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 

Girls' Statement to the 58th Commission on the Status of Women

As mentioned in previous posts, this year we have three teenaged delegates from the Anglican Church of Canada who join other youth from around the world in the Working Group of Girls. 

During CSW 58, girl delegates drafted their statement to the Commission on the Status of Women on how the Millennium Development Goals impact girls’ lives around the globe. The statement will be read on the floor of the UN during Week 2 of CSW 58.

Here is the full-text copy of the Girls Statement:

The Millennium Development Goals attempted to achieve gender equality, however, they failed to include a comprehensive goal towards the empowerment of girls and are all too far from being achieved. Therefore, post-2015 the UN must re-evaluate methods for undertaking gender equality. 

We, the girls of the 58^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, demand that in the next development agenda the UN incorporate girls into every aspect of the agenda – politically, socially and economically. A stand-alone goal for girls requires sufficient consideration as well as a dedicated effort that includes realistic and achievable targets and indicators to ensure success. Three key areas that must be put into action are education, poverty and violence. We believe that these issues along with the consistent inclusion of girls will lead to girls’ empowerment and an ultimate worldwide respect for the girl child.

The focus of the second Millennium Development Goal was to improve access to primary education, but this target is not sufficient, nor comprehensive. A quality education is not solely based on what is learned in a primary school; it is in secondary and tertiary education where the focus must be now. This does not just mean learning within the classroom but also creating additional enrichment opportunities that allow for global learning communities. How are girls expected to succeed with only basic literacy and math skills? Globally, 1 in 5 girls don’t make it to secondary school. All across the world girls are falling into the learning gaps due to minimal resources and gender-biased learning environments. Schools should not just teach a basic curriculum but also real life lessons and issues such as respect, tolerance, human rights and health. A supportive and stimulating education taught by passionate teachers should build the confidence of girls as well as offering sports, theater, and other extra curricula – where girls can discover their voices and passions. Girls should be encouraged to pursue any subject of interest in order to eliminate stereotypes and achieve equality.

But it cannot stop here. Far too many girls today live in poverty and are hungry across the world. The causes of poverty and hunger include lack of resources, climate change and an imbalance of gender in the workforce. Achieving gender equality can assist in ending hunger and poverty.  Education is only half of the equation – after receiving an education females need to have the same opportunities as males to enter the workplace and put their skills to use. When we have equality in the workplace, every girl and thus, every woman has the opportunity to provide for themselves and for their family, putting the world one step closer to eradicating poverty and hunger.

Globally, girls are united by the same fear – the fear of gender-based violence in one form or another. The so-called “superiority” of males is seen in all parts of society and it hinders girls’ empowerment on a global scale. There has not been enough effort to address gender-based violence in the MDGs. Whether it is domestic violence, sexual violence, FGM, honor killings, human trafficking, verbal and emotional abuse, or partner abuse — girls should not have to be afraid.  From a young age, girls are told to alter their appearance, so that they are not exploited. But it is not our fault – victim shaming happens all too often. Many people are not educated on the meaning of violence and need to be educated about what this really means – especially the boys and men of today. We, as girls, believe that our bodies should never be violated and there needs to be more advocacy about gender-based violence because once a girl is abused her life is changed forever. No one can understand this feeling of violation until they have been through it – and that is why it is so important that we as girls speak out against violence. By speaking out, we help protect ourselves, and the global girls of the future. We want to live in a world where girls are united, not by fear – but by a sense of safety, pride and peace.

We believe that in the next Development Agenda being a girl should be not an impediment but an empowerment.

More from Updates Judy

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  

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

Youth Transforming the Unjust Structures of Society for Women and Girls

For two weeks each year around International Women’s Day on March 8th, thousands of delegates from governments and civil society gather at the United Nations in New York City for the annual Commission on the Status of Women. As part of civil society, faith based organizations such as the Anglican Church send delegates to participate in the Commission. This year, the International Anglican Women’s Network in Canada will be represented by Evie Byrne, a member of St Mary’s Kerrisdale, in the Diocese of New Westminster, at the 58^th Commission on the Status of Women. Evie will be one of three teenagers who will join the thirteen person delegation from IAWN Canada.

