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Bicycles for Democracy
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As the International Women's Day 2008 approaches, Leichhardt Council would like to alert you to a special campaign launched by Cr Kate Hamilton in collaboration with UNIFEM Australia called Bicycles for Democracy.
Bicycles for Democracy supports women elected to local and state government in Cambodia primarily aimed at building stronger partnerships between elected women and their constituencies in rural Cambodia.
The project is also designed to support worldwide gender equity through local governments, to nourish local democratic processes that recognise social inclusion and citizens rights to participation and to nurture the quality and legitimacy of women’s decision making in that process
Leichhardt Council was the first organisation to donate a bicycle to a women Councillor in Cambodia and hopes that other Council's and Councillors get on board to support this important project. Bicycles for Democracy has the support of the NSW State Minister for Women, the Hon. Verity Firth MP and the Federal Minister for the Office of the Status of Women, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP has been approached to lend her support to the campaign.
During an International Women’s Day breakfast hosted by UNIFEM in 2006, Cr Hamilton was very impressed with the talk given by Ms Nanda Pok, Executive Director of Women for Prosperity, about her work training women to become elected representatives in Cambodia. Women for Prosperity (WFP) is funded by UNDP and UNIFEM to promote training programs in governance, community capacity building and gender equity. Cr Hamilton arranged to meet with Nanda when she was invited as a keynote speaker for a conference in 2007.
Since 1992 over 5000 women have received training in the skills needed to run for election and to govern once elected to local or state government in Cambodia. Nanda travels across the country every week mentoring elected women in the sorts of problems they encounter and the decisions needed to resolve them for their local communes. Many of these women live and work in remote, rural communities and their constituents are spread quite far apart so getting to visit them is often challenging and time consuming.
There is a huge need for these bicycles to help increase the participation of women in local government which in turn improves gender equity, decision making for communities and democratic governance through peaceful means.
NIFEM Australia has agreed to be the sponsor of Bicycles for Democracy by receiving and forwarding the funds for the bicycles to Nanda and WFP in Cambodia.
Your one-off donation of $A80.00 will purchase one bicycle for an elected woman in Cambodia and help make her job representing her community so much easier to do. Furthermore it is really simple to donate through UNIFEM Australia by depositing the $A80.00 into the following bank account:
ACCOUNT NAME: UNIFEM AUSTRALIA
BRANCH: WESTPAC BANK, GORDON BRANCH
BSB: 032083
ACCOUNT NO: 227345
Send an email to Rosemary Derwin the UNIFEM Australia Treasurer to let her know you have done this and she will send you a receipt for your donation:
Email: treasurer@unifem.org.au
Phone No: 0412 580393
Web: http://www.unifem.org.au
If you have any queries regarding this program, please contact either Cr Kate Hamilton 0404 456 774 or Shane McArdle on (02) 9367 9351.
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