The AWARE Training Institute (ATI) will be going full steam ahead to develop and conduct programmes in three areas – skills development, knowledge building, and self-knowledge. The aim is to educate, enable and empower women to achieve their highest potential in society. These programmes include:

• ATI’s Body Image Workshops will help young girls to reflect on body image, and concepts of attractiveness and beauty, to enable them to deal with body image and self esteem issues.
   
• Following from AWARE’s major recent report on sexual harassment which showed that more than 50% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment at work, ATI is currently developing workshops to train organisations to deal with sexual harassment and assault. The sexual harassment team comprising HR practitioners, lawyers and social workers target to provide by the end of the year a comprehensive package of services to train and advise companies on policies and practices to prevent and deal with sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.
   
• The financial training programme for women is being enhanced. The aim here is to help women with financial empowerment. Further announcements on this will be made shortly.
   
• Women in Conversation is an innovative approach to learning. ATI provides safe spaces for women to get together in small groups to learn from each other and to share their personal and common experiences in matters such as sex, dating, marriage, gender discrimination, career development, leadership.
   

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• July 2, 2009 -- Video: Yvonne Reflects
• June 25, 2009 -- Video: Hafizah Reflects
• June 18, 2009 -- Video Tribute to Volunteers

Tweeters Callan & June wait for the presscom to start.

Callan’s Report on the Press Con

June shows Twitter to Connie Singam

Corinna, Ching Wi, Dana & Joo Hymn just before kick off.

Press Kit:

• PressKIT EXCO Profiles
• Aware Media Con 6 July – Dana’s Opening Remarks
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009 – EGM costs

State of the Nation’s Women report

AWARE, Singapore’s leading women’s rights advocacy group, is launching a two-year project to reach out to a wide range of women in Singapore and gather their views on the issues that most affect them. These views, together with other research findings, will be published in 2011 in a report titled The State of the Nation’s Women.

In its scope, the State of the Nation’s Women (SNW) report will be similar to the CEDAW shadow reports that AWARE produces and submits to the United Nations. CEDAW, or the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, is regarded as an international bill of rights for women. Countries that sign the convention have to submit national reports at least once every four years on the progress they have made to remove all discrimination against women. Shadow reports are submitted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and are considered alongside the national reports by the UN’s CEDAW Committee.

Like the CEDAW report, the SNW report will examine the state of Singapore’s women in areas such as employment, health, family, leadership, and media. But a key difference is that the voices of Singapore’s women will feature prominently in the SNW report.

“Our CEDAW shadow reports have identified the inequalities that still exist and the many issues that need to be addressed, such as the lack of sexual harassment laws, stereotyping in the media, the need for more day care centres for young parents and for greater financial security for older women,” said Dana Lam, AWARE president.

“What we will now do, in parallel with our CEDAW work, is reach out to women in Singapore and get their views on all these issues. We want to get the women to talk and we will listen carefully. We want to find out what they see as the key challenges in their lives, what they would like to see by way of changed or new policies and laws. The State of the Nation’s Women report will cover largely the same ground as the CEDAW reports but it will be from the perspective of a cross-section of Singapore’s women.”

AWARE will reach these women in a variety of ways, including a forum series called ‘Stand Up and Speak Out’. There will also be talks and small group discussions, and at least one major conference. Joint projects and other forms of collaboration with the media and with other NGOs will be explored.

Millie (camera woman & editor extraordinaire) with Fizz and Nicole

Ching Wi, Rina, Kerry and Marisse

Margie and Nancy

Lelia and Joo Hymn

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• February 22, 2009 -- Dana Lam – File Photos
• May 21, 2009 -- Response to MOE Decision

Nevertheless the current EXCO would prefer to move forward instead of pursuing action against Josie Lau and her team. The present EXCO has since asked various service providers for discounts and donations and has reduced costs by $8,000.

___

At the 2 May EGM several members queried Josie Lau and her Exco about the cost of the EGM. Calls were made, both at the EGM and in media forums subsequently, for the money to be recovered from the members of that Exco.

After taking office, the current Exco formed an internal review team to look into the expenses incurred by the previous Exco and determine whether their decisions and actions adhered to the AWARE Constitution and other established practices.

The EGM cost a total of $99,291.28. This was not quite covered by the $98,765.70 in membership fees paid by the 2,748 people who joined AWARE or who renewed their membership between 29 March and 2 May.

The current Exco wrote to all the companies that provided services at the EGM, explained the financial situation and asked them to consider making a donation to AWARE. Rajah & Tann have donated $5,000 and Deloitte & Touche $3,000, while Boardroom has indicated that it will be making a donation. Suntec and Ape Communications declined on the grounds that they had, in total, given AWARE a 26.5% discount on the facilities and services provided.

The review team found that the previous Exco did not adhere fully to the AWARE Constitution and established practices. Also, they could have avoided some of the costs, for instance, by trying to get pro bono legal advice and asking AWARE volunteers to act as scrutineers.

“We will not, however, be taking any action against the previous Exco,” said Ms Lam. “There are several reasons for this. We recognise that they were handicapped by their lack of NGO experience. Secondly, we have been able to recover part of the costs through the generosity of some of the vendors.

“Most importantly, we want to get on with our work – which is to identify and help remove the obstacles that prevent women from realising their full potential. This is, and has always been, AWARE’s agenda.”

Related Coverage:

• ST Breaking News – New Aware team sets goals
• Channel News Asia – AWARE proposes changes to its constitution
• ST Breaking News – No action to reclaim $100k
• ST Breaking News – Josie Lau’s team won’t be sued
• ST Breaking News – Aware to report on women

Press Kit:

• PressKIT EXCO Profiles
• Aware Media Con 6 July – Dana’s Opening Remarks
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009 – EGM costs

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• February 22, 2009 -- Dana Lam – File Photos
• June 18, 2009 -- IS Interview: Dana Lam