One billion dollars seems an extravagant, ambitious goal. But for the women who took part in the recently concluded Asia-Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15, the amount is both a protest symbol and a goad to action.

Failing to produce an outcome document on the last day of the Forum as planned, the women instead conjured a project: to raise the equivalent of $1 billion to express ?their disappointment with the United Nations, particularly with the very low investment it makes even on its women and gender-related agencies,? as well as to use the fund directly for women?s projects around the world.

Here?s an eyewitness account of how women from the region came together in an entirely spontaneous manner to, as the cliché goes, ?put their money where their mouth is? and shame the UN and the world?s governments for their indifference to women. Nina Somera of Isis wrote the article shortly after the closing ceremonies, and you can read the full version on the Isis website: www.isiswomen.org

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A SERIOUS plenary discussion on a conference outcome document turned into a joyful pass-the-hat session in the Marian Theatre of Miriam College, making the convener Patricia Licuanan beam and express, ?This is better than a statement.?

The Asia Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing + 15 ended without an outcome document but a pledge to raise an equivalent of $1 billion, in light of the recognized underinvestment of the United Nations on women and gender concerns. Pam Rajput of India?s National Alliance of Women?s Organisations (NAWO) asserted, ?If most women in the region will contribute $1, that will be powerful gesture to the UN. This is a moment where the South contributes to the North.?

The plenary was supposed to finalize the AP NGO Forum on Beijing + 15?s outcome document that Licuanan will present at the High-Level Meeting of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in November. After agreeing to allow a few more days for the draft to be presented and revised, Rajput reiterated an ambitious fund-raising scheme that was flagged in one parallel session and asked for a clear mechanism to facilitate this scheme.

But in no time, the women, led by 3rd World Conference on Women Secretary General Leticia Ramos-Shahani brought out their money and looked for a pot. After a short while, Isis International?s Cai Yiping ran from one end of the theatre, bringing a purple box. After a few pledges, one speaker stood up, reminding the women not to use US dollars as a gesture against the US dollar tribute. Although it was not yet clear which currency the secretariat will use in the end, women brought out their own currencies. Licuanan happily added, ?You may want to leave all your [Philippine] pesos in the box.?

Licuanan promised to encourage the African and Latin American delegations at the ESCAP meeting to join the fund-raising.

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LAST SEPTEMBER after long and tense negotiations, the UN approved the development of a single architecture that will combine the women-related agencies and other functions such as United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI). Although this architecture will be further discussed in the next few months, many feminists are pessimistic that the UN will provide adequate funding for the emerging single agency.

The last three days saw women of different generations pointing out the women?s movement?s role in the creation of some UN agencies and functions. But as Charlotte Bunch of the Center for Women?s Global Leadership (CWGL) explained, ?these agencies are small, weak, fragmented and operate at low level that many found frustration [especially as] the UN has become a fiercely contested space.?

Moreover, the money allocated for women and gender concerns is also quite minuscule. As Noeleen Heyzer, UN Undersecretary General and UN ESCAP Executive Secretary, mentioned in her keynote address, of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the targets associated with women such as maternal mortality and health are lagging far behind, a point that is strongly linked with the marginal attention on reproductive and sexual rights.

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RECALLING the tedious campaign for the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR), Bunch recalled some women telling the UN, ?We will not be responsible for what you?ll get from women?s anger. We feel that this is one of the most important pressures from Beijing + 15. We need to remind the UN that the women?s movement is still a strong political force.?

As pledges were being made, Licuanan asked for a lively background music. But as some people in the control booth were scrambling to locate a technical person and the right buttons, the women once more took the initiative. Each had their turn for the microphone to sing their local songs while the rest danced in celebration and confidence.

Meanwhile, the draft outcome document of the Asia-Pacific Forum should have been distributed on-line by now, with inputs considered, and the final draft will be available starting Nov. 8 on the websites of the APWW, AP Ngo Forum on Beijing + 15 and Isis International.

Still, keep those pesos or dollars handy! Every bit counts towards our goal of a billion dollars!