CSW57 Update: International Womens' Day

Friday 8th March 2013

(Or: How I unexpectedly appeared live on US TV.  And still haven't found my hairbrush)

Last night, we had a proper snow storm, and by the time we woke up there was a blizzard! There was so much snow, it was covering the pavements faster than it was being swept up!  Half of our delegation had never seen snow before, so it was really exciting to see their reactions!

Snow in the Big Apple

Sameem Ali

In the morning I headed to my last UK NGO briefing, which was followed by an event called “Lessons Learned”. This was the event I had been most excited about attending as one of the speakers was Sameem Ali, a survivor of Forced Marriage. Before I went to CSW, I had read Sameem's book, Belonging, and we had spoken over the phone, so I was really looking forward to hearing her speak about her experiences. She has really inspired me, and while I was listening to her speak I began to form an idea of what I want to do following CSW.

After the event, I went to the UN for the last time, this time to visit the shop.  The UN has its own post office and UN stamps, so of course I had to send some postcards!

In the afternoon, four of us had won tickets to a preview of 10x10's Girl Rising, a series of 9 documentaries about 9 girls in developing countries who have overcome horrendous situations to get an education. This was held in the Nasdaq building at Times Square, which meant we had to leave the UN-bubble for the first time all week - that was a bit of a culture shock!  

When we arrived at the Nasdaq building, we were taken up to the screening room where the Producer introduced the film.  Before the opening credits had even finished, I was in floods of tears.  We watched the first three documentaries, and I could've stayed all afternoon if a lady with a radio-mic came to rush us "to the bells".  

We were all slightly perplexed about what she meant - bells!?  We followed her downstairs and were taken into what looked like a TV studio.  Yep, that's right - what we hadn't been told before the event was that, to celebrate International Womens' Day, we would be broadcast live across the USA on the Closing Bell Ceremony.  

A frantic attempt to fix my hair (I still haven't found my hairbrush!), and to make myself look slightly less like I'd fallen out of a washing basket, didn't make much difference, but it was too late.  Just before 4pm, we were invited on stage where we had to stand and wave at the cameras for what felt like an eternity.  I was vaguely aware of the music getting louder and louder as the countdown to 4pm started, but all I could think of was how flappy my upper arms are, and that the whole of the US was about to see them, live on Fox, ABC and CNN news.  Great!

Ringing in the Nasdaq Closing Bell

After the bells had rung and we were recovering from our shock (WHAT just happened?!), we went out to Times Square.  Not only had we been broadcast live on national TV, we were almost projected live across Times Square!!  You can see the photos and videos on the Nasdaq website. 

The final few hours of the afternoon were spent together in a delegation evaluation session, where we looked at our group objectives (we'd achieved about two thirds of them), what we would change/ keep the same in future years, how the week had gone, and our personal achievements.

I found it really difficult to pick one specific personal highlight. When I left for CSW I was worried I wouldn't know enough, would get really nervous and would let the team down. However, once I started speaking to people, I realised that I do know things, and I can speak about the issues and I don't sound like a complete idiot. I felt so confident during CSW (more than I think I've ever felt in my life) that I could stand up in-front of a room of people and that it didn't matter who they were; it didn't matter if they were listening or not – I had the confidence to say what was important to me and why, and to stand up for all of the girls and women who don't have that opportunity.

Dinner in a real American diner!

The end of the evaluation really marked the end of our time together as a delegation.  In the evening, we were taken on a minibus tour of New York, and then went for dinner in a proper American diner. We got back to the hotel really late at night (the minibus broke down halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge...) and had to start saying goodbye as people prepared to leave early the following morning.  

  

CSW57 Update: Teen Orientation Day

Sunday 3rd March 2013

(Or: how I shared the same toilet cubicle as Michelle Bachelet)

Teen Orientation day is organised by the Working Group on Girls (WGG), an NGO Committee which works at the UN.  WAGGGS were asked to provide some facilitators to help prepare all of the teen delegates for their CSW57 experience, so I volunteered to help.  The previous Monday I attended a webinar - an online training session - to find out more about the activities we would be running with the participants, so in theory I had had nearly a week to prepare and make sure I knew the plan.  (In reality, I did a Rosy and winged it - and it was GREAT!)

Half of the WAGGGS delegation had volunteered to facilitate, so we arrived at a New York high school early (7.30am!) on this Sunday morning to help set up and to work out where everything was.  I was to be facilitating with a lovely young woman from the Bronx, New York, called Gina.  We hit it off straight away, and it was great to have someone to work with who had such different experiences to my own.

