NEWS

By Dixie Hairston

As I take a few minutes to myself to reflect on the week so many things come to mind. Actually, I feel like I have almost reached the maximum capacity of new thoughts my brain will allow. Three weeks from now I will, hopefully, have processed through everything I have seen, heard and done this week enough to put together a series of coherent thoughts. For now, unfortunately for you readers, I will do my best to convey my thoughts as articulately as possible.

I find myself a WILPF delegate by way of the Practicum program offered by WILPF-US. As a social work graduate student specializing in policy I jumped on the chance to be part of the practicum and was incredibly excited to be selected as a delegate. This experience has both energized and humbled me in many ways but particularly in the following areas of my life.

As a young person…
As a young person just beginning to formulate my identity as an activist, I am truly inspired by the women AND men pioneers I have met this week that have blazed the trail for women like me. Activists that have not just helped open more doors for my generation but have forced them open through grit and perseverance that I have not yet recognized within myself. I thank those activists for their continued work on behalf of all humans.

However, throughout the week there has been a common call for the involvement of more young people in the conversation but I see many young women. I hear ‘where are the young voices’ but I hear many young women speaking up and speaking out. I hear ‘who will be there in the future’ but I see passionate, capable young women ready and willing to take up the torch. Therefore, I believe that it not young women but the space for their voices to be heard that is missing. That being said, WILPF is working toward achieving this through the Practicum. Young, vibrant and passionate voices have been heard this week through the practicum that would not otherwise have been heard at CSW.

As a social worker…
As a social worker I come away from this experience slightly disappointed in the representation of my profession on the global level. However, I also strongly believe in tackling issues from a strengths-based perspective and see a great opportunity for freshly minted social workers such as myself to revitalize the voice of the profession in the international policy arena. The values that we hold most dear as a profession are also those found at the heart of sustainable development. I am motivated to work towards a ensuring that the global voice of social workers is strong, vibrant and innovative.

As an activist…
As an activist I am both intimidated and energized by the road ahead. It is long. It is rocky. It is the one less traveled. It is the one that leads to peace. Paradoxically, this week has both broadened my view of the world while giving my activism a focus that was not there before. I am ready to take what I have learned this week back to my community and work towards my advocacy goals with a renewed sense of purpose and direction.

Parallel Event: Increase success of MDG’s in violence affected countries with the use of unarmed civilian peacekeeping .
Sponsors: Nonviolent Peaceforce, Women Graduates-USA, International Federation of University Women. www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org (US office in Minneapolis MN)

Note: 90% of current war casualties are civilians, the majority of whom are women and children. 1.5 Billion people currently live in countries with repeated violence. Not one of these countries achieved a single Millennium Development Goal.

With these facts in mind, this group starts with the position that we must eliminate conflicts! The post 2015 goal is reduce the world’s military forces by 10 percent per year.

One panel member from Nonviolent Peaceforce shared his experiences in South Sudan where there are one million displaced people. 100 members of Peaceforce are stationed in 10 different locations in South Sudan. They give aid with “unarmed accompaniment”. They accompany women to the water spots, so they can safety gather water. They provide unarmed accompaniment to refugees traveling across the country. Their efforts include the direct protection of children, many of whom are traveling from their homes alone.

The panel member related their strategy to prevent rape in one village, where seventeen rapes were reported per month. Their strategy was to implement an early warning system, whereby women who noted the conditions where a rape could occur walked to someone with a cell phone, thereby discouraging the rapist. In addition they set up patrols in conjunction with UN peace-keepers (who are armed). They were able to reduce the reported rapes to zero per month.

The group stresses not just early warning systems, but also early response!

Their efforts also include “impartial investigation” of attacks by outsiders. They use this technique as a way to eliminate the “some other tribe did this, not us” and have been able to assess responsibility in an impartial way and cleared the way for people to be able to return to their villages and receive compensation.

By: Alicia Tambe

For the first few days at this Practicum, everyone has probably heard that I was writing a paper (aka rushing to finish a paper) on the causes and consequences of child marriage, as well as an analysis on how international and domestic laws have failed young girls in Niger. One of the hardest parts of my paper was attempting to figure out what holistic approach could be taken to create sustainable solutions.

Hence, I was excited when I saw various panel events that included sexual and reproductive health as well as child marriage. I decided to attend a program that took a feminist approach to child marriage. My first thought was “what the heck is a feminist approach to child marriage?” Before I even got to the program, I was frustrated on why any approach would be taken besides a human rights or rights based approach. Furthermore, I was hesitant to attend an event that was co-sponsored by religious groups. Practices such as FGM and child marriage, which are deeply rooted in religious and traditional customs, are often hard to discuss from the viewpoint of different religions. The truth is, I went into the meeting with a preconceived notion of what was going to happen. I thought the “western feminists” were going to talk about how wrong tradition and culture is and denounce anything that they did not agree with. Luckily, I underestimated the amazing panel, the active audience, and creative holistic approaches.

