WILPF US Sends Delegation to the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women
Published on March, 49 2018
Members of the 2017 delegation to CSW attend a panel event on economic empowerment of women in the General Assembly room at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
By Dixie Hairston
UN Programs Coordinator and co-faculty for the Practicum in Advocacy
WILPF US will be sending a delegation to the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on March 10-17, 2018. Members of the WILPF delegation include participants in the Local2Global Program, UN Practicum in Advocacy, and representatives from the WILPF US Board of Directors and staff.
Each year, WILPF US sends a group of university and college students from across the country to the CSW as part of the UN Practicum in Advocacy in an effort to share the access WILPF has to international advocacy through our Consultative Status to the United Nations. Additionally, WILPF US sends members from local branches to the CSW as part of the Local2Global program.
Delegates attend events and contribute to WILPF’s official documentation of both high-level and informal meetings. They are also responsible for bringing WILPF’s priorities to the conversation during the week. This is an excellent venue for peer-to-peer networking and collaboration between WILPF US’s and other international organizations.
This year’s priority theme is “challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.” A review theme will address “participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women.”
The following events will be presented by WILPF US at the CSW this year:
Women, Agriculture and the Vital (R)evolution in US Farming
Wednesday March 14, 2018
12:30 PM
4 W 43rd St. Aqua Room
Description: Scenes of small farms snuggled in rolling hills are not the reality of US agriculture. Farming is big business; built on an industrial model of extraction and exploitation—from confined animal feeding operations to petrochemicals and underpaid farmers and laborers. While this model is promoted as “feeding the world,” it leaves rural communities decimated. A devastation that is being increasingly duplicated around the world. Revitalization must start from the ground up—a revolution that starts with women—farm workers struggling for fair labor conditions, widowed land inheritors requiring conservation practices, commodity farmers demanding price floors. The creation of an alternative is already underway.
Intersectional Feminism: Sharing Leadership in Women's Peace and Security
Friday, March 16, 2018
12:30 PM
Salvation Army, Downstairs
Feminist movement building is foundational for gender justice and feminist peace. However, an intersectional approach that addresses gendered power across race, class, economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, age, and other status, is critical for transformative change. This event explores how civil society can address gaps in intersectional women’s organizing by creating spaces for women’s meaningful participation. It will share experiences of the WILPF US training and mentorship program at the CSW with diverse students as a method of building inclusive and diverse young leadership for action that shifts from militarized visions of security toward human security and gender justice.
Delegation Members:
Local2Global
Marguerite Adelman—Burlington, VT Branch
Linda Lemons—De Moines, IA Branch
UN Practicum in Advocacy
Chayla Adkins—University of Toledo
Julissa Corona—University of Texas El Paso
Zein Haikal—Texas A&M University
Tamar Honig—The University of Chicago
Hsiu-Fen Lin—Rutgers University
Metra Mehran—Texas A&M University
Erin Prejean—Texas A&M University
Alice Schyllander—Eastern Michigan University
MiKayla Varunok—University of Vermont (Participating as an Alumnae Mentor)
Marri Visscher—Eastern Michigan University
Kaelin Walker—University of Texas El Paso
WILPF US
Mary Hanson Harrison, President, WILPF US
Patti NaylorBarbara Nielsen, Program Chair, WILPF US
Dixie Hairston, UN Programs Coordinator, Co-Faculty for the Practicum
Melissa Torres, Co-Faculty for the Practicum
For more information on the CSW, the NGO forum and for a list of the scheduled events, please visit http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw62-2018 and https://www.ngocsw.org/.
Please contact Dixie Hairston at practicum-mail@wilpfus.org with questions or comments.
