I spent my first day at CSW focusing in on sessions that addressed two issues. The first was the importance of including girls and adolescents in our efforts towards women's equality--not just as after thoughts but as key components, recognizing that they have their own needs and issues in this discussion. In many instances, the only voice they have been given are in the grammatical inclusion of "for women, and girls." But in reality, girls are the women of tomorrow and they face issues today that many in places of power and influence never encountered. In order to truly achieve gender equality, girls must be a crucial part of the equation.
The second focus of the sessions I attended was addressing prostitution and trafficking. By far my favorite session of the day was one on The Swedish Model with additional representatives from France and Norway. I was impressed by the clarity with which they addressed such a complex issue--one that ranks among today's greatest violations of human rights. There were several comments that stood out to me in particular. One was in regards to the misunderstanding and dangers that can come about when people confuse the concepts of consent and freedom. The other was a statement that human rights are not only individual rights but also sacrifices made for the greater good.
Tomorrow we get to engage with CSW from a whole new level--as presenters at our own panel!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
UN Decade
The trip has been absolutely incredible so far! I really could not capture all that has moved and inspired me. After a restful night's sleep, I am now rejuvenated and have confirmed that the glory and beauty of this week are not a dream. Today was CSW Consultation Day and during one of the panel discussions we reflected on what the panel called the "UN decade," the legacy of the 1990s UN Conferences. We discussed how, for some women, Domestic Violence discussions were taboo until the Beijing Conference of 1995 and how the 90s finally made the world take seriously women's global issues.
Most importantly, and what I had not really considered because of my generational perspective was that the "UN decade" occurred during a time with little internet use or even faxes. "Beijing," Women's Activist Bandana Rana told us, "was where we found each other." Passion, ideas, and camaraderie had not yet been shared via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Instead, the World's Women's Conference was a new and valuable public space to build the women's movement. The Beijing Conference and the CSW conferences since, have been times for women's advocates to work together and transcend differences that might seek to divide us.
The spirit of unity, love, and solidarity has manifested itself in so many ways this trip. Spending time with the fellows, Beth, Anjabeen, Kim and Younghee makes me think feel as if we've "found each other." The legacy of the UN decade is one that teaches us that we should never take for granted being surrounded by people who share our vision to transform the status of women. I am grateful to live in this legacy!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
A Place that Moves
New York. It's a city of movement, of voices, of change. It is streets of tall shadows, unassuming awnings, and corridors of crowds and wind. Beautiful and constructive chaos. That is how I would describe New York--a city in constant and somewhat disorderly motion. It is plastic bags and crammed spaces and ever-moving traffic. It's not always polite. But it moves forward. This is a place where the world changes and things get done. It is one of the transforming capitals of the world. And it does all this in a far from perfect environment. This action creates chaos. But people continue to move in the midst.
I always tend to think of places of importance as places that are elite, fine and well-ordered. But they're not always. Change isn't looking for perfection. Change just keeps moving. And this living, city sized example of progress gives a certain relief. It shows us that we're not going to move forwards without some mess, but we should not be afraid of it because in the midst of it, great things can be accomplished.
People come to the table at CSW through much of the same process. We come to take action, to bring about change. We're celebrating progress, but we're also frustrated by what we have yet to see. And this frustration, it continues to move us forward. All this movement can be a little messy. But I'm encouraged to know that in the midst of all this, change is happening. The people here are passionate--passionate about the causes they are fighting for. And they're not going to stop this living, breathing, movement. Why? Because things happen in a place that keeps moving forward.
I always tend to think of places of importance as places that are elite, fine and well-ordered. But they're not always. Change isn't looking for perfection. Change just keeps moving. And this living, city sized example of progress gives a certain relief. It shows us that we're not going to move forwards without some mess, but we should not be afraid of it because in the midst of it, great things can be accomplished.
People come to the table at CSW through much of the same process. We come to take action, to bring about change. We're celebrating progress, but we're also frustrated by what we have yet to see. And this frustration, it continues to move us forward. All this movement can be a little messy. But I'm encouraged to know that in the midst of all this, change is happening. The people here are passionate--passionate about the causes they are fighting for. And they're not going to stop this living, breathing, movement. Why? Because things happen in a place that keeps moving forward.
