Brownies

Hello all!

It was a frigid day here at NYC, but luckily all of the buildings that held the events were toasty. I was able to attend more panel events and I even had the chance to attend a side event at the UN.

This morning I went to the US Mission to the UN to see a presentation discussing the status of young women in the fight for women's rights. The panel consisted of 4 young women with GLI, Ambassador Sharon Kotok, and FMF founder Eleanor Smeal. They addressed various issues revolving around the MDG's, CEDAW's ratification, and the importance of looking forward. Afterward, I was able to chat with Ambassador Kotok and she was not only incredibly kind, but offered great advice as well. She stressed the importance of "not trying to write the 'end of the book' when advocating for women's rights". In other words, she wanted to make young people aware that they cannot expect an outcome of their actions and assume that everything else will fall into place. That's what makes the fight for women's human rights a true endeavor of our generation.

After that I was able to stroll around the UN building, sit in on another high-level discussion, run around the conference rooms (see pictures for evidence), and then grab food at the upper-level cafe with Sarah and Isabella. We even made a new friend, Tamra, who created a Geocoded Spatial Transparent Metric, which is a data processing algorithm for storing information gathered by various civil sciences including women's studies (if I understand correctly...).

After that, Amy and I attended a side event on the socioeconomic effects of violence against women in the home and workforce. Delegates for the Ministries of Labour from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Norway shared their thoughts and initiatives on the actions that should be taken to eliminate GBV. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the nations on their stances towards the prevention of violence against women, and the measures they have taken (or plan to take) in response to this issue. Afterwards, I saw another informal panel discuss the drafts of the resolution.

Later, in an event unrelated to CSW, a group of us sauntered on down to Laduree to try some of their famous macaroons (which has been on my bucket list so I was happy even though it was cold). In general, grabbing some sweets was a nice way to finish a busy day at CSW.

Until next time!

Alex 

PS: Sarah and I are still on the case as detectives

PPS: The Fellows finally got brownies. Thanks Max!