Even though the document that came out of the Commission on the Status of Women was not perfect (e.g. it did not explicitly defend girls and women from discrimination or violence based on their gender or sexual orientation) it IS a “win” for women. In her blog for a newspaper, Dr. Cheryl Saban wrote “When you contemplate what it really takes to get consensus on a …document at the UN that places accountability squarely on its 193 member states to ‘do it right, or we will call you out publically,’ just close your eyes and imagine [your national legislative body] trying to pass a bill. Now think about them doing it while they are all speaking different languages…and attempting to accomplish this mission in two weeks’ time.” She said she was not sure the public has a sense of how complicated this whole process was…indeed, how complicated everything is at the UN!

We heard from all of our 18 communities, with a total of 726 responses. The responses in English came from 30 countries; French from 7; Portuguese from 4; and Spanish from 23 countries. Most of you who responded are aware of UNANIMA’s work and how your community interacts with it, think that its mission fits with that of your community, and think it important that your community is involved in global issues and the systemic causes of global problems.

On April 9-12 UNANIMA was represented in Washington DC at a meeting organized by the U.S. Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in collaboration with the Bakhita Initiative (U.S. Catholic Sisters United Against Human Slavery) for 12 leaders of groups of women religious who work against human trafficking. The timing was great—for one thing, the Japanese cherry trees were in bloom (picture), and we got to attend a ceremony at the White House for the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The occasion was the Council’s formal presentation of its report on “Building Partnerships to Eradicate Modern-Day Slavery.” …

For those who are waiting to register for the 20th session of CSD (this summer was supposed to be the last one) …remember that Rio promised to “establish a universal intergovernmental high-level political forum, building on the strengths, experiences, resources & inclusive modalities of the Commission on Sustainable Development, and subsequently replacing the Commission…” The Future We Want, paragraph 84.

We know you can’t always get away from your ministry long enough to experience a full internship of three months, so the Internship Committee of the Board worked long and hard to develop an “Immersion Experience” that would involve less time. A description of this is being sent along with this mailing (in English only, sorry). Remember that for the best possible experience, a working knowledge of English has been recommended by the Coordinator, the Internship Committee, and previous interns!  However, there is a possibility that if a sister without good English skills could pair up with one of her bilingual community members, something might be worked out for this short-term experience.

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!…

The Holy Union Sisters’ American Province intranet is regularly used to transmit items about pending and current legislation, alerts, and general information about topics closely allied with UNANIMA goals: International Women’s Day/Month, Violence Against Women Act; World Water Day, Farming; Immigration Reform, Dream Act.

It was sad to see our interns leave, but we had a great “graduation.” And one of them did not go far away; the Sion sisters are loaning us Celia Martin, to serve as an UNANIMA volunteer for an indefinite period of time. She’s a good researcher and—since she is also good at fixing things, is very handy to have around the office! (See pictures below)

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