Reflection of March 12th, 2018 

Finally, it’s the first official day of CSW! The culturally rich experience is not only at the United Nations; it’s everywhere we go. I am staying at a hotel relatively close to the United Nations, and even in the hotel lobby at breakfast, I can discuss women’s advocacy issues at a global level.  

Breakfast with an NGO leader from Liberia and attorney from Nigera

My first event of Monday was the CSW Orientation. The event gave a brief overview of the week, the history of CEDAW, the “Zero Draft” document (the outcome document of CSW that discusses agreed conclusions and solutions), and the sustainable goals of the United Nations. Before the start of orientation, I was able to speak with other groups from Australia and Romanian, who were also experiencing their first CSW adventure!

My second event was “Celebrating and Advancing Women's Political Participation,” which was hosted by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I was excited for this event, especially with my work in politics and the engagement and empowerment of women leaders. The panel represented leaders from Canada, Malawi, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. I learned more about different party systems, the oppression of women leaders (from past and current issues) and the influx that constitutional law to even social media has on of promoting women leaders. A common theme was to prioritize education in our homelands to encourage women leadership. Education may seem like an obvious solution towards the barrier of women in politics, but with efforts not harmonized in educating the power of women leaders, then, once again, we are left with obstacles. 

After the event, I had a conversation with the panelist from Malawi, Dr. Jessie Kabwila-Kapasula, who is an academic, feminist, educator and activist; her scholarship focuses on African feminism. I told Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula about the conditions of North Carolina, and the lack of women in political office. She was very insightful and compassionate with her support, and she stressed the importance of community engagement and education. Fun fact: Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula said North Carolina was on her list of places to visit! 

 Dr. Kabwila-Kapasula

Later, I attended “What Strategies for Rural Women’s and Girls’ empowerment?” which prioritized African women’s land rights. The panel applied the UN’s Sustainable Goals of advocacy/outreach, methodological guidelines, reporting processes, technical support, and quality control and global reporting. The panelist emphasized how these tactics will help measure changes in the legal framework for African women. Problems occurring for African women regarding legal issues (and these problems are also prevalent in North Carolina) are how they are consulted during an abstract stage or when it’s too late to engage in the legal process of their rights. It was impactful learning legal issues that are obstructing women’s access to knowledge, especially when the system is designed to engage and protect an educated democracy.

The last event I attended was “Intersecting Grassroots Radio to Reach Rural Women and Refugee Women” hosted by Women Graduates USA. This event parallels with my undergraduate focus on the interconnectivity of politics and communication, and the impact the two sectors play on social and policy change.  Half the panel focused on utilizing the power of smartphone “apps,” with providing additional services to refugee women. The other half focused on more straightforward means of mass communication. They highlighted the power of radio with giving a simplistic approach to educating refugee women.

Overall, each event gave me a deeper understanding of the problems occurring for women around the world, as well as the solutions to implementing change and encouraging women. There was no better way to start this CSW week.

First Day of CSW 62

(While this was written on March 12, it was published on March 13)

As I write this blog post, I am ending my first day at the Commission on the Status of Women. For years I have dreamt of the opportunity to come to the United Nations, to catch a glimpse of the General Assembly Hall, and to cross paths with global changemakers. Today, I was not only able to check off each of these goals, but to exceed them, as I was able to learn directly from these global changemakers, listen to multinational, multicultural, and multisectoral responses to global health challenges, and realize that I truly am meant to pursue a career in the global health policy sphere.

While this week has only just begun, the events that I attended today left an indelible impression on me as a health policy wonk as a gender equity advocate. One event that left such an impression was "The Voice of Rural Women for a Sustainable and Healthy Future." The opening remarks were given by Italy's Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Teresa Bellanova, and the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, Madam Inonge Mutukwa Wina, setting the stage for a conversation about the vital importance of rural women in the agricultural sector and rural women's and girl's nutrition. We then heard from four rural female Italian farmers about the innovative strategies they use to operate their farms and the work they are doing to invest in the lives of the people that their farms touch. This event was important to contextualize the role of women in the agricultural sector and beyond that, their role in feeding and providing adequate nutrition to countries around the world. Not only are the majority of farmworkers in rural areas female, and women and girls are the most affected by malnutrition, but when women have more control over the household's financial resources, both themselves and their families are better nourished. Therefore, nations need to encourage their female farmers through better subsidies, increased access to land ownership, and allow them to participate in the political process on decisions related to agriculture.

