Women's Centre at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

• Position: Announcements

In a unique collaboration between government, non-governmental organisations (NGO's), private individuals and a private company, women have joined hands to offer something unique to the public and to delegates from ell over the world. The Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) has steered the transformation of the historic women's jail at the Fort on Constitution Hill into a Women's Centre for delegates to meet, to enjoy South African culture and to replenish their energy at healing workshops.

The Women's Centre Will host meetings and mini-conferences for delegates, including a pre-Summit on Peace and Development and the Africa Caucus. The works of some women artists will also be on display. The women's jail was built in 1909 to house women prisoners and was in use until 1983, when the prisoners were moved to "Sun City", the Diepkloof prison. The main crimes committed by inmates were theft, fraud, and prostitution, brewing and breaking the pass laws. Women were picked up off the streets for not producing their passes, for breaking the Immorality Act or simply because it was feared that they might do something subversive. They were dragged into trucks and packed into the prison's tiny cells, unable to contact their families. From the earliest days of the prison, it was overcrowded. The four main meeting rooms in the jail have bean named after the leaders of the Women's March on the Union Buildings in August 1956 to protest against the Pass Laws: Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophia Williams-de Bruyn and Rahima Moose.

For more information, please contact, wssdwomenscentre@yahoo.com or http://www.wemensnet.org.za/wssdwomen/index.shtml

Le Centre des Femmes au Sommet Mondial sur le Developpement Durable

Dans le cadre d'une collaboration unique de parties prenantes entre des hommes et des femmes de gouvernements, organisations non gouvernementales, le secteur prive et le Systeme des Nations Unies, et une compagnie privee, des femmes ont joint leurs efforts pour offrir quelque chose d'unique au public et aux delegues du monde...