Day Seven
Friday....where has the time gone?
This cold has interfered with what I had planned to do here in New York but I am still doing some exciting things.
Today started, as always,with chapel. There was no briefing today
because the second floor space has been turned into a market. Woman from
many countries have brought hand made items from their homeland to
sell. There is everything from area rugs to earrings. This year I
managed not to but anything. Pakistan has its usual wonderful dresses,
pashminas and clergy stoles. There were hand sewn dolls and books for
children table runners, lots of varieties of jewelery etc.
At 9:30 I returned to my room to arrange it for a meeting and we held an
advocacy meeting here working on our view of the outcome document and
any changes that we would like to see. One person was nodding off during
the meeting showing how exhausted people are after the first week. My
roommate actually returned during the meeting and went soundly to sleep
on her bed for the rest of the meeting. We did not get to the end of
the document but we did make progress.
Lunch and a nap. Later I held some discussions about the document and at
4:15 I walked up to a pub to meet the SIA President Cheri Fleming.
At 6:30 the North America /Europe Caucus met and that was kind of
exciting.We were reviewing the document and a ":discussion" broke out I
think on the inclusion of "prostitution" vs sex trade. I stood up and
said that if we are unable to reach consensus at our level then how do
we expect the Commission to reach consensus. There was a lot of emotion
in the room as several of the attendees are survivors of sexual
exploitation and abuse. Canada was slammed regarding the disappearing
aboriginal women especially in BC.
During the caucus I also spoke about the mission visit with Canada and with the US mission.
The meeting went well beyond the allotted time but some agreement was reached and we are circulating our recommendations.
At the meeting we also heard that the Muslim countries and some of the
African countries have issued and ultimatum of sorts which would remove
previously agreed upon language but we urged our negotiators to continue
on with our support to work towards a progressive document.
The meeting ended after 8 so Alice and I returned to our room and ate our left overs.
So endeth the first week.
Blessings Judy
Day Eight
Wonderful....none of us needed to set an alarm, I forgot to mention that
Caitlin moved into our room yesterday so now we are 3. She is the
youngster at 29 while Alice and I are the old fogies.
However I went to bed at 11:15 Fri night so I was awake at 8 anyway.
Today is take it easy day and my only "job" is to try to put our
suggestions into the document. Well, I discovered that I am not as good
at computers as I thought because I could not figure out how to do track
changes. After two hours of trying and then a bite to eat I gave up around noon
and went to sleep
After a blessed 2 hour sleep I showered etc because our honourary
Canadian (from Long Island ) is coming and we are all going out for
dinner when Ross, her husband, arrived. Joan had a 15 minute nap and we
visited. Ross had been running and arrived about 6pm and we headed to
the "Mint" and wonderful Indian food restaurant where we ate Lamb,
Chicken, nan bread. rice, some kind of vegetables and yogurt with
Tiramisu and cheese cake for dessert. Great food and great company makes for a wonderful evening. By the time we got back it was after 10pm, so we
were not long getting ready for bed. A relatively quiet day in New York
City.
Blessings Judy
Day Nine
The three of us had breakfast together this morning and then the other
two headed out to church and I returned to the room to work on the
response to the outcome document with which I have been having great
difficulty. I worked until nearly 1:00 and then went to bed for a quick
nap. Alice called at 2 and we agreed to meet at the Cathedral of St John
the Divine at 3 pm, The cathedral is one of the largest buildings in
the city meaning that it has a vast amount of open space in the church
itself. Early in March they opened an exhibit of 2 sculptures called the
phoenix. The work was designed and implemented by a Xu Bing in China as
a work to join 2 new large buildings there. He made the sculptures from
materials discarded when the buildings were being built. They are 2
gigantic birds which are suspended above the nave of the Cathedral. I
got some good pictures but I am not sure how to attach them.
We taxied back and I prepared for the meeting of the "core group" of
Soroptimist International. In the meeting we discussed process going
forth into the second week as well as started the groundwork for
planning CSW59 next march. It was a productive meeting with lots of good
ideas flowing.
Alice went to the deli and got us some food and we sat and ate together.
I have gotten to know her a lot better this year. She is a wonderful
role model.
I tried to work on the outcome document some more but only made a small amount of progress.
Tomorrow the Anglicans are doing chapel so I'd better be on time.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of our second week. It will be somewhat
less frantic but with more pressure on lobbying and negotiating.
Wish us luck... not really luck but think of us.
Blessings Judy
Showing posts with label Alice Medcof. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alice Medcof. Show all posts
Monday, 17 March 2014
A Note from Alice
Alice at UNCSW58 Sat March 15.
