision. We must project ourselves in the future considering the goals of Millennia2015: what do we want for women by 2025? The vision is not frozen; it can be reconsidered when necessary. Every testimony can highlight a forgotten aspect. He invited the participants to comment the vision on two levels:

- the aspects that have been forgotten or too much exposed and

- the words and expressions to be adapted.

 

All the suggestions presented during the session or by email have been included in the vision of Millennia2015. Many thanks in particular to:

Gyslaine DESROSIERS, Quebec, Canada; Eva FABRY, Norway;

Karimi FRESHTEH, France; Renée GERARD, France;

Solange GOMA, Congo Brazzaville / France; Nicole GOMIS GAKOU, Senegal;

Theodore J. GORDON, USA; Justin HAGENA KAKUMBA, Democratic Republic of Congo;

Lois HERMAN, USA /Italy; Sandra JEAN-GILLES, Haiti;

Raphaela KITSON PANTANO, France; Claudia KOLLER, Austria;

Naima KORCHI, France; Martha LLANOS, Peru;

Khadijetou Cheikh LO, Mauritania; Annie MATUNDU MBAMBI, Democratic Republic of Congo;

Marjorie MONNI, France; Annette NTIGNOI, Wallonia, Belgium; Ngozi NWOSU, Nigeria;

Maudy PIOT, France; Mila SAFI, Democratic Republic of Congo; François SCHMITT, France;

Jocelynne Annette SCUTT, Great-Britain / Australia; Aminata SYLLA, France. 

 

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The foresight vision of Millennia2015 

 

A foresight vision is not an illusion: it is a picture of a desired future, shared and described in precise words. The vision of Millennia2015 is designed on the basis of hundreds of desirable futures formulated by the Millennia2015 Think Tank from September to December 2012, in responding to the seven macro issues created together.

 

Amended, the vision benefited from the inputs of the Millennia2015 Community in the second plenary session of the International Conference organized at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris 3 and 4 December 2012, before being approved and disseminated to the Millennia2015 global network. The vision is by definition fluid. It is the strategy that will achieve the vision. It will be adapted according to continents or regions, and the resulting action will correspond to the needs of each. 

 

 

1. Introduction: women and men interacting in solidarity to ensure better futures

 

We do not intend to move towards the future with the models of the past. Society as a whole, and many men in particular, too often retain a stereotypical representation of women and girls. In reality, women are heterosexual, homosexual or transsexual, they have children or do not: this is a private matter and every woman in the world is the master of her body. Be they mothers or not, women have the ability to transmit culture, knowledge, solidarity and universal values. Many women and girls envision from their youngest age the building of a family, ensuring the durability of the household, educating children, protecting their health, administering and increasing the economic resources that enable survival or lead to wellbeing. Women and girls are strong and courageous, succeeding in managing several lives, whatever the obstacles confronting them, including disability. A problem exists however: women are fundamentally misunderstood, and this has been so from the beginning of humanity, not only when they bear life, but also for their multi-faceted beauty, their unlimited creative wisdom and their almost indestructible strength. The situation is even more difficult for women with a disability and older women. Each one has her place in the vision of Millennia2015. Stereotypes, discrimination and violence are harmful in all cases and we have the firm intention of stopping them to build a new path towards a brighter future.

 

Poverty, meanwhile, does not care about gender or the number of children, poverty is the belly crying. Behind every starving or thirsty child stands a poor, hungry and thirsty mother. Women have always invested in the struggle for survival, as mediators in conflicts, as architects of the future and of peace. Access for women to education, health care, control of their rights, economic management, decision-making and high level political mandates are in every case vectors of development and peace. However, for centuries, a too high number of women and children have suffered moral, psychological, physical and sexual violence. Depending on the region, girls and women are murdered by femicide, selective abortion, murders of baby girls and paedophilia. They are abused by the mass abductions of human trafficking, deprivation of rights and heritage, denial of education, female genital mutilation, stoning, early and forced marriage and marital captivity, forced pregnancy, unsafe abortions and widowhood apartheid perpetuated by ignorance and denial. They are raped, tortured and killed in front of their family by those men and boys making up regular troops or militia who engage in the massacres during declared war or local conflicts.

