The International Campaign to stop violence against women and girls
The International Campaign to Stop Violence against Women and Girls is part of an international movement originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991. The dates 25 th November (International Day against Violence against Women) and 10 th December (International Human Rights Day) were symbolically chosen to emphasize that any violence against women, whether physical, emotional, sexual, economic or any form of gender-based discrimination, is a violation of fundamental human rights. Women and men, the world over, organize during this period to call for an elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls.

The 16-days campaign is being used to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against 
women by:

>>Raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue
>>Strengthening local work around violence against women
>>Making a clear link between local, national and international work to end violence against women
>>Creating a method to share and develop new and effective strategies
>>Creating tools to pressurize the government to legislate and implement policies and laws to eliminate violence against women

Events in Pune in December 2005
December 3 @ 6.30pm : Public Lecture by Manisha Gupte, Co-Convenor, MASUM, S.M. Joshi Hall, auditorium
December 6 @ 8pm: Take Back the Night- Solidarity Walk from Fergusson College to Balgandharv, followed by a candle light vigil
December 10 @ 3pm: Public Rally from Savitri Bai Phule Statue to Shaniwar Wada, followed by street plays 
and songs.
For detailed schedule >>    

The Pune we have
The Pune we want 
The Open Space Friday Evening Lecture Series

The Centre for Communication and Development Studies and its civil society outreach programme Open Space has initiated a process to invite and involve citizens' participation in the governance of Pune. The ordinary citizen's participation in urban governance is determined either by the issues highlighted in the mainstream media, or the extent to which particular problems – of water supply, garbage disposal, state of the roads, erratic power supply etc – impact their own lives. But so far, citizens' action in urban governance has remained confined to single issues. A coalition of concerned citizens, urban planners, architects, researchers and activists from Pune is now attempting to involve citizens in a broad-based and sustained citizens' campaign for participation in the governance of their city.

Pune is growing rapidly with new industries and new populations. In what was earlier considered the far outskirts or even separate villages, now high rise and good quality housing is coming up to rival any other city. This growth shows no signs of slowing down. I n spite of such affluence, nearly half of the city's population lives in slums. This figure alone warns us not to be complacent about where we are headed.

The Friday Evening Lecture series will deal with urban governance issues that are at the core of the city's character, the issues that make the city what it is. These speakers will provide a baseline of information and knowledge and the lectures will serve as a foundation to build a vision of what this city could be. These lectures on Pune's infrastructure and runaway development and growth will be collated and made available on the Open Space website (http://www.openspaceindia.org)

The Open Space Friday Evening Lecture series has invited Sujit Patwardhan, founder member of Parisar, an environmental citizens' group working in environmental awareness. His talk will focus on the need to understand the impact of urban traffic and transport policies on the city's environment, health, equity, community, heritage and long term sustainability. He will also point out the need for citizens to play an active role in the urban planning process and influencing transportation policies.
Friday, December 2, 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Open Space

Kiran Kalamdani, expert in the fields of Urban Design, Architectural and Urban Conservation will be speaking on the issue of heritage conservation in and around Pune at the Friday Evening Lecture Series at Open Space on Friday, December 9, 2005. His lecture will address issues like the interaction between new development and conservation of the city fabric with special focus on the role being played by various groups and a quick overview of ideas, trends and practices followed by some case studies from in and around Pune.
Friday, December 9, 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Open Space