I attended the parallel event “Perspectives
on Technology, Safety, and Violence Against Women and Girls”, conducted by the
Director of National Network to End Domestic Violence, US. (NNEDV)
She works closely with the
creators of Facebook and is an expert in internet technology. I learned about Spyware which can be loaded
onto anyone’s computer or handheld device without the owner knowing. For example, if an estranged husband has been
ordered to stay away from his children the following can happen: the mother can have an APP downloaded onto
her cell phone whereby she can track her children’s whereabouts. The husband can download a spying APP onto
her phone without her knowing, read all emails and texts, listen in to all
conversations, search her device’s calendar, etc, and then leave her a message
saying “I know what you are doing today.” .....and you can imagine the rest....
There are no secrets on the internet if someone wants to
know.
NNEDV trains police officers, lawyers, judges, politicians
when invited to do so. This programme
has affiliates in Australia, United Kingdom and elsewhere. It has done work in Canada.
For more information see the website www.nnedv.org
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Judy's Early Days in NYC
Day One in New York
Well we are safely here in Manhattan at the Millenium UN Plaza Hotel across from the UN and the Church Centre. This afternoon we went to the UN and got our passes (thanks to the Soroptimists). We unpacked some and then we had dinner with the Primate's delegates from around the world. There are 20 of them, one Canadian, one American, several from Africa, South America, The Phillippines, Samoa, Australia and Scotland. For some it is their first time to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Although the actual Commission does not start until Monday, tomorrow the Ecumenical Women are hosting an orientation day. We, the steering committee, must be there at 8 am and registration begins at 8:45.
There are about 150 people registered. The highlight of the day will be a presentation by the Executive Director of UN Women. There is a panel and workshops etc with Chapel in the morning and at the at 4 pm. We end with a reception with wine and snacks around 6. It should be a fun packed day.
The best news is the all my luggage arrived safely, unlike last year AND my daughter is curling in the Ontario Intermediate competition and her team is 4 wins and 1 loss. Great curling ladies.
Well I need to do some more preparation for tomorrow so I need to sign off now.
Blessings Judy
Day Two
Well today is over and I think that we did well in our presentations. In the morning the New Executive Director for UN Women spoke for about 1/2 an hour to a packed chapel. She is very inspirational and very faith based. She arrived in traditional African garb with several in her entourage and ended her presentation by urging us to sing again with enthusiasm.
As chair of the Advocacy Committee for Ecumenical Women my committee and I were responsible for much of the content of our orientation day. Morning and afternoon worship were very rousing and we ended the day marching in the Chapel to " We are marching in the light of God".
After the ED of UN Women spoke we all returned upstairs to hear a panel put together by Christine Mangale of the Lutheran delegation. There were 4 speakers on various aspects related to beyond 2015 and the accomplishments and roadblocks that have been encountered. The chief of the civil society section of UN Women, Lopa Banerjee, was on the panel and gave a great talk on the challenges of post 2015.
Then I spoke for about 1/2 hour on several procedural items and our "talking points" and how to use them. The Talking Points are on a postcard sized piece of card stock and are an abbreviated form of our original statement to the Commission. We will use the talking points when meeting with other groups in negotiating around the concluding document.
In the afternoon we split into 3 workshops.
1. Mission Visits which was a 1 hour presentation on how to arrange and prepare for a meeting with a mission. Here they do not have embassies, but rather missions by a country to the UN.
2. How does your Story fit into the Millenium Development Goals.
3. Looking at the Zero Draft of the agreed conclusions in light of our submission to the Commission in the fall and looking for gaps or overlaps in the document. Again I chaired this section and Alice and Lynnaia helped facilitate small group discussions. People did not seem to want to stop talking so I presume that the discussion was successful.
OK the clocks change tonight and I have a sore throat so it is time to quit
Until tomorrow.
Day Three
For a person who hates early mornings, this junket is a pain. Up at 7 am again and in a cab by shortly after 8 to head to East 7th street for the UN NGO Consultation Day. It is an introduction to our 2 weeks here with speakers, panels, and music. about 900 people were registered. The morning began with Umuada Igbo Massachusettes who are traditional African dancers who got our blood flowing and energized us.
We were welcomed by Soon-Young Yoon, Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York. Then the new Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka gave a wonderful address.
The panel was on Cities for Sustainable Development and Women's Human Rights - How can cities ensure women's human rights in sustainable development? The speakers were excellent (but I have a bad habit of dozing in large rooms full of people when I am not the teacher....so I missed a little bit.) As I had another activity for the afternoon I left the hall at noon. I missed a panel on the "Legacy of the 1990's UN conferences" and "What do we want from Beijing Plus 20"
I returned to my hotel to attend a training for Soroptimist International on Advocacy. It was fun and educational and it was impossible to fall asleep in as they kept us very engaged. I must lend SI our Advocacy Handbook because they could use one too. We all cleared out of the suite at 6:30 and returned at 7:30 for a reception. Lasagna, sweet and sour Chicken, salads and breads followed by fruit and cookies and accompanied by wine or water (I took the water).