 

Many women and girls are held in slavery by social groups that deprive them of education, access to health, and economic empowerment. Many women do not have bodily freedom and are deprived of sex education, access to contraception, access to medical abortion, even as victims and survivors of rape. In democratic countries, women are victims and survivors of instability, unequal pay, limited access to political and economic decision-making, denial of high-level positions, infliction of violence and non application of human rights. Too many women are thus reduced to an inferior situation and restricted in their future. Women must build the bridge between those who benefit from access to rights and those who are abused, in order to strengthen solidarity and gain equal human rights for all.

 

However in all those situations and in all times, women have in themselves the will and the courage leading them towards action. Women and girls do not consider themselves as victims, rather, moving forward while assuming the responsibilities they accept for the survival of their children and family, and for the development of their societies. Women are strong and can articulate this clearly. They work together in enduring solidarity, strengthened by creative networks, holding at heart the sorority which helps understanding, which comforts, which educates, which enhances. They take inspiration from models of venerable women who have established pathways for establishing human rights, for scientific, cultural, political and economic development. Women will never give up their struggle for equality, for empowerment and for the sharing of knowledge. They build bridges between those who benefit from their own rights and those who are mistreated, to strengthen solidarity and demand equal human rights for all. Women control, perfect and transmit their own knowledge and the skills, the science and techniques that ensure the development of their region. They are the first to invest in order to apply in their country international legislation such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. Women have never ceased to stand up in solidarity to fight for their rights.

 

We are entering a new age of the planet concerning energy, development, security and peace. Gender equality, women's empowerment and education are on the global agenda: we must act together, motivating the new generations for this new paradigm. 

 

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 2. Women's values in 2025

 

Let us move forward in time.

 

By 2025, gender equality between women and men has been firmly strengthened. The political structures of UN Women are well established with a clear agenda in all countries. They are definitively equipped with the required financial resources. Respect, ethics and good governance have become essential in all societies, in consequence of the solid and continuous work of women's networks taking advantage of the latest technological advances. Solidarity has strengthened human relations: between girls and boys, between women and men, between partners within families, companies and political powers. Indeed, all men and women have understood that those shared values are the strong and concrete direction for sustainable development and the future of our planet. The ubiquity of free and accessible technologies for everyone everywhere adds value to networks, lifelong learning and economic development.

 

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3. Six ultimate aims for the human society in 2025

 

3.1. Women's empowerment and equality of rights as vector of progress for humanity

 

In 2025, feminine and masculine values are equally embedded in society's design Women and girls are more autonomous as they benefit from access to education, trainings and resources. Instability has been brought under control and literacy rates grow exponentially. Women contribute even more to real economic, political and social success by enhancing their capabilities in the context of a shared leadership between women and men. Women's contribution to science and research, not highly acknowledged in past centuries, is finally recognized, as confirmed by recent Nobel Prize awards. Rural women are strengthened and content, thanks to the acquisition of their fundamental rights and their equal access to economic resources. Gender equality has been realized through the rationality of an equal partnership with men. The fight against poverty is a major commitment. This fundamental social progress enables society as a whole to act for the common goals of survival and sustainable development. Essential and legitimate funding required for the overall management of societal issues involving women (education, maternity, family management, protection and education of children, equal rights, employment in decent work and fair wages, including equal pay, retirement protection, access to care health and technology) are provided by the States and constitute a priority for the United Nations, including reallocation of spending formerly generated by the army and wars that are no longer at the agenda. The concept of "legislatures of rights" is implemented with great success, ensuring women are informed about laws as well as providing avenues for enforcing them if they are not applied, with regular assessment by the United Nations.  

