The first session I attended on Thursday was a convening of member nations for a general discussion on the agreed conclusions of CSW. The agreed conclusions is a document that is produced at the end of the two-week period of CSW that address members states’ commitment to the annual theme of CSW and what steps they will take to address it. Though this meeting was much less interactive than the others, it was really cool to see how work at the UN actually gets done, and the different perspectives that representatives had regarding the status of women in their countries and globally. I was pleased to see that almost all of the representatives present were women, an occurrence that is often rare in global politics.
One of the most unique events I attended this week was “Journalism and the Empowerment of Women: New Challenges in the Digital World,” which was a panel of female journalists speaking about their experience. As a former student journalist, I am really interested in the intersection of gender, policy, and free press. Hearing from career journalists regarding their experiences opened my eyes to the extent of sexism and discrimination in the industry.
I also attended a session hosted by Egypt, my country of origin, titled “Responding to Women Refugees from Syria.” The session went over social programs designed to empower women in Egypt, particularly refugees. Syrian refugees make up the largest number of migrants to Egypt, with over half of registered refugees coming from Syria. Despite my criticisms of the Egyptian government and their approach to supporting Syrian refugees, it was amazing to be able to see what programs have been recently established. I was also able to meet the Permanent Representative of Egypt to the UN and speak to him about my work as a student of political science and Arabic.
With Ambassador Mohamed Edrees
Though it was bittersweet to have our last day at the United Nations, I cannot wait to participate in UN Women’s “Youth Mobilization Spaces” event tomorrow!
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