As this week continues, I look forward to learning more about the role of women in fulfilling healthy lives, and the ways in which we can improve the health of rural women and girls through innovative and collaborative strategies.

CSW: "They Don't Stone a Tree That Does Not Have Fruits"

Speaking the Language of Women and Girls

Today was an incredible experience at the UN Commission on the Status of Women! Already I feel as if I am speaking another language, a language of women and girls worldwide. I have a pass that allows me in and out of the official UN building and I have had the opportunity to sit in meetings with global governmental leaders, elected officials, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)! 

Celebrating and Advancing Women's Political Participation 

At a governmental event at the UN building, what is called side events at CSW, there was a great panel that discussed the political participation of women. The speakers spoke from their local experiences in the United Kingdom, Canada, Malawi, and New Zealand. 

Although I attended four different sessions today that were all impactful and important, I wanted to share about this event specifically because I find it to be the most influential to many of the issues we are facing in North Carolina. This discussion can very much influence how we work to continue the goals of Cities for CEDAW in North Carolina. The following notes are quotes, recommendations, and reflections from this event.

Barriers to the Political Field for Women

• social media abuse deters women from political participation
• women think they do not have the "look" or the "academic background" of a stereotypical politician
• there's a low retention rate of female politicians
• patriarchy leads women to believe that we are in competition with each other and that "we are each other's enemies."

Gender Equitable Approaches

• male and female co-leadership approach should be the goal: this includes one man and one woman chairing all committees
• gender balanced approach like the Green Party in New Zealand: where they have a type of quota for the number of women that run in their party; they now have 75% women in leadership in the party
• create deliberate policies to increase women in politics

Memorable Quotes

"They don't stone a tree that does not have fruits."   -Representative from Malawi

The speaker was referring to how women are treated and abused in many countries. She said that this is a common saying in her country and it reminds her that women struggle because many men see the power, resilience, and resources that women have and are afraid of them.

"It's not real unless it's in the budget."  -Representative from UK

This speaker was discussing the steps that the UK is taking to consistently have a gender lens and he was sure to add that real change is written into policy and written explicitly in the budget as well! This influenced me as a fellow to ensure that when we speak with local officials about our gender analysis, we recommend that the gender equity changes they make are written line by line in the next budget so that WomenNC and constituents can hold them accountable.

"We shouldn't just ask 'what are women doing for women?'"  -Representative from Canada

This speaker was referring to the fact that men in office also represent women. It is not the sole purpose of women in government to only specialize on women's issues. Not only because they represent all constituents but also because many governments do not even have enough women to attempt to do that anyway. We must hold men accountable to women's rights while also jointly advocating for more women in elected and appointed representation.

Reflections: Indigenous Women Transforming Power

Today I attended MADRE's parallel event, "Indigenous Women Transforming Power." MADRE advocates for women's human rights by partnering with sister organization worldwide. I appreciate this model, because it centers marginalized women as the experts on their own experiences and communities. Yifat Susskind, executive director, moderated the panel, which contained Yasso Kanti Bhattachan of Nepal (Vice Chair of the National Indigenous Women's Forum and Thakali Indigenous),  Lucy Mulenkei of Kenya (leader of Indigenous Information Network and member of the Maasai community), Aminatu Samira of Cameroon (youth activist and member of the Mbororo Pastoralist community, and Rose Cunningham, a Miskito indigenous leader who is the first indigenous woman mayor of Waspam, Nicaragua (pictured below). 

Rose Cunningham, mayor of Waspam (Source)

Yifat began the event by asking those in the audience who felt that their community was under threat by the Trump administration to raise their hands. Looking around, almost everyone in front and behind me had a hand raised. She also described how indigenous women have more of a right to be skeptical about electoral politics than almost anyone, but that electoral politics are at least one site of power and one approach to advocacy. Yifat asked how we can resist our current material situation while being both protective and proactive. In other words, how can we protect those who are most threatened without letting our vision of a better future go by the wayside?

