CALL FOR HELP
National Action Committee (NAC) on the Status of Women - An Important Message from Mariam Abou-Dib of NAC's Executive Committee

January 24, 2003

posted with permission

Dearest Sisters,

It has been a while since many of you heard from me in my capacity of Executive Committee member of NAC. In fact, I am certain that for many of you, it has been a while since you heard anything at all from NAC.

Firstly, for this lapse in communication, I genuinely apologize.

By now, you must have received the membership renewal letter we sent out last December. If you have not, please flag it with me as soon as possible so that I may re-send the letter to you without delay.

Since the resignation of the President about a year ago, NAC has suffered a great deal - not only because we no longer have a public face in the form of an official paid representative, but because of the financial crisis which has forced the organization to layoff all but one staff person. In addition to this, our one staff person has been on an extended sick leave with a serious illness since last June. This has left our office all but empty. We have a couple of dedicated volunteers who pick up the mail and messages and deal with the immediate financial obligations.

On the positive side, our relationship with Status of Women Canada is quite good. We put forward a proposal which would fund the process to assist NAC in its much needed restructuring. This restructuring would see the organization come to grips with both its financial and political reality and set the stage for the revival of a strong, vibrant and independent national women's organization in Canada. An important aspect of this rebuilding is the move away from the significant dependence on government funds without abandoning the struggle to ensure that the state maintains its role in securing a space for women's participation in civil society.

We were in the process of making some modifications to the proposal based on our consultations with SWC when our staff person was forced to go on sick leave and we have not been able to make significant gains in the completion of our proposal since. We are working on booking someone off to complete it. It goes without saying that we cannot incur costs at the moment to finalize the proposal. We are still paying a full time wage while we sort out problems we are having with our employee's insurance company to allow her to go on LTD.

Having said all of this, we have not been completely inactive. We did get involved in the Romanow Commission consultations as well as the Employment Equity and Pay Equity legislative reviews in the last year. We are active on the question of violence and Aboriginal women and the Court Challenges program and the Voluntary Sector Initiative as well. More importantly, albeit unevenly across the country, we have been involved in the coalitions for peace and against racist backlash since September 11th.

While all this is obviously being done on a voluntary basis by various members of the current Executive, you are right to be frustrated with NAC because of the scattered communications with its members and the lack of visibility of its work in the last year. The resource question has taken its toll on us and while this is no excuse, it is the truth - we are human.

Sisters, please see this note not simply as an update but as a call for help. Help from the Sisters that care about NAC and who are committed to maintaining an independent, national women's advocacy organization. NAC needs you - and I don't simply mean the money you may access to - although that would help too. NAC needs you to take a significant role in its re-birthing process if you will.

Because of the drastic measures we have been forced to take, we have managed to decrease our debt and deficit significantly. We're not out of hot water yet, but we're getting there. This is an appeal for your patience as well - but not a passive, sit back and watch patience. A patience that will see an organization through its most difficult time in its 30-year history. We cannot allow this history to be forgotten, nor can we ride on our history's coat tails. It is more than ever, time to look forward, learn from past mistakes, forgive - but not forget - and move on.

This is where we're at.

So, prepare for the AGM, fill those vacancies on the Executive, start up those discussions on NAC's structure and future in your area with other member groups and of course, renew your membership and fundraise.

Email me, call me (613-560-4328), do something. NAC needs you.

In Sisterhood, Solidarity & Peace,
Mariam

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