As you read in the last Update, the topic of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) this year was on Violence Against Women and Girls. Who could disagree with ending that? The loudest disagreements came from conservative Muslim countries; at one point the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood said that adopting a proposal about equality in marriage and other human rights for women would result in “the complete disintegration of Egyptian society,” and an imam declared a fatwa. Egyptian women erupted into protests, and the strong women and men at the conference–determined to work through the problems of culture, language, and politics–worked through every word to finish an 18 page document that could be adopted by all 193 countries. Libya was the only country that did not approve, but did not block it.

Some things that were good for the UNANIMA staff to know: the Update is more popular than the website, and the Facebook page is least used by our members. In the Update, global issues are the most popular, followed by news from the UN and from other UI communities.  In response to the question “Are you interested in collaborating with other UI communities in your region,” 307 were NOT SURE; 285 said YES, and 130 said NO. We had many volunteers for regional contacts, so we will be in touch with you when life slows down just a little here—and we’ll see if we can change some of the “not sure” responses to “yes!”  We will also finish upgrading the website.

The areas of greatest interest to you in UNANIMA’s mission were women’s issues and poverty. Adding “environment” and “water” together would make that the next strongest, followed by trafficking/refugees. There were regional differences: women/ poverty were strongest in the Spanish questionnaires; trafficking/ women were the issues named by English speakers; poverty was the top issue of the Portuguese returns, and the French were equally divided among women / children / poverty. It was interesting to note that in the “free response” section (where you could name any three most urgent issues in your area) that—while the issues tended to be more specific–they almost always fell under one of major areas of UNANIMA focus. We are “on the same page.” Thanks for taking the survey!

Participants committed themselves to specific actions that would assist more effective communication and sharing of resources about anti-trafficking in congregations throughout the USA.  Michele Morek OSU represented UNANIMA International at this meeting.

Nobody knows what that “high level political forum” will look like, but there is still no information available about the CSD provisionally set to meet this May. At a meeting attended by some NGOs this week it was repeated that the Commission is being replaced by the High Level Political Forum, and that decisions on format, structure and participants are to be completed by May 2013. It is probable that the CSD will meet just long enough to disband itself, so you might as well unpack those bags…sorry!          –researched by Celia Martin NDS

The Internship Committee also developed guidelines for a student internship experience, for a student going to school in New York. Email us at info@unanima-international.org  if interested!

• What kind of directory would be useful for UI members?
• What did the survey tell us? (this will be shared in the May Update)
• Quality of connection/communication among UI members
• Listening to new voices of people involved in UI’s mission, and developing relationships
• Design and content of an effective website
• How to enrich and be enriched by the Internship program
• The UI mission, and response to urgent issues

In addition to many practical suggestions and priorities in those areas for UI staff, the board decided to look at the UI mission through a new “lens”—NOT to change the mission or its component parts, but to reflect on it through a different perspective.  After Rio+20, the UN has been preoccupied with the “post 2015 development agenda” (i.e. what happens to the Millennium Development Goals after 2015?). World attention has been focused on the creation of Sustainable Development Goals. UN member states are making commitments to maintain the integrity of the world and its resources, and talking about the issue of “sustainable consumption.” Conscious of these facts, and the vulnerability of migrants fleeing effects of climate change; the continued need of women and children to gain access to resources like food and water; and the exemplary work of our Canadian UNANIMA “Sustainability Study Group,” the board crafted the response below. We will be examining this statement and its implications for us…

“The reality of climate change and its devastating effects heightens our need to reexamine its impact on the vulnerable. Our mission impels us to respond to Rio+20′s call for sustainable development and engage the grassroots with the UN to work on the global crisis that threatens the quality of life for all.”

• There are still governments that refuse to acknowledge gross violations of women’s rights.
• 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not a crime
• As many as 1 in 4 women experience physical or sexual violence during pregnancy
• Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides married before the age of 18
• More than 100 million girls are “missing” due to prenatal sex selection
• Worldwide, up to 50% of sexual assaults involve girls under the age of 16
• Women and girls make up 80% of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked yearly, with 79% of those for sexual gratification100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting
• Up to 7 in 10 women in the world report having experienced physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime

*Statistics from UN Women publication A Promise is a Promise.

At the two-week meeting, women from all over the world gave presentations celebrating marvelous examples of women empowering women to develop their potential and assume the place all too often denied them by males (in the name of culture and tradition). We heard encouraging stories of how NGOs reach out in support of women and girls. We saw that where women and men participate equally in decision making processes that enable and empower both sexes, giant steps in economic progress are made. There were panels of men, concerned with failure of governments to ratify and/or implement the human rights documents of the U.N. These men spoke of the necessity of working with youth to change the mind-set of men and boys that readily accepts the idea of male superiority and condones violence against women and girls.

All felt the urgency to produce a strong document. And, after an afternoon of tense waiting, with the stirring intervention of Michelle Bachelet, Head of UN Women, and a courageous stand by the female delegate from Egypt who openly opposed the formal stand of her government, the outcome document of CSW-57 was agreed upon by all states except Libya.

The document states among other things that “The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against women and girls. It recognizes their different forms and manifestations, and recognizes that domestic violence remains the most prevalent form that affects women of all social strata across the world. It also notes that women and girls who face multiple forms of discrimination are exposed to increased risk of violence.” (To see the complete outcome document, go to the CSW57 website –click on “Agreed Conclusions.”  Now the world, especially the women of the world, await its implementation by world governments.

–by Mariam Norick, RJM

Empowering people, building their capacity, placing them at the starting point of every development effort, and creating an enabling environment will result in renewed trust and collaboration. They say that for the impoverished, the most important needs are opportunities, but how can we bridge the gap between the marginalized groups of people and the resourceful groups of society? Empowerment is the key. Most of all, governments need to develop policies that equip people with the good health, education, skills and social protection they need to participate effectively in development and obtain decent jobs.

I have a strong conviction that no security, peace, or development is possible as long as people remain slaves of material and non-material poverty and injustice. Empowerment of the people should be a passion for every human being on earth; it pays off. Spirituality is abundant and robust when we can pray as well as mobilize resources to empower the people.”
–Eloisa Holdiem SDS