"It's not enough for women to participate. We must lead."
Hello everyone!
We're here in NYC for the week, and I already feel like I've been here for months. So much has happened in the last two days and it's been a whirlwind of excitement. Today was the NGO Consultation Day, and there were so many panels, speakers, performers, and people, that at first I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with everything around me. Of course, that all calmed down once I started listening to the panels. One in particular stood out to me, and speaker Analisa Balares, the founder and CEO of Womensphere was *my* highlight of the day.
I'm a tad embarrassed to say I wasn't familiar with Analisa's work prior to today's panel. But when she started speaking I was instantly hooked. For one thing, I was excited because she was Filipino, and being part Filipino myself, I clearly felt that what she was going to say would be important.
I was right. Analisa's story was incredible, but the main reason I was intrigued was because I felt similar to her (outside of ethnicity of course). For one, she wanted to be a theoretical physicist due to her fondness for Stephen Hawking. Likewise, I wanted to major in astrophysics because of Stephen Hawking, and with that I developed my interest in STEM. On top of that, I could relate to her INSANE number of interests (seriously, she's done almost everything on the planet). She spoke about her interests in women's studies, economic development, sustainable development, and STEM education, and about her work experience with the UN as a youth, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and her time at Harvard Business school. Of course, with my various majors, I understood her wide range of interests and the connections she draws to integrate them.
Finally, I adored the overall mission of Womensphere which is to "empower women and girls to lead, create our future, and transform our world". One way they aim to empower women and girls is through their idea of using role models in STEM and collaborating with partners to create programs to encourage the advance in STEM fields. Since this is a main component of my research, I knew that I could learn a lot from Analisa's work and decided to research more into the efforts of Womensphere.
Most importantly, I got the chance to ask Analisa a question directly during the Q&A session. I was curious to hear her thoughts about the lack of female faculty members in STEM fields at universities, and what advice she had to advocate for increasing their representation on campus. She replied that it is a prominent issue and that using role models within the faculty level is one way to support the efforts of female faculty members. Womensphere attempts to expose these models and mentors by using cross-campus interactions to empower women educators in STEM. This reminds me of the PURPOSE Institute, since they focus on promoting underrepresented faculty members on NC State's campus in science and engineering. Though that may be on a smaller scale compared to Womensphere international programs, it was great to see similar initiatives occurring throughout the world.
To see Analisa's full story and the purpose of Womensphere, I embedded a link of the video shown at todays panel. Take a look!
Until next time!
Alex
*In other news, the Fellows found a great place for brunch called Virage. So if you're ever in NYC, it's a must EAT. Check it out!
Day 2
Hey There,
Today has been an amazing day. This morning we woke up nice and early to get to the NGO CSW Forum. When we arrived at the forum I was taken aback by all that was going on. Within the first ten minutes of being there, Beth called me over to meet a woman from Geneva, Switzerland. The woman was very involved in maternal health, and it was so exciting to hear that she was interested in my research topic. The forum started soon after and I heard so many amazing people speak. The people that intrigued me most included: Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Analisa Balares, and Asi Burak. Sharon started an amazing NGO in Fiji, Analisa started an NGO that provides scholarships to young women, and Asi works for a video game NGO that creates games for change. All of these speakers were so passionate when they presented and so inspirational. I saw that there are so many ways we can work to address women's issues. There truly is no right way to make a difference. It is just so important to follow your passion when working on an issue that you care about. I cannot wait for tomorrow.
Today has been an amazing day. This morning we woke up nice and early to get to the NGO CSW Forum. When we arrived at the forum I was taken aback by all that was going on. Within the first ten minutes of being there, Beth called me over to meet a woman from Geneva, Switzerland. The woman was very involved in maternal health, and it was so exciting to hear that she was interested in my research topic. The forum started soon after and I heard so many amazing people speak. The people that intrigued me most included: Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, Analisa Balares, and Asi Burak. Sharon started an amazing NGO in Fiji, Analisa started an NGO that provides scholarships to young women, and Asi works for a video game NGO that creates games for change. All of these speakers were so passionate when they presented and so inspirational. I saw that there are so many ways we can work to address women's issues. There truly is no right way to make a difference. It is just so important to follow your passion when working on an issue that you care about. I cannot wait for tomorrow.