The other significant event today was that I got the hotel to stand by their original quote for my room. When I arrived they were charging much more than the quote. I realized that the room had been upgraded and wireless was now free and there is a complimentary breakfast but I could not see over $400 for some of the nights when my quote ranged from $150 to $271. Thank you "Michael" the manager today.
Finally I want to congratulate my youngest daughter Jennifer who has been curling in the Provincial Intermediates since Wed. She and her team skipped by Sue came second overall with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses. Job well done ladies and CONGRATULATIONS.
I'll be back tomorrow
Blessings Judy
Day Four
Well we are now officially under way, us officially we started long ago.
Chapel at 8 am was wonderful and a great way to start the day. There is no briefing today and since I am feeling a bit under the weather I returned to my room to do some emailing etc and stay quiet. At 12:30 I went to the North America/Europe (NA/EU) caucus. This is a meeting of all the NGOs (non governmental organizations) in the North America/European region. There are other caucuses from other regions. I have never attended a caucus with so many people present, it was awesome. Betty Levy chaired and the mentioned the document which was circulated about 10 days ago as a statement. I helped with the Canadian portion of the paper. Pierette from Geneva has already done a 2 page commentary on the draft agreed conclusions which she presented and the the floor was open to comments. There were comments about poverty, food, immigrants and migrant workers, faith based organizations, sexual/reproductive rights, employment, and more. I commented on the immigrants in the Lindsay jail and about the fact that transportation is not mentioned in the document.
Several informal meetings ensued and I returned to the hotel to have lunch about 2:30.
More emails trying to arrange meetings for tomorrow and a half hour nap and it was time to get ready to go to the reception at the Canadian Mission (the equivalent to an embassy but the UN is not a country). A good reception, wine beer and soda and several trays of excellent food. The Minister for the Status of women from Canada spoke, Kellie Leitch I think) and introduced several other members of the delegation. There are 3 provincial ministers, another MP, and 6 young women sponsored by YWCA. Or YMCA . There is increasing emphasis on young people which is great. We have 3 under 18 and 2 more in their 20s in our group. The world YWCA is quite prominent and I met the Canadian head at the reception. The World Wide Girl Guides are also well represented.
One of the staff recognized me immediately and we chatted and I talked with several other NGO reps.
Back at our room and more work to do and emails to answer. I want to get to bed early to avoid getting overtired and making this throat worse.
Till tomorrow then
Blessings Judy
Well we are safely here in Manhattan at the Millenium UN Plaza Hotel across from the UN and the Church Centre. This afternoon we went to the UN and got our passes (thanks to the Soroptimists). We unpacked some and then we had dinner with the Primate's delegates from around the world. There are 20 of them, one Canadian, one American, several from Africa, South America, The Phillippines, Samoa, Australia and Scotland. For some it is their first time to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Although the actual Commission does not start until Monday, tomorrow the Ecumenical Women are hosting an orientation day. We, the steering committee, must be there at 8 am and registration begins at 8:45.
There are about 150 people registered. The highlight of the day will be a presentation by the Executive Director of UN Women. There is a panel and workshops etc with Chapel in the morning and at the at 4 pm. We end with a reception with wine and snacks around 6. It should be a fun packed day.
The best news is the all my luggage arrived safely, unlike last year AND my daughter is curling in the Ontario Intermediate competition and her team is 4 wins and 1 loss. Great curling ladies.
Well I need to do some more preparation for tomorrow so I need to sign off now.
Blessings Judy
Day Two
Well today is over and I think that we did well in our presentations. In the morning the New Executive Director for UN Women spoke for about 1/2 an hour to a packed chapel. She is very inspirational and very faith based. She arrived in traditional African garb with several in her entourage and ended her presentation by urging us to sing again with enthusiasm.
As chair of the Advocacy Committee for Ecumenical Women my committee and I were responsible for much of the content of our orientation day. Morning and afternoon worship were very rousing and we ended the day marching in the Chapel to " We are marching in the light of God".
After the ED of UN Women spoke we all returned upstairs to hear a panel put together by Christine Mangale of the Lutheran delegation. There were 4 speakers on various aspects related to beyond 2015 and the accomplishments and roadblocks that have been encountered. The chief of the civil society section of UN Women, Lopa Banerjee, was on the panel and gave a great talk on the challenges of post 2015.