 

3.2. Evolution of mentalities generating harmony thanks to balance between women and men

 

In 2025, mentalities have changed, leading to mutual respect between men and women. The awareness and the commitment of men to equality between women and men have generated an admirable mobilisation in all societies. The heads of the traditional and patriarchal cultures have realized that they could be leaders of progress by adapting traditions in order to eliminate degrading and violent practices, and by benefiting from women's input to the global wellbeing of their communities. Men and boys are now the first to reject sexist stereotypes that generated exploitation of and violence against women. Gender Clubs, schools of husbands have generated positive returns and are the pride of communities that once indulged in and tolerated violence against women. The distribution of tasks in families is balanced between girls and boys so that each family member has the opportunity to study or work to ensure prosperity according to their skills. Girls are definitely mobilized for scientific studies and women's contribution to research and jobs of the future without question strengthens all economies. Glass ceilings and concrete canopies are longer relevant and high level managers are chosen for their skills regardless of gender.

 

3.3. Personal development as emancipation of the whole human gender

 

In 2025, international laws prohibiting femicide is efficiently implemented: countries that allowed selective abortion of baby girls or those with politics promoting or endorsing the murder of girls upon birth, as well as violence against little girls designated burdens for their families have been compelled to analyse their behaviour and to re-establish human justice. Violence against women is no longer tolerated, being condemned by the whole society. Girls are appreciated in their families and women in the society: restored self-esteem and confidence power them as drivers of change and builders of the future. Sexual tsunami inflicted earlier upon women and girls in the context of chaotic political situations, denial or armed conflicts are no longer appropriate. Awareness generated by global education and the Millennium Development Goals is bearing fruit by enabling human society to advance towards harmony in view of humane sustainable development.

 

 

3.4. The globalized access to healthcare care as security for the future, strengthening quality of life

 

In 2025, healthcare professionals and especially women are trained, enhanced and financed in order to provide adequate healthcare to all, particularly women and children, in real time and in their mother tongue, by using appropriated scientific resources and technologies, in remote places via telemedicine as well as within health structures. Girls from 14 years old are trained in first health care as midwives in countries which require it, in order to end maternal mortality.Citizenship training enables bringing under control diseases such as AIDS as well as making sexual education and contraception management a generality. Prenatal education for all is a major educational factor for health today and for future generations. International solidarity no longer allows women to be denied access to basic resources, water, education, contraception, work and economic management: elected politicians have taken the measure of their responsibility. 

 

3.5. The major contribution of women to the global family, social, intellectual, political and economic development

 

In the 2020s, liberation from the constraints imposed by denial , obfuscation and patriarchy enable taking into account the unlimited added value of women for common social development, by adapting the economic parameters to women's and men's specificities, as well as by integrating informal and unpaid work into the Gross Domestic Product. All society stakeholders have understood that innovative societal transformation was necessary to found a new equilibrium as generator of future. With its independence and its cohesion thanks to the plurilingual multiculturalism, the civil society has notably confirmed its mobilisation by strengthening solidarity networks, the sharing of knowledge and techniques of learning addressed both to young and older people. Each one finds his/her place in society deliberately looking at the future and concerned about sustainable development. The political and economic leaders have taken into account their responsibility to ensure that financial management does not take place through exploitation and at the expense of populations, especially women and children in developing countries. Knowing the dangers and inhumanity of war, women and mothers have been assisted through training to inform their children about them, so as to prevent them from becoming child soldiers. The major societal involvement of migrant women is now taken into account to enhance their skills and qualifications in their host country as well as facilitating the regular support they carry out for their family in their country of origin, recognizing their contribution to society in both countries.

 

3.6. A new model for the next generations, based on peace, education and solidarity

 

In 2025, new models of life, more harmonious, have been conceptualized, implemented and are constantly assessed by each country in order to ensure their constant adaptation to the time and space involved. The knowledge society's tools are employed to ensure the balance of the planet's vital parameters. The staggering progress in information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as the generalization of high-speed connections have greatly contributed to women's empowerment. Given the sovereign global mobilisation in favour of peace, policies of war are slowing down. Education and training are reconfigured so as to generate growth and jobs. This has balanced the position of many countries endangered by a perilous economic situation. The value of the elderly is recognised again by acknowledging their unique capacity for transmission of knowledge to new generations. This all-encompassing solidarity generates solidarity between genders, between generations, between populations. The human being is at the core of the society.