The NGO CSW58 Forum: Conclusions & Reflections
We are here. After several months of preparation, meetings and intense anticipation, we've landed in New York City and are ready to leave our mark on CSW58. And today was our first taste of what's to come--
Rising early, we gathered our thoughts and identity badges and took a taxi to the NGO CSW Forum 2014--an annual meeting of NGOs and other CSW stakeholders that aims to prepare delegates for CSW sessions with rousing calls-to-action meant to catapult attendees to the greatest heights of their potential as activists. With distinguished panelists and speakers from every far-flung corner of the globe, the event also serves as an opportunity to publicize NGO side events. Us fellows, for instance, helped distribute hundreds of fliers advertising our event this Tuesday.
It's a hasty barrage of paper--pink, purple, rainbow--with topics running the gambit from feminism in Japanese society to analyzing harmful traditional practices such as child marriage. While the practice isn't exactly environmentally friendly, it is carried out with the best of intentions:
We want you at our event. Come see what we do. Acknowledge us. Support us.
Intellectually, today was an exercise in perseverance. There is certainly a lot of knowledge and we should take solace in the fact that communities from around the world are mobilizing for change. But, as one panelist put it so eloquently, "If we are not bold enough, we will be stagnated." This is as true for the gender equality movement as it is for us Fellows during our time at CSW. Echoing the "conference mantra" of one of our mentors, it is essential we find the energy to stay curious despite an overwhelming amount of information.
In attempting to aggregate some of the data we consumed today, I wanted to touch upon several conclusions I've come to from today's panel discussions and speeches. These are reflective of my own personal interpretation of much of what was said today and I am keenly interested in reading upcoming reflections from other Fellows to understand their take.
I. Men are sorely underrepresented, despite many calls for further engagement from panelists and audience members.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was one of a handful of men in the audience. I would be comfortable in estimating that there were perhaps a grand total of 20 men (not counting sound technicians and security) out of a total audience of several hundred. Quite frankly, this is disappointing. Gender equality and women's rights are good for society and beneficial to men. Further, many (but not all*) of the speakers spoke passionately about the need to engage men on a deeper level in many discussions, recruiting them as allies and friends of the movement. In fact, during the Forum, I was actively tweeting many of my thoughts (@maxseunik) and receiving warm and welcoming responses from other audience members and panelists. One audience member asked me plainly over Twitter: So what can we do to involve more men and invite them to the discussion? My response was simple and highlighted what I see to be the basic need: Let us know there is a space for us and that our voice is needed. We also require male-led talk about healthy masculinity. In my opinion, it is essential that gender equality movements begin to use as much inclusive language as possible. Don't simply call on the women and girls in the room, call on us, too--we may just surprise you.
II. Next year is going to be a big deal.
In some ways, today left me equally eager to experience CSW59 as I am for this year's CSW. Why? Quite simply, much of the focus of today's event was on the Beijing+20 Platform For Action. Analyzing the successes and failures of what panelist Charlotte Bunch termed "the real building of a global women's movement." Next year marks 20 years later we need to ask ourselves the tough questions: what has changed? How have we done? Where do we go from here?
III. Youth involvement is a critical and recognized need in CSW and all international women's and human rights events.
While many of the speakers and panelists called for broader youth involvement in CSW and other opportunities, Beth stepped forward and asked one of the panels how they planned to address what she sees as the gap between youth involvement in highschool and later on. The answers were non-committal at best and youth participation in the Forum was relegated around a spoken word poet, young panelist and a call at the end for "everyone under 35" to converge on the stage to sing and dance. Once again, while the intention behind these actions is great (and necessary!), it's easy to feel 'tokenized' and cursorily overlooked. I applaud the efforts of NGO CSW Forum to involve youth, but feel that much, much more can be done for future events.
In short, today was equal parts enlightening and tiring. The mood amongst the Fellows is good and we have bonded strongly in only a short while. Tomorrow marks the real start of our journey here and I am excited to keep sharing my thoughts and reflections in the most honest manner possible as we make our way--together--down the road to a brighter future for the world's women and girls.
