58th Commission on the Status of Women Blog

This experience has made me see activism in a completely different light.

Excited, tired, overwhelmed, curious, upset, encouraged, informed, courageous, fierce. I believe these are just some of the words we could use to describe our incredible week at CSW. Throughout the week we have listened and engaged into discussions on critical gender issues. And we have learned more than we could ever imagine.

One word that maybe best describes where we are at right now is: ready. We are ready, not only to listen, but also to speak up.

When first hearing about this opportunity to join WILPF at the CSW58, I was ecstatic for the opportunity to expand my knowledge of advocacy from the local, state and national levels to an international context. Currently a master’s student in public health, my previous and current work has focused on civic engagement, higher education, and public health advocacy, and because of this, I am very interested in understanding how systems function and how different sectors engage with one another to move an agenda forward.

Even before I learned that submitting session notes is required for Practicum participants (to create a CSW report for WILPF), I was thinking strategically about what platform/software I should choose. Ultimately, I chose a share-able Google Drive document for my notes (found at: http://tinyurl.com/n4oub3t), and I set to typing furiously while listening to a fantastic variety of informative, inspiring and challenging speakers.

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.

How exciting! There was a one and only session on agricultural development and rural women's empowerment. Deb and I were really displeased to find there wasn't enough sessions on agriculture and women. Especially when you look at the facts: 70% of women run farms throughout the developing countries. Women hold farms and families together as they are the very tapestry that push their communities forward. Women are amenable, innovative and willing to accept change.

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.

I am truly grateful to WILPF for giving me the opportunity to attend the 58th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58) at the United Nations. As a senior Women's and Gender Studies major at Wellesley College, CSW58 has allowed me to utilize my coursework in the discourse surrounding the issues of development and disarmament. It has been interesting to see the multiplicity of intersections between issues, such as climate change, poverty, security, and violence.

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.

Today I attended a session called “The Essential: Food, Water, Women and Justice”. It happens as a panel of activists who care deeply about the topic and a UNEP representative.