What is it like at CSW?

A lasting impression of attending the Commission on the Status of Women (SW) meetings for the first time is of tears...... lots of tears...  pouring freely down my cheeks... 

Tears of gratitude to be able to participate in something I had dreamed of for years. Tears of sadness at the stories and statistics of women's plight around the world one heard in every meeting and conversation Tears of wonder at the thousands of people from all parts of the globe that cared, that came, that advocated, that dared to believe it could be different, that knew that while some progress had been made there was still a long way to go and were committed to go the distance. 

Anglican delegates to UNCSW58 from around the world.

 Other highlights include: 

* sitting in a small group discussion with a dear woman from Pakistan (who she knew "Mother Alice"); a woman from the south of Italy and a woman from Madagascar and discovering that, while there were many differences to our lives and work we shared a desire to learn from each other and take something tangible back to the women we represented.
* singing with Phumzile and hearing her share her heart
* worship times with women of so many nationalities and denominations
* attending the Europe and North America caucus meeting at the UN
* learning how intentionally the YWCA develops young women leaders

And perhaps, most powerfully, watching the democratic practice at its best as woman after woman used her voice to advocate for the  girls and women she came to represent in the NA/Europe caucus meeting. Everyone was invited to speak into the document that would help craft the  CSW58 Agreed Conclusions. As person after person came to the microphone and respectfully yet with conviction shared their suggestions I was struck by how amazing it was that thousands and thousands of words, about hundreds and hundreds of concerns, representing millions and millions of real people's lives were being systematically gathered in what must be one of the most beautiful manifestations of the heart of God for the oppressed being lived out in human form, on a global scale, from people of all backgrounds,  that I have ever seen.

-Ellen Duffield

Delegate from the Diocese of Algoma 

Judy's Notes on Phumzile's Opening Remarks for CSW58

In her opening speech, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlighted the following:

 

·       In this CSW we also we kick-off a year-long mobilization for the 20th anniversary and review of the landmark Beijing Platform for Action. From May 2014 and over a 12-month period into 2015, we will review each of the 12 focus areas that are part of the Beijing Platform, together with Member States, UN agencies and civil society groups. This will lead to national and regional reports culminating in a single global report on the progress made. The report will be ready by the General Assembly of 2015 for Heads of State. (NOTE: SI to look into contributing to national reports via UN Women National Committees)

 

·      The challenge of gender equality and women’s empowerment is not just a women’s issue. This is an issue for humanity, which cannot leave out men and boys who are half of humanity. That is why building up to Beijing+20, UN Women has launched the He for She campaign so that men and boys can raise their voices, take a stand and be on the right side of history. We urge men and boys to come out and embrace the campaign as well as take action in their own spaces. (NOTE: SI to learn about possible partnerships in the He for She campaign)

 

·      She emphasised UN Women’s three key areas for the Post-2015 Agenda:

o   The first is freedom from violence for women and girls

o   The second is equality in capabilities – Access to opportunities and resources. This means recognizing, reducing and redistributing the burden of unpaid care work; ensuring equal access to assets and resources such as education, land and finance; equal pay and working conditions; and guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights.

o   The third area is equality in agency, voice, participation and leadership across the full range of decision-making arenas in public and private institutions.

Blessings Judy

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 

 

Let's play catch up!

It is day one of UNCSW58 and I am just now getting around to writing this year's inaugural post for IAWN Canada. I will be blaming this on the jetlag that I am suffering.

Though this is my third time attending UNCSW, it was my first chance to participate in both the Ecumenical Women Orientation Day and NGO-CSW Consultation Day. 

Orientation Day was wonderful, and I believe it would have been really helpful in my first year when I found the whole process of participating in the events of UNCSW fairly confusing. I hope it helps some of this year's first timers to get their feet under them before they begin the week. 

Listening Intently at Ecumenical Women Orientation Day

Since I am on Ecumenical Women's communications team this year, I have been given the job of taking pictures at events - with someone's fancy DSLR camera. It is pretty much the most fun ever. If you'd like to see some of my pictures so far, then you should really go on facebook and like Ecumenical Women. You can then look through all our pictures there (although I will include a few pictures with posts as well). 

Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka address NGO representatives

Yesterday was the Consultation Day for non-governmental organizations, I must confess that by yesterday, with the time change and the loss of another hour of sleep, my jet lag got the better of me and I decided to skip the afternoon in order to sleep before the first day of CSW today. Nonetheless, I was glad to be able to hear Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the new Executive Director of UN Women address the group in the morning. She had spoken at the Ecumenical Women Orientation Day on Saturday as well and I have already become quite a fan of hers. We have posted a video of that first address to Ecumenical Women on our website and on our facebook page as well. 

Praying for the women of the world on International Women's Day

In conclusion, you should really go check out all the wonderful things that have already begun to be posted through ecumenical women, but continue to watch this space for more from the Canadian Anglican delegates to UNCSW. 

-Caitlin Reilley Beck

(moderator of IAWN Canada blog)