Canadian youth delegates with Katharine Jefferts Schori and their chaparone.

This represents a significant increase in the number of young people as a part of the Canadian Anglican group at UNCSW. Beth Adamson, the Anglican Consultative Council’s representative on the UN Working Group on Girls, points out why this is particularly crucial this year: “We are reviewing the Millennium Development Goals this year – and one of the underlying purposes is to be positioned more effectively for the Post-2015 (Development) Agenda.  And that is the agenda that girls today will inherit tomorrow.” The Millennium Development Goals are a set of eight priorities for international development that were established following the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. The Anglican Consultative Council in 2005 recognized the implications of the Millennium Development Goals for gender equality in the Church when it passed motion 13-31 stating that it “acknowledges the Millennium Development Goal for equal representation of women in decision making at all levels, and so requests … all member churches to work towards the realization of this goal in their own structures of governance.” The priority theme of this year’s Commission on the Status of Women, as alluded to above, is “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls.” In addition to the three young Canadians, this year’s Anglican group will also include eight teenagers from the Episcopal Church in Virginia and one from the Anglican Church in Papua New Guinea.

Youth leading prayer in the Opening Eucharist

While at UNCSW, these young delegates will attend orientation and events put on by the Working Group on Girls as well as other organizations, according to their individual interests. Through the orientation day, the Working Group on Girls hopes to prepare these young delegates for what is always a busy week of events, and empower them to share their own experiences and opinions with the Commission. One of the first events following orientation is the drafting session for the Girls’ Statement to UNCSW 58 – in addition to the encouragement to speak their mind, this process is also helped along by one of the other fundamental values of the Working Group on Girls, which is to work as collaboratively as possible. The youth delegates, a smaller group within UNCSW, are together not just for training and work, but also for several fun community building events throughout the first week of the Commission.

Praying for the women of the world with Ecumenical Women

Community building and collaboration are also priorities amongst the Anglican group. The girls attending this year have connected with one another and with chaperones ahead of time on Facebook. They were also be asked to collaborate on preparing and leading intercessions for the Opening Eucharist of the Anglican Communion delegation. During CSW, the Anglican group works with Ecumenical Women, a coalition of progressive, Christian, faith-based organizations; we also gather every morning in the Chapel of the Church Center at the UN for worship, led each day by one of the member groups. For the members of Ecumenical Women, our activism and passion for gender justice finds its source in our faith. Morning worship allows us time to reconnect with God and one another and provides us with the strength and energy for the important and often difficult work of the Commission. It is also an opportunity for celebration of the achievements we have made together towards the goals of gender justice.

But the work of the delegates is not limited to the two weeks of the Commission. There is a great deal of preparation before anyone even arrives in New York. They must prepare reports on what contributions they hope to make to the Commission and how the priority theme connects to their own life and experience. In her letter to IAWN Canada, Evie spoke about how gender inequality in her school has affected her: “I play rugby as a school sport and with a community team in the summer…men and women play with the same rules and regulations.  Rugby empowers women as it proves men and women can achieve the same goals and participate in the same activities…The Vancouver School Board does not yet promote or support rugby as a sport for girls.  It is taught in gym class for boys,…but it is not taught in gym class for girls.  Even at a community sport level, women’s rugby teams who play internationally have to pay their expenses, with little support from the Rugby Union of Canada, or sponsors…” Evie cited this as one of several examples of how the school environment treats people unfairly according to their gender identity or expression.

