North-South Co-operation

Book excerpt: This book in the Focus on Gender series looks at co-operation for development: between North, South, and East; women's organisations and funding agencies; development practitioners, academics, and civil society; politicians and economists; and women and men. Currently, the world is in economic and political crisis, of which escalating conflict is a symptom. In this book, writers from South and North stress that such crisis can only be resolved if we recognise that we are all involved in a global system which perpetuates poverty and inequality, not only in the South and East, but also in the North. Organisations which seek to relieve poverty must find ways to listen to, value, and learn from Southern experience of development. Linking initiatives are one way of enabling people of different cultures and backgrounds to share experience, build mutual respect, and reach common ground, while acknowledging the value of difference. It is essential for Northern funding agencies to foster multiculturalism and gender equity within their own structures, as well as in their work with Southern counterparts. Topics covered include: making the global links between women and poverty; listening to the South; linking for solidarity; women's participation and international fora; the true meaning of partnership; and the 'feminisation' of organisational culture. Several articles reflect on the rich experience and lessons of Oxfam's Women's Linking Project.