This was the first time I was introduced to a “feminist approach” to ending child marriage. As described by a panelist, the feminist approach puts young girls at the center. You can’t only focus on giving parents financial incentives to keep girls in school such as conditional cash transfers (money in exchange for a girl’s school attendance and possible health check ups) but you must also include a girl’s entire life cycle. By that, you need to bring older women, young women, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins to talk about the conditions of their lives and what is at stake in child marriage. Young girls need to be mentored so they can know that they have an option to not get married. By involving their mothers and grandmothers, girls can begin to be empowered by their loved ones at such a young age. Furthermore, it is important to educate men, especially young boys who can set a new precedent for future generations.

In terms of post 2015 MDG agenda, I found it very interesting that it was the religious groups on the panel that had the best ideas on new indicators that can help determine the rate of child marriage and the progress that is being made. For example, secondary education transition rates should be completed by sex. There should also be transition rates to see what is the retention of young girls. Lastly, one that I completely did not think of was the sanitary conditions in schools. It is not enough to have a school, but a young girl needs private, clean bathrooms especially when she is on her menstrual cycle.

The most important approach to using indicators that really made me turn my view point around was the suggestion to use local cultural religious and traditional groups based in the community and inquire what are the best practices for determining how to track progress. By using such a participatory approach and including all parties that are involved, will produce better results.

Bottom line: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Even if it turns out to be a bad book, you can always learn what was wrong with it and write your own bestseller : ) !

Learn. Analyze. Carry on!

As a first time attendee of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), I came in with numerous ideas and dreams of what the United Nations and the CSW would entail. Bright-eyed and eager to learn, I envisioned being a part of critical life-changing conversations about international warfare, education and poverty. I expected to be empowered by efficacious women guiding critical conversations about human rights, gender-based violence, anti-trafficking and spirituality as a tool for empowerment. I am delighted to note that after hitting my halfway point this week, I have participated and witnessed all of those vital conversations and much, much, more. However, the one part that I did not expect to be a part of my experience here at the CSW was my current state of questioning regarding my own role as a student, WILPF delegate, social worker and activist.

Over the last few days, I have witnessed many individuals from around the world doing astounding and inspiring work, and yet I keep hearing over and over again the barriers that they are facing when trying to obtain peace and freedom. Listening to these leaders share their struggles to form coalitions, partner with government officials and implement treaties that focus on abolishing inequality feels second nature to me, but somehow many of these stories are still not ones of success. It is these stories of failures that have caused me to be critical about the goals we are working toward and the action steps that we are taking to get there. I am beginning to questions not only my role as an activist for peace, but even more, my understanding of the basis of the problem.

Listening to all of the international women and girl's issues being presented has left me wondering what the root of the issue is that causes whole countries, communities and neighborhoods to turn on each other in the drop of a hat. What has gone so unbelievably wrong on our world that would cause individuals to utilize rape as a weapon of war or individuals to deem it acceptable to engage in mass murders of 'undesired' populations. What is the real problem that makes people feel so extremely vulnerable and oppressed that they are willing to kill other human beings, destroy communities and strip individuals of their basic human rights and then deem it the realities of war, poverty and oppression. It is a world created out of fear, and it is a world worth questioning.

It is these realities illuminated by CSW sessions this week that have left me critical of the world we are living in and even more, of myself... How is it that in a world so complex, one person can be both the oppressed and the oppressor. One women can be someone's solution and yet another's dictator. I can be both the activist fighting to change abolish these injustices and yet still an unconscious contributor to the oppression of those individuals whose lives I am fighting so hard to better. These are the realities every activist has to struggle with and these are the realities that my eyes have been so brutally opened to this week.

As depressing as these realizations may seem to some, I do not want this to be to be a story of defeat. For these are the exact issues that need to be brought to light. It is my believe that it is this exact critical framework that needs to be exemplified in order for people to put the politics, religious beliefs and other dividers aside in order to come together under the realization that every person on earth deserves freedom and happiness. So as I continue throughout the rest of my session here, as well as back into my own community, these are the critical questions that I will bring with me. I will not view these issues as barriers to accomplishing my mission of creating peace and fostering freedom; but instead I will consciously understand these issues as the realities and struggles that individuals and communities encounter everyday. I will use this critical framework along with my own values, skills and tools to identity the deep seeded cultural issues that create inequality and then use those as an opportunity to create change. I will be wholeheartedly dedicated to utilizing every ounce of activism within me to combat these injustices and strive toward creating a more equal and empowered world.

-Arielle Stephens, WILPF Delegate CSW58