In addition to these reports, prior to their trip, delegates from Canada, must find ways to cover the cost of their trip to UNCSW which for someone traveling from Vancouver can reach $2500 for just one week in New York. This can be especially challenging since in Canada, there is no national source of funding to support delegates participating in UNCSW and in most Dioceses there is no money earmarked for this purpose and so funding is dependent on what is available in discretionary funds. Since being able to find one’s own funding is actually a condition of being chosen as a delegate, this places participation in UNCSW outside of the financial reach of many people, for example youth and young adults.

Evie and other youth set up for her fundraising lunch.

The situation is not without hope, however, as parishes and individuals have stepped up to provide funding for delegates. This year, St Mary’s Kerrisdale has been the base of operations for fundraising to cover the costs of Evie’s trip. With the help of the combined youth group from St Philip’s Dunbar and St Mary’s, Evie hosted a fundraising lunch on Sunday, February 2^nd at St Mary’s. She also made and sold cookies after Church on Sundays, which then inspired more generous bakers from the parish to make and donate baked goods for her to sell each week. These different kinds of support offered to Evie by many generous people are all ways in which we are living out the Marks of Mission. Through these efforts, we are seeking to transform the unjust structures of society which have prevented the voices of many women and girls from being heard and valued.

Evie, along with Caitlin Reilley Beck, Youth and Family Worker at St Philip’s, Dunbar in Vancouver, and this year’s official Primate’s delegate to UNCSW, will share their experiences from New York at an event supported by their Diocesan chapter of the International Anglican Women’s Network, presently coordinated by the Ven. Ellen Clark-King sometime later in the spring.

More updates from Judy's week

Day Five

I apologize for not posting last night but this cold is slowing me down some.
Yesterday (Tues) began with Chapel done by the young people and it was awesome. There was singing, clapping, dancing etc. as well as thought provoking scripture. The centre of all our worship services is a door, just a door and frame, sitting in the altar space, sometimes open and sometimes shut.

There was a briefing by the Commission to NGOs at 8:45 and something unheard of until now happened. The Chair of the Commission actually attended the briefing and presented "us" with a hard copy of compilation draft #2. Usually we are scrambling to get a copy of the compilation text and he just handed it to us. I already had an electronic copy about 10 pm Mon evening but what he did changes the tone of the event into a very cooperative atmosphere - it is not "them" in the closed chamber and "us" outside the building trying to figure out what is going on.
After the briefing I journeyed to second Ave. to the Episcopal Church Centre to hear Leymah Gbowee speak. She is one of the two Liberian women who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year and she is an amazing speaker. I thought that I had recorded her speech on my phone but I cannot find it so maybe it did not work. Two quotes from her talk are "Let us do what we profess" and "Good work is bright light and it attracts lots of shadows".
After a quick lunch I headed off to "meet the Canadians" which means meeting the Canadian negotiating team in the UN building itself. They are very good about meeting whoever shows up every day at 1 pm.
However it is a big hike and I guess all the exercise I worked on during the winter is no where near enough. They have moved the entrance to the UN buildings from 45th street to 47th street. So I set out at 12:30 to head over from 44th to 47th, through the entrance and security, through the building to the outside and back to the other building and then all the way across that building, near 42nd.  The meeting was good and we heard about the current negotiations as well as a couple of seminars which the Canadians were pushing. I was fortunate enough to negotiate an exit onto 42nd street so that I only had to walk back to 44th street to go to my room and have a nap.
As chair of the advocacy committee, I chaired the "debrief" Tues. At the debrief as many as can, meet and talk about our day and what is happening tomorrow. We meet at 6 pm at the Episcopal Center.  I think that it went well.
After the debrief, the Canadian Anglicans had dinner together at "Patsy's" an Italian restaurant. We are not often together all in one place so this was fun. Ellen's husband Tim and daughter joined us as did honorary Canadians Joan and Ross Fraser and Lynnaia Main. Good food and a fun time; delicious calamari.

