What is it called when fifty FAWCO feminists join hands across time zones to virtually and collectively inform ourselves on the status of women and their rights?
CSW65 (the UN Commission on the Status of Women)!
This was my first time attending this 2 week conference that I had been wanting to attend for...
Attending CSW65 was a powerful experience, and I am grateful for those at FAWCO who not only encouraged us to join but also guided us during the convention. The WhatsApp group made it feel like we were a team.
The term “Outrage and Optimism” was ever-present in my mind. I was shocked, and deeply...
The UN Commission on the Status of Women proved to be rather overwhelming online, as it is in person, at least minus the need to travel from site to site for sessions. So much information—both disturbing and inspiring.
One of the most moving sessions for me was one on forced (often under-age) marriage in the United...
The COVID 19 pandemic has proven disruptive and tragic to so many around the world. What the UN CSW65 brought into sharp relief this year was that not only does the pandemic disproportionately affect women and girls all over the globe in terms of curtailment of rights, cuts to health budgets, increased risk of infection...
As a United Nations accredited non-governmental organization with consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, FAWCO has an obligation to work for a better world and to help achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals. We have long realized that to be effective and make a significant impact on the MDGs, it would be best to focus mainly on one MDG. Malaria seemed to be the logical choice, since it is an attainable goal and one that FAWCO could easily influence. Malaria is a preventable tragedy that impacts so many other problems – health, child mortality, poverty and hunger, primary school education, maternal health, the environment - probably 7 of the 8 MDGs.
On March 18, 2005 the delegates to the FAWCO conference in Birmingham, England were asked if they would like to pull together on one MDG project – so that together we could try to make - not a small difference - but a big impact. They responded with an enthusiastic yes to tackling malaria prevention together! Since its founding in 1931, FAWCO has worked for the well being of children - so it is appropriate that for our first joint global effort we focus on malaria – the single largest killer of children in the world.
At the 2005 FAWCO Conference in Birmingham , the delegates committed to take on one of the world’s great problems and unanimously agreed to: “take up the global challenge for reducing poverty and improving lives by promoting and supporting the Millennium Development Goals. More specifically, they resolved to address the tragedy of malaria by encouraging FAWCO's members to make a significant commitment to worldwide malaria prevention." Over $100,000 was raised the first year for the purchase of insecticide treated bed nets.
From May 2006 to May 2007, FAWCO's Global Concerns Fund continued this focus on malaria eradication raising over $40,000 for integrated malaria prevention.
At the FAWCO biennial Conference in Lyon in 2007 , the delegates once again re-affirmed this commitment to malaria eradication by unanimous vote of FAWCO’s Resolutions and Recommendations with a continued commitment; "encouraging our members to focus on malaria, the single largest killer of children". With this resolution, fund raising and awareness raising will continue at least up until the 2009 FAWCO Conference.
Beginning in 2005, FAWCO partnered with the Swiss Foundation BioVision in support of their integrated approach to malaria prevention in pilot projects in Africa. FAWCO’s partnership with BioVision was enthusiastically supported by member organizations and individuals and as a result, thousands of children have lived to see their 5th birthday and beyond.
In total, FAWCO distributed $165,885 for the purchase of insecticide treated bed nets and integrated malaria prevention. Additionally, FAWCO applied for and received a $100,000 grant from the Hilton Foundation that was paid directly to our partner Biovision in 2008, for a grand total of $265,885.
The CRC was the first legally binding international instrument which set standards for the civic, economic, social and political rights of children under the age of 18. It consists of 54 articles and two optional protocols.
The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child. Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. The Convention protects children's rights by setting standards in health care; education; and legal, civil and social services.
The optional protocols deal with rights of children involved in armed conflict, sale of children, prostitution and child pornography.
It is the most widely signed of all UN treaties. To date, 195 countries have ratified it; South Sudan and Somalia ratified the CRC in May 2015. Only the United States remains as a non-signatory to the treaty.
FAWCO endorses CRC and has joined other NGOs in urging the US Senate to ratify the treaty as soon as possible. In late 2015, in honor of International Children's Day and in collaoration withFAWCO's UN NGO Reps Team, FAWCO's US Liaison promoted an advocacy campaign to FAWCO members, with letters to President Obama and key US Senators encouraging them to ratify CRC as soon as possible.
Key Links
UNICEF- Rights of the Child www.un.org/rights/dpi1765e.htm
Campaign for US Ratification of CRC www.childrightscampaign.org
Amnesty International – Rights of the Child www.amnesty.org/en/children
Child Right International Network (CRIN) www.crin.org
Welcome to our new UN Youth Rep, Vali Mitsakis. Vali is from Greece; her mother is a member of AWO Greece. She was active with the Model UN in high school, and she's spending a year in New York, where she's keeping very busy going to UN meetings and learning about the UN's post-2015 sustainable development agenda.
FAWCO's first UN Youth Rep was Gavin Higbie (pictured below at UN Headquarters in New York, third from left). Gavin is the son of Erica Higbie (FAUSA, AWC Perth) who is an active FAWCO volunteer; she serves as our UN Rep in New York and as the Chair of the Human Rights Team.
Gavin attended UN meetings live in New York and via Webcast throughout 2014 and reported via a blog. He attended the UN Youth Assembly on February 5 and 6, 2014 and posted blogs about his experiences.
This is a great way for your club's teenagers to engage in global issues and get involved with other FAWCO youths. Please encourage your club's teenagers to check our Youth Program webpages.
To follow Gavin's UN Youth Rep Blog, click here.
Violence against women and girls is a horrific worldwide phenomenon.
It has been estimated that one in three women (35%) of women worldwide have experienced intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
Intimate partner violence is the most common however other forms of violence include human trafficking, sexual violence including when it is used a s tactic of war and harmful traditional practices such as early forced marriages, female genital mutilation and so called “honor” killings.
Globally, as many as 38% of murders of all women are committed by an intimate partner.
Gender based violence cuts across ethnicity, race, class, religion, education and international borders.
Click here for more information about FAWCO’s Sub-Committee on Ending Violence against Women and Children
Key Links
World Heath Organization Fact Sheet on VAW www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs239/en/
Say No to Violence - Join the orange campaign to fight violence against women www.saynotoviolence.org/
UNITE- UN Secretary General’s Campaign to End Violence against Women www.un.org/en/women/endviolence
UN Women- support for Ending VAW www.unwomen.org/
US Strategy to End Violence against Women and Girls http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/08/20120812134584.html#axzz2nkXBZuih
To fulfill the requirements to maintain our UN accreditation, FAWCO submits annual reviews to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI NGO) and quadrennial reports to the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC).
The UN Reps Team reports to the FAWCO Board through Annual Reports.