The panelists had some insights. Rose Cunningham spoke to the necessity of autonomy, both in a democratic sense, and for people as individuals. Lucy Mulenkei described how important it is for women simply to be able to assemble together, and spoke to the value of indigenous women's traditional knowledges. Aminatu Samira described the necessity of opportunities for personal development and education for youth. Yasso Bhatachan described education as the "main equipment of empowerment," and discussed an initiative for trilingual education so that indigenous youth could learn Nepalese, English, and their mother tongue.

In terms of my personal reflections, I found navigating the experience of trying to get limited translation resources quite profound, because about 30% of the event was in Spanish. The organizers actually ran out of translation equipment for the native English speakers. As a native English speaker, everything is usually tailored to my needs, and I thought it was meaningful to be in a space where that wasn't fully the case as just a small taste of what folks who speak English as a second language experience every day.

Wrapping up

The day began in the main assembly room on the UN building, where the UN Secretary-General and his senior staff meet with the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. He began with a few opening remarks then took questions from the audience full of feminist advocates, myself and the other fellows among them. The first statement came from a woman who expressed her support for the current Secretary-General, despite the fact that before the NGO CSW had lobbied for a woman candidate. Overall, Antonio Guterres answered the questions in a thoughtful, supportive, if not always substantial manner. From what I understand from my conversation with Dr. Soon-Young Yoon, this is the first event of its kind and it sets a very important precedent for the future of the relationship between the UN and the NGO CSW.

The last panel I attended at the NGO CSW was a panel hosted by the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) that featured the Chilean Minister of Women and Gender Equality as well as domestic workers from around the world. A 9 year member of the IDWF shared her experience as a migrant domestic worker in Hong Kong, working long hours for low pay. Today, the demand for paid care work is growing because of an aging population, reductions in government services, geographically dispersed families, and the growth in the proportion of women working outside the home. Of course, the economic liberation of women who enter the labor market is only possible because of the work of domestic and child care workers, who are often exploited by informal work arrangements and a lack of governmental protections. Care workers and other working women are often pitted against each other by those who claim that low-paying domestic jobs are the price of women's equality, but the IDWF holds that you cannot claim to achieve equality while care workers are exploited. A possible solution is government provision or subsidy of these crucial services.

It was good to end the conference with the most impactful panel I had attended all week. The whole experience was inspiring and encouraging. While I have not learned much about the challenges women face that I hadn't known before, I did learn a lot about the amazing efforts of people around the globe fighting for equality and human rights.

Last Day

We had the honor of meeting Soon- Young Yoon. She’s a leading figure of the Cities for CEDAW. She is the absolute sweetest person. She made time to have lunch with us. We went to a wonderful Italian restaurant called Osteria Laguana. The restaurant served authentic Italian food. We shared an interesting conversation about the CSW. She talked to us about how she had been planning the meeing with the UN Secretary General. This was the first time ever that the UN Secretary held a meeting with the women of CSW. I thought it was interesting that she told us the questions were pre-planned. I thought it was strategic to have a wide range of questions to the Secretary General. He responded to questions about youth, healthcare, LGBTI individuals, and other people. Soon Young had worked so hard that she told us that she almost missed getting into the conference room 4. The meeting itself was amazing. Hearing the concerns of many women from all over the world was intuitive. My favorite question was from a young girl. She asked about how young women could be included in the conversations at the UN. Everyone clapped. I asked Soon Young a similar question and she recommended to attend the Youth forum. She asked me if I wanted to volunteer for the next CSW. I would love to that if possible. Even if I’m unable to volunteer for an entire week, I would LOVE to come back at some point. Keeping up with the progress of women is important. Overall, I enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. It was incredible. I could not have asked for a better week. I really appreciated meeting female leaders around the world that encouraged us to continue fighting for women's rights.