At dinner I asked everyone to write down the one thing that he or she felt that a Canadian Anglican should say to the Canadian Ambassador. An interestingly diverse set of answers.
We did not get back until about 10 pm so I did my email and played a few games and crashed.
 
Productive day. Wish I was not so tired.
Blessings Judy

Day Six

As usual Chapel starts at 8 am. We had breakfast in our room this morning from oatmeal I brought .
 
There is a room on the end of our floor where you can get a complementary breakfast but it is not especially nutritious - cold cereal, pastries, yogurt, and some fruit. Sometimes I go and have yogurt and fruit.They have bread or bagels but their peanut butter is old and dried up.

The hotel is extremely dry and today I scored a humidifier. This is great because the design of the shower does not put steam in the room. By the way - have you ever seen a square toilet? We have square toilets throughout the renovated part of the hotel. Our room looks south I think and our view is the Chrysler building and the Empire State Building.

After Chapel and briefing, the advocacy committee met to start looking at the compilation draft. We met for an hour and then agreed to work on a section each and report back to me.

I returned to my room to have lunch and worked on a draft statement for our meeting at the Canadian Mission tomorrow. I fell asleep around 2 and woke up at 4:30. So much for seminars today. Finished draft one and headed out for a planned "Advocacy" dinner. About 80 people having dinner at the Church Centre, pasta, salad, chicken and grilled vegetables. A nice meal and an opportunity to catch up with some Canadians and some old friends also.
Now I am back in my room and the draft is circulating. For the first time since I got here the TV is on and I will quit working now.

I hear that it may snow here tomorrow. I hope not. It was 55 yesterday and about 45 today.

Blessings Judy  

Day Seven
 
I cannot believe that I have been here 7 days. The time goes by so quickly. We are so busy that you do not realize the time.

Today was blessed. Started with Chapel as usual. Then I went up to the briefing. The tone continues to be very positive and open which is wonderful, and the room was full. Next week there will be less people as many cannot stay for the 2 weeks.

This morning I returned to the Episcopal Centre to hear Lakshmi Puri speak. She is part of UN Women and spoke for nearly an hour. She talked about the Millennium Development Goals and the future beyond 2015 when new goals possibly called Sustainable Development Goals will come into being.

Back to my room to put the finishing touches on our visit to the Canadian Mission this afternoon. I arranged this visit and all of the Canadian Anglicans got a private audience with the Ambassador for 1 hour. He spent some time explaining how things work at the Mission and who works there. We had a prepared statement which he had read before we arrived. I had asked the youth to prepare a 4 or 5 minute presentation as part of our time and they did an awesome job. They talked about access to post secondary education, missing Indigenous women, difficulties for the LGBT community and the problems of stress and other mental health issues in young people.

Our paper talked about poverty and hunger, access to resources and services, access to education, employment and decision making positions and the need to look at violence in a non-gender way ie: violence against a person instead of violence toward women and the need to involve men and boys as well as women and girls in the solution. We had examples from our own experiences to illustrate our points.

We left the Mission quickly because Ecumenical Women were scheduled to have a private audience with the American Mission at 4:30 and we barely had time to get there. This was an excellent meeting and I thanked the mission personnel for their openness and willingness to come to us for this meeting.The meeting lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours.

Immediately after the briefing we held the Ecumenical women debrief which I also chaired. This one was a bit faster because there have been no new drafts of the concluding document and everyone seemed very tired. Alice and I got take out from the Olympia and came back to our room and had a leisurely dinner in our pyjamas and just chatted. Most enjoyable. (I had a craving for meat loaf).

It was cold in New York today and windy, I had to dig out my toque. It will be sunny and warmer tomorrow.

Some of our group left yesterday - I hear they had to stay in Toronto before returning to Muskoka today. More will leave tomorrow. We will miss you all. Caitlin, who has been bunking with her mother til now, will move into our room tomorrow for the next week. Two old fogies and 1 young one.

More tomorrow, Stay warm and safe

Blessings Judy  

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