Organizers around the world are gearing up for the United Nations 4th
World Conference on Women and the NonGovernmental Organizations Forum
which will be held from Aug.30-Sept.15,1995 in Bejing, China. The
gatherings offer invaluable opportunities for women to shape
international government policy, discuss issues, develope strategies
and network with women of all ages from every corner of the world.
The Bay Area Youth Delegates are high school students who have joined
together to attend the conference for a variety of reasons:
"I want to be a part of history; to get together with other young men
and women interested in global action."
"I want to experience meeting with and learning from girls and women
from other parts of the world and to understand their situations. I
want to learn to empower myself and others."
We feel this is a once and a lifetime opportunity for us to meet and
learn from young women of other cultures, to represent our own diverse
Bay Area culture in China, and, on our return, to share our experiences
with our school mates and members of the community. We plan to
participate in the conference addressing young women's issues such as:
*Examining the images of young women in the media.
*Developing programs which encourage and train young women in the
fields of mathematics, science,public policy, business, and
the arts.
*Developing programs eradicate violence against young women,
particularly forms of domestic abuse and date/acquaintance rape.
We feel that we have a voice that should be heard at the conference. As
a longtime Bay Area peace and ecology activist said recently:
"I really believe in the power and energy and ideas of concerned youth.
It is critical to have their insights and experiences contribute to our
collective work in Bejing. It's necessary for everyone's future to have
the meaningful participation of youth in creating an action agenda for
the world's women today."
We hope you agree! To send a diverse delegation of ten young Bay Area
women to China for 20 days, we need to raise 20,000 dollars for
airfare, lodging, and food. We plan to pitch in with fund-raising and
share our resources to enable the entire group to go. Any contribution
you can make to help us on our way to China will be greatly
appreciated! THANK YOU!
If interested in helping us, or for more information, write:
B.A.Y.D. to Bejing, China
5033 Kearney Ave.
Oakland,CA. 94602
or e-mail @ sfswartout at marin-academy.marin.ca.us
