Today, I had time to get my official CSW 58 badge so was able to attend not only Parallel Meetings in the church center but also go "inside" the UN buildings where there were more "Side Meetings". I took full advantage of this and attended two sessions on Human Trafficking, a session on Girls Education in Afghanistan, a session on Women in Transition in the MENA region, a film screening of "Tey" by the Senegal Mission and in-between, met Erica Higbie at the US Mission's session on Women and Leadership.
My first session "Achieving the MDGs for women and girls in times of transition in the MENA region" was put on by the Women's Learning Partnership, a coalition founded by 6 NGOs at the Beijing Conference and has since grown to 23 NGOs. The panel included distinguished women leaders from Lebanon, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey. Two messages I took from this session is that all women, democratic and secular organizations must unite in order to be effective in the MENA region. The region suffers from multi-movements, it needs UNITY. In some places like Tunisia, a new constitution was developed but the will to implement is not there. Women participated in the uprising, but they still don't have a place in the new governments because unfortunately, the patriarchal governments prevailed. There are two forces that help the situation: 1) the Arab Spring brought ordinary people to demand rights and freedom (they have different ideas of what that means but they spoke up), and 2) unemployment has destabilized the patriarchal governments, "manhood" is being challenged. What needs to happen to accomplish the MDGs? 1) social institutions that work, 2) investments not in militarism but in women and girls challenges, 3) conducive environment with resources and inclusion of women.
After getting my badge, I happened to pass the "Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights" session on Human Trafficking. I attended but saw that Erica was there, so see her blog posting for notes from this session.
Afterwards, Erica and I both attended a session on "Women Helping Communities" put on by the US Mission to celebrate Women's History Month. The panelists were three local New York organizations: Turning Point for Women & Families (first organization to address domestic violence for muslim women in NYC), Sadie Nash Leadership Projects (for girls), and Global Kids (for urban kids). What was interesting was the first three speakers were the founders of the organizations, then the next three speakers were 3 young women college graduates who had benefited from the Programs. I made a note that FAWCO should do this with our FAWCO Youths, inviting them back after a few years to talk about how the program has helped them.
Erica and I then separated again, she went to a session on "Increasing the Number of Women Heads of State" while I went back "inside" for a panel on "Girls Education in Afghanistan: Achievements and Challenges", put on by the Journalists and Writers Foundation. As of September 2011, there were 2.7 million Afghan girls enrolled in school, compared to just 5,000 in 2001 – a 480-fold increase. While the numbers are encouraging, Afghan girls still face many barriers to receiving an education: The quality of education is highly variable, school conditions are often poor, and nearly half a million girls who are enrolled do not regularly attend school. More qualified (female) teachers are needed, better infrastructure and a new index that measures school completion not just enrollment. Unicef talked about its efforts to bring virtual schooling to Afghanistan via a radio based solution.
My next session titled "Judges on State and Federal Level speak about Human Trafficking", put on by the US Federation for Middle East Peace and Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Judge Judy Kluger talked about Human Trafficking intervention courts, these are trial judges helping those who want to "exit" and support non-criminal resolution. She thinks we should focus on demand, using the Nordic Model that prosecutes "Johns" and not the women. Judge Cathy Serrette listed the federal and state laws that have been passed re: human trafficking as an encouraging sign and she urged us to spread the word about the hotline (888-373-7888 or text BEFREE). The hotline has handled in 5 years 9298 cases, 41% of sex trafficking cases and 20% of labor cases are US Citizens. For more info, go to http://endslaverynow.com/
A poignant point made by Ambassador Cabactulan from the Phillipines to the UN was that Human Trafficking is tied to Gender Equality which is a driver of International Peace. We need a wholistic, comprehensive approach to address the 3Ps: Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution to address this "shared global shame".
I ended my day with a film screening put on by the Senegal Mission of "Tey" (Today), a thought-provoking film about what a man does if he only a day to live.
My-Linh Kunst