UPDATE
August 2005
Presentations on UNANIMA International. Coordinator Catherine Ferguson, SNJM, traveled to Toronto, Canada to discuss the work of UNANIMA International with the Sisters of Sion at their North American Provincial Chapter. As a result of the presentation, they will be sharing the information at their international assembly in September 2005 and are hoping that their congregation will be interested in joining us.
Ana Martinez de Luco, CCV, and Catherine and Mary Lou Simcoe, SUSC, spoke about the work of UI at the Collegial Assembly of the Holy Union Sisters on 22 July 2005. At that time Ana presented the draft of a new brochure she has prepared to eradicate the demand for trafficking. (Attached to these updates are the brochures in English and Spanish.)
21 July. UNANIMA International Accredited! The Economic and Social Council voted on the draft resolution which included our being accepted for special consultative status with ECOSOC and it passed without any discussion. So we now have the much awaited accreditation, the last step to be able to work at the UN. Jean O'Meara, SHCJ, board president, Catherine and Ana were present at the event. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
July 5-July 22. CEDAW (Committee for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) Session. The regular meeting of the CEDAW experts took place and of special interest in this session was the review of Ireland. In the report by the Irish government, RUHAMA was mentioned by name as an NGO doing good work. To look at the government report and the questions posed by the experts, consult the web site: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/33sess.htm. Other countries reporting where UI congregations are located: Benin, Burkina Faso and Lebanon.
CEDAW is one of the groups at the UN that has a structure for the participation of NGOs and its experts continuously encourage and appreciate the participation of NGO’s presenting alternative reports about the situation of discrimination in each country. This good relation is fostered in social events sponsored by NGOs. The Commission on the Status of Women sponsored a well-attended luncheon for NGOs and all of the experts in honor of the past chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, Kyung Wha Khang (South Korea). During the second part of the program, members of CEDAW Experts introduced the group to the UN Secretary-General’s study on violence against women which they were asked to undertake. They particularly want NGO input into the study. To make a contribution consult the website: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/index.htm
Later in the session, Ana, Catherine, and four other representatives from NGOs who work on trafficking hosted committee expert Krisztina Morvai (Hungary) at a lunch where we discussed our hopes for the ongoing work against trafficking.
During the CEDAW session in January, Cambodia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Eritrea, Togo, Australia, Mali, Thailand and Venezuela will be reporting. We encourage congregations that have members in these countries to consider presenting an alternative report. Please contact Catherine at fergcf@earthlink.net for more information.
June 29-July 27. Session of the Economic and Social Council . In the Economic and Social Council session, its president, H.E. Mr. Munir Akram (Pakistan) described the key issues discussed: a) the systemic link between global poverty and global trade; b) Employment is a central link for economic growth but the rate of joblessness is increasing; c) Proliferation of conflicts generated millions of refugees internally displaced and migration and d) ECOSOC has a unique role in bringing coordination and coherence on all of these issues. Some of these issues will be developed in more detail during the September summit. For more information consult: www.un.org/docs/ecosoc/meetings/2005/hl2005 or www.un.org/docs/ecosoc/meetings/2005/subst.bg.html