The U.S. and the need to resist anti-migrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee policies

I stopped by the General Assembly hall first thing in the morning to observe one of the official meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women. This morning’s focus was the “empowerment of indigenous women.” A representative from Guatemala advocated for the full equality of indigenous women noting that indigenous women deserve more than simply one paragraph in the agreed conclusions of this year’s session. The chair of the CSW is Ambassador Patriota from Brazil who is a man, and I could not help but reflect on the irony of having an international conference on women’s human rights led by a man. Thankfully, he seems quite feminist thus far, though I would prefer to see women in these leadership positions. After sitting in on this official meeting, I walked to the United States Mission to the United Nations building to attend a special NGO briefing with Ambassador Nikki Haley. My co-fellow Cristy and I were actually the first two to enter the room, so we got great seats near the podium. It was a small room with capacity for about 50 people and we were not allowed to record the event. Ambassador Haley did not arrive and as I watched the news later, I realized this was because she was busy praising Trump’s Muslim ban. The chair of NGO CSW NY asked a question to the Deputy U.S. Representative of the Economic and Social Council Stefanie Amadeo who came in her place about the fact that people signed up for CSW could not enter the United States this year for this meeting for women’s human rights. She mentioned that we might move to Geneva if people are unable to attend because of travel bans. Amadeo responded to every question with a vague and brief response that provided basically no information, and so this meeting was incredibly frustrating. However, it was fascinating to observe.

Right before I asked my question, a woman asked Amadeo why the United States included organizations such as C-FAM that are openly anti-LBGTQ into the United States representation to the United Nations. She brought up the fact that transwomen are being killed and asked what the U.S. will do about it. An argument broke out because a representative from C-FAM was in the room and directly contradicted what the first speaker had said. I was the next person to ask a question and I said: “I’d like to reiterate that I hope the United States does something to address the murder of transwomen in this country. I am Lauren Frey and I am a university student at North Carolina State University and given that 1 in 4 college students is a victim or survivor of sexual assault and 1 in 3 adolescents in the United States is a victim or survivor of dating violence, and Ambassador Haley was appointed by a president who has encouraged sexual assault, how will the United States work with the United Nations to tackle violence against women and intimate partner violence in our own country? While I did not receive any satisfying answer, most people in the room clapped for my question, which felt extremely validating.

After this briefing, I walked to the Armenian Convention Center to attend a session on the impact of corporate power on economic empowerment for women. I loved the start of this panel when the moderator mentioned that this event was designed to debunk the myth that economic empowerment for women can happen through small policy changes rather than radical change of economic systems. The numbers of worldwide economic inequality and corporate power are astounding. The revenues of Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, and Wal-Mart are higher than the gross domestic product of 110 countries, as an example. The statistics vary by year but in the last few years, the number of people at the top with the same amount of wealth as half of the world has reduced from around 60 to fewer than 10. Global capitalism, the privatization of everything, and corporate control of governments cannot persist if we are to achieve economic equality for women. Labor rights movements must be protected, unions must be protected, and corporate power must be challenged. Ideas to address some of this issues that are in the works include a global strike and strengthening labor rights movements through collaborative partnerships. After this session, I attended an event on Cities for CEDAW. It was wonderful to hear about the experiences of Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and New York City in passing CEDAW at the local government. My work with WomenNC writing my research report as served as an example of a gender analysis that is an essential part of the CEDAW process. Local governments should pass an ordinance establishing the principles of CEDAW, create an oversight body, conduct gender analysis research on the status of women and oppressed identities in their area, and allocate funding to support any resulting initiatives. We will be presenting at local Durham governments when we return and I hope to see Durham city and county adopt CEDAW. We ended the day at the NGO CSW 45^th birthday celebration, a fun but crowded event with a giant cake. I have been particularly interested to see how the international community views the United States especially since POTUS 45 took office. People at CSW are resisting U.S. policies. There is a movement to set out an empty chair at panels to represent women who were blocked by anti-migrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-refugee policies. And there is a call to end policies of xenophobia and authoritarianism. I proudly support the resistance against misogyny, patriarchy, transphobia, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, homophobia, corporate power, environmental destruction, ableism, and any other forms of oppression and harm against people and this earth.