 

We have the right to dream. It is our duty to fight. Millennia2015 has the dual ambition of a critical, exploratory foresight process, working in the field, with a visionary constructive approach based on a logic of action. This ambition involves mobilizing women, men and young generations so that they take ownership of the process in creative coordination, taking advantage of the power of networks.

 

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4. The main goals of Millennia2015 by 2025

 

With all partners and associations at international, regional and local level, Millennia2015 will contribute in priority to the Millennium Development Goals and in particular to two major projects:

 

1. Ensuring the quality of human gender development by ending all violence, particularly against women and girls, improving the wellbeing and health for all and in particular for women, girls and children all over the world;

 

2. Implementing a balance of 50% between women and men in all management positions, especially in parliaments and boards of directors, and contributing to the accession of women to all State high decision levels and managing positions.

 

A strong symbol for Millennia2015 would be the election of a woman as the next Secretary-General of the United Nations in order to give a powerful signal of change of mentalities at a global level and to act with a new and innovative way to re-establish global peace and harmony.  

 

Millennia2015  -  10.2012 - 03.2013.

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Translations of the foresight vision of Millennia2015

 

Bahasa, Indonesia - Deutsch, Germany - English, United Kingdom - Español, Spain -
Français, Francophonie - Greek, Greece - Igbo, Nigeria -  Igbo Etiti, Nigeria -
Kinyarwanda, Rwanda - Nepali, Nepal - Swahili, République démocratique du Congo -

Turkish, Turkey  - Urdu, Pakistan -

 

> Bahasa

Vania Putri, Organisational Affairs, YEP!Youth EmPowering!

Bogor, Jawa Barat, Indonesia

26.03.2013.

 

> Deutsch

Dr Helga Foster, Researcher/Coordinator, Global Education and Training, Berlin, Germany

14.04.2013.

 

> English 

Millennia2015

14.03.2013

 

Español

Translation proposed by Raquel Zabala, Analyst, CeLGyP - Centro Latinoamericano de Globalización y Prospectiva, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

15.03.2013.  

 

> Français

Version originale - Basis version

Millennia2015 

14.03.2013 

 

> Greek

μετάφραση από την Αγγλική στην Ελληνική: Φωτεινή Σιάνου, Κέντρο Έρευνας και Δράσης για την Ειρήνη (ΚΕΔΕ),

Γυναικείο Σωματείο για την Ειρήνη

Translation from English to Greek: Fotini Sianou, Centre for Research and Action on Peace (KEDE), Women's Association for Peace

Athens, Greece 

 

> Igbo 

Uche C. EWUZIE, Senior Lecturer, Federal College of Education (Tech)

Gombe State, Nigeria 

15.03.2013. 

 

> Igbo Etiti

Dr Ngozi Nwosu, Senior Lecturer, Nasarawa State University, Keffi Nigeria,

F.C.T Abuja, Nigeria

12.04.2013 

 

> Kinyarwanda

Translation from English: Leon HAKIZIMANA Leon and Justin HAGENA KAKUMBA

Rwanda

13.07.2013. 

 

Nepali

> Handwriting  > Document

Achut P. Gautam, Member Secretary, Nepal international Consumers Union, Chair of the Millennia2015 Nepal Community, Kathmandu, Nepal, & Anita Bhatta, Student/social worker, Member of the Millennia2015 Nepal Community, Kathmandu, Nepal

14.04.2013. 

 

> Swahili

Traduction du français : Juvénal BUSHENYULA et Justin HAGENA KAKUMBA

Goma, République démocratique du Congo

13.07.2013. 

 

> Turkish

Ayden BIrerdinc, Turkish Association of University Women (TAUW) member IFUW , SWC member. 

10.06.2013. 

 

> Urdu

Bilquis Tahira & Zubaida Hussain of Shirakat - Partnership for Development 

Rawal Town, Islamabad, Pakistan

24.03.2013.

 

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