Then I spoke for about 1/2 hour on several procedural items and our "talking points" and how to use them. The Talking Points are on a postcard sized piece of card stock and are an abbreviated form of our original statement to the Commission. We will use the talking points when meeting with other groups in negotiating around the concluding document.
In the afternoon we split into 3 workshops.
1. Mission Visits which was a 1 hour presentation on how to arrange and prepare for a meeting with a mission. Here they do not have embassies, but rather missions by a country to the UN.
2. How does your Story fit into the Millenium Development Goals.
3. Looking at the Zero Draft of the agreed conclusions in light of our submission to the Commission in the fall and looking for gaps or overlaps in the document. Again I chaired this section and Alice and Lynnaia helped facilitate small group discussions. People did not seem to want to stop talking so I presume that the discussion was successful.
OK the clocks change tonight and I have a sore throat so it is time to quit
Until tomorrow.
Day Three
For a person who hates early mornings, this junket is a pain. Up at 7 am again and in a cab by shortly after 8 to head to East 7th street for the UN NGO Consultation Day. It is an introduction to our 2 weeks here with speakers, panels, and music. about 900 people were registered. The morning began with Umuada Igbo Massachusettes who are traditional African dancers who got our blood flowing and energized us.
We were welcomed by Soon-Young Yoon, Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/New York. Then the new Executive Director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka gave a wonderful address.
The panel was on Cities for Sustainable Development and Women's Human Rights - How can cities ensure women's human rights in sustainable development? The speakers were excellent (but I have a bad habit of dozing in large rooms full of people when I am not the teacher....so I missed a little bit.) As I had another activity for the afternoon I left the hall at noon. I missed a panel on the "Legacy of the 1990's UN conferences" and "What do we want from Beijing Plus 20"
I returned to my hotel to attend a training for Soroptimist International on Advocacy. It was fun and educational and it was impossible to fall asleep in as they kept us very engaged. I must lend SI our Advocacy Handbook because they could use one too. We all cleared out of the suite at 6:30 and returned at 7:30 for a reception. Lasagna, sweet and sour Chicken, salads and breads followed by fruit and cookies and accompanied by wine or water (I took the water).
The other significant event today was that I got the hotel to stand by their original quote for my room. When I arrived they were charging much more than the quote. I realized that the room had been upgraded and wireless was now free and there is a complimentary breakfast but I could not see over $400 for some of the nights when my quote ranged from $150 to $271. Thank you "Michael" the manager today.
Finally I want to congratulate my youngest daughter Jennifer who has been curling in the Provincial Intermediates since Wed. She and her team skipped by Sue came second overall with a record of 5 wins and 2 losses. Job well done ladies and CONGRATULATIONS.
I'll be back tomorrow
Blessings Judy
Day Four
Well we are now officially under way, us officially we started long ago.
Chapel at 8 am was wonderful and a great way to start the day. There is no briefing today and since I am feeling a bit under the weather I returned to my room to do some emailing etc and stay quiet. At 12:30 I went to the North America/Europe (NA/EU) caucus. This is a meeting of all the NGOs (non governmental organizations) in the North America/European region. There are other caucuses from other regions. I have never attended a caucus with so many people present, it was awesome. Betty Levy chaired and the mentioned the document which was circulated about 10 days ago as a statement. I helped with the Canadian portion of the paper. Pierette from Geneva has already done a 2 page commentary on the draft agreed conclusions which she presented and the the floor was open to comments. There were comments about poverty, food, immigrants and migrant workers, faith based organizations, sexual/reproductive rights, employment, and more. I commented on the immigrants in the Lindsay jail and about the fact that transportation is not mentioned in the document.
Several informal meetings ensued and I returned to the hotel to have lunch about 2:30.
More emails trying to arrange meetings for tomorrow and a half hour nap and it was time to get ready to go to the reception at the Canadian Mission (the equivalent to an embassy but the UN is not a country). A good reception, wine beer and soda and several trays of excellent food. The Minister for the Status of women from Canada spoke, Kellie Leitch I think) and introduced several other members of the delegation. There are 3 provincial ministers, another MP, and 6 young women sponsored by YWCA. Or YMCA . There is increasing emphasis on young people which is great. We have 3 under 18 and 2 more in their 20s in our group. The world YWCA is quite prominent and I met the Canadian head at the reception. The World Wide Girl Guides are also well represented.
One of the staff recognized me immediately and we chatted and I talked with several other NGO reps.
Back at our room and more work to do and emails to answer. I want to get to bed early to avoid getting overtired and making this throat worse.
Till tomorrow then
Blessings Judy
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