The following is excerpted from Gigi Francisco's speech, DAWN General Coordinator, delivered at the Reflection Group Meeting, 17 July 2011 in Manila. Philippines. In her presentation Gigi outlines DAWN’s preliminary contributions toward the debate on Alternative Development Framework & Indicators.

Sustainable development has been central to DAWN discussions since its inception. DAWN strives to support in the development of sustainable policies and actions that facilitate equality, justice and a life-supporting world that benefits both women and men in diverse social groups and societies. A key principle that DAWN subscribes to is the notion that, similar to sustainability, actions toward ensuring well-being demands for a common but differentiated responsibility across and within countries.

Using a gendered lens, what follows is an inexhaustive list of possible dimensions and indicators that may be considered in developing indicators to help measure individual/collective well-being, rights and justice.

First, the promotion of individual human rights, which includes women’s human rights, is a key principle that DAWN subscribes to. We are aware that internationally agreed rights are imperfect and incomplete, and require to be enriched by philosophical traditions other than western liberalism. We recognize that individual choices and rights are embedded in and constrained by a web of structurally inter-linked conditions (causes and implications), exacerbated by patriarchal practices, norms and cultural beliefs. There too exist few areas where individual rights, including the legal guarantees for women’s reproductive rights, have been questioned in relation to a common good or a collective right. Therefore, cultural transformation in regard to the process of socializing members of the community to principles of non-discrimination, respect for human rights, and more equal gender relations may be considered as a possible indicator. We further support the proposal to develop indicators for the realization of human rights based on maximum available resources. In addition, we view self-choice and decisions as important personal rights for women and men. Linked to this, we propose developing an indicator that measures the capacity of women and men to exercise self-choice in marriage, family formation, sexual orientation and reproduction.