Sincerely yours,
Max
Rising early, we gathered our thoughts and identity badges and took a taxi to the NGO CSW Forum 2014--an annual meeting of NGOs and other CSW stakeholders that aims to prepare delegates for CSW sessions with rousing calls-to-action meant to catapult attendees to the greatest heights of their potential as activists. With distinguished panelists and speakers from every far-flung corner of the globe, the event also serves as an opportunity to publicize NGO side events. Us fellows, for instance, helped distribute hundreds of fliers advertising our event this Tuesday.
It's a hasty barrage of paper--pink, purple, rainbow--with topics running the gambit from feminism in Japanese society to analyzing harmful traditional practices such as child marriage. While the practice isn't exactly environmentally friendly, it is carried out with the best of intentions:
We want you at our event. Come see what we do. Acknowledge us. Support us.
Intellectually, today was an exercise in perseverance. There is certainly a lot of knowledge and we should take solace in the fact that communities from around the world are mobilizing for change. But, as one panelist put it so eloquently, "If we are not bold enough, we will be stagnated." This is as true for the gender equality movement as it is for us Fellows during our time at CSW. Echoing the "conference mantra" of one of our mentors, it is essential we find the energy to stay curious despite an overwhelming amount of information.
In attempting to aggregate some of the data we consumed today, I wanted to touch upon several conclusions I've come to from today's panel discussions and speeches. These are reflective of my own personal interpretation of much of what was said today and I am keenly interested in reading upcoming reflections from other Fellows to understand their take.
I. Men are sorely underrepresented, despite many calls for further engagement from panelists and audience members.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was one of a handful of men in the audience. I would be comfortable in estimating that there were perhaps a grand total of 20 men (not counting sound technicians and security) out of a total audience of several hundred. Quite frankly, this is disappointing. Gender equality and women's rights are good for society and beneficial to men. Further, many (but not all*) of the speakers spoke passionately about the need to engage men on a deeper level in many discussions, recruiting them as allies and friends of the movement. In fact, during the Forum, I was actively tweeting many of my thoughts (@maxseunik) and receiving warm and welcoming responses from other audience members and panelists. One audience member asked me plainly over Twitter: So what can we do to involve more men and invite them to the discussion? My response was simple and highlighted what I see to be the basic need: Let us know there is a space for us and that our voice is needed. We also require male-led talk about healthy masculinity. In my opinion, it is essential that gender equality movements begin to use as much inclusive language as possible. Don't simply call on the women and girls in the room, call on us, too--we may just surprise you.
II. Next year is going to be a big deal.
In some ways, today left me equally eager to experience CSW59 as I am for this year's CSW. Why? Quite simply, much of the focus of today's event was on the Beijing+20 Platform For Action. Analyzing the successes and failures of what panelist Charlotte Bunch termed "the real building of a global women's movement." Next year marks 20 years later we need to ask ourselves the tough questions: what has changed? How have we done? Where do we go from here?
III. Youth involvement is a critical and recognized need in CSW and all international women's and human rights events.
While many of the speakers and panelists called for broader youth involvement in CSW and other opportunities, Beth stepped forward and asked one of the panels how they planned to address what she sees as the gap between youth involvement in highschool and later on. The answers were non-committal at best and youth participation in the Forum was relegated around a spoken word poet, young panelist and a call at the end for "everyone under 35" to converge on the stage to sing and dance. Once again, while the intention behind these actions is great (and necessary!), it's easy to feel 'tokenized' and cursorily overlooked. I applaud the efforts of NGO CSW Forum to involve youth, but feel that much, much more can be done for future events.
In short, today was equal parts enlightening and tiring. The mood amongst the Fellows is good and we have bonded strongly in only a short while. Tomorrow marks the real start of our journey here and I am excited to keep sharing my thoughts and reflections in the most honest manner possible as we make our way--together--down the road to a brighter future for the world's women and girls.
Sincerely yours,
Max
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Day 1 in the City
After a bit of drama at 6 am this morning (parts coming off planes, people missing flights, etc.) we are safe and sound in the city. It has been a super long day, and all of us are more than exhausted, but it is great to be here. Tomorrow we have a full schedule ahead of us, and I am definitely more than ready for some sleep. More detailed blogs to come.
Good night.
Good night.
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