The day started with an introduction by the girl volunteers with WGG who had helped to plan and organise the day.  This was followed by a story about peace which I thought was really beautiful and helped me to put what we were about to do into perspective.  This isn't the exact version we heard, but hopefully you get the picture:

"A dove and a coal mouse are sitting on the branch of a tree, watching the snow fall. The dove asks, “How much does a snowflake weigh?” The coal mouse answers, “Nothing more than nothing.” The two birds watch the snowflakes fall for some time more, until the moment a particular one settles on their branch, breaking their perch. As the dove flies away, it thinks to itself, “Maybe all that’s needed in the world for peace is one more voice.”"

After the opening remarks, we went to our classrooms to meet our groups.  Gina and I were working with a group of about 25 girls aged between 13 and 18 years old.  They came from all over the USA, so it was really interesting to hear their opinions and their experiences.  They were all so willing to share and they were SO engaged in our activities, which really inspired me to try my hardest during the week to make sure their voices were represented and being listened to.

During the morning sessions, we talked about what violence is and started to develop our own definition of violence:

Our definition of Violence

Halfway through the morning, we told the girls they were going to hear an inspirational speaker.  As we headed back to the auditorium I went to the toilet (there is a point to this story - please keep reading!).  I got to the front of the queue and who came out of the next cubicle but Michelle Bachelet - Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women!  Needless to say, I was too excited that I was about to use the same toilet cubicle as her to actually put any of our training into practice.  I'm not sure lobbying someone in the queue for the toilet is a good idea anyway.  

Michelle Bachelet

Ms Bachelet (I've got so used to just calling her Michelle, but I feel this early in the week I should still be formal.  Especially after almost embarrassing myself in the toilet queue) gave a really inspiring speech - I can't remember what she talked about now, but I know she really pushed the fact that empowering girls and young women is essential to ending violence against women and girls (VAWG).  Three of our delegates stood up and asked questions, and Kumbukani from Malawi gave her one of our Stop the Violence campaign wristbands.  She also signed a WAGGGS pledge card to say that she will speak out for girls rights!

After lunch, we went back into our groups to talk about Advocacy.  The girls made some incredible posters of things they wanted to tell the UN - I'm going to let them speak for themselves:

 

Our final speaker was Michael Kaufman, founder of the White Ribbon Campaign - the world's largest movement of men and boys working to end violence against women and girls.  The only thing I could think throughout his speech was "WOW"!  This man in incredible!  He told us all about White Ribbon, how it started, what they do, and why men and boys need to be part of the solution.  It felt amazing to know that this battle isn't just being fought by women, and for all the talk of men being perpetrators, there is a huge group of men and boys out there who are on our side.  This really made me think of all the men and boys in my life and how grateful I am that they are so supportive and caring towards the women in their lives.  (I got a bit emotional at this point!)

At the end of the day, we walked back to our hotel.  After such an amazing day, everyone seemed pretty overwhelmed and we were all already exhausted even though it was only the start of the week. 

Why am I in New York??

I guess before I go any further with this adventure, I should explain why I am here in New York.

I have been selected to be one of 11 youth delegates attending the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on behalf of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). This event will be held at the UN headquarters in New York at the start of March 2013. CSW is the body that focuses on gender equality at the United Nations, and every year, representatives of UN Member States gather to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

WAGGGS sends a delegation of young women to CSW to ensure the voices of girls and young women are heard at the UN. Each year the CSW focuses on particular gender equality issues. This year Member States will discuss the ‘elimination and prevention of forms of violence against women and girls.’

In the UK, my Brownie unit took part in the pilot of WAGGGS' Stop the Violence Campaign non-formal education syllabus, Voices Against Violence. Over five weeks, we looked at issues such as gender stereotyping, personal space and bullying. We did lots of discussion activities and games, and we had a visitor from Edinburgh Women's Aid who talked to us about the work that they do with female victims of violence.

My Brownies' thoughts about what can hurt girls

My Brownies' ideas about personal space

Violence against girls and women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights around the world. For example:

• UN Women estimates that up to six out of ten girls and women globally will be subject to violence or abuse in their lifetime
• Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of injury and death to girls and women aged between 15 and 44 worldwide
• 60 million girls are sexually assaulted at or on their way to school each year
• Women and girls constitute 80 per cent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, with the majority trafficked for sexual exploitation
• More than 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18
• In post-conflict and disaster situations girls and women are at high risk of violence and sexual assault

There are no global campaigns dedicated to ending violence in all its forms against girls and young women, and this is one of the reasons that WAGGGS, representing over 10 million girl guides and girl scouts in 145 member organisations around the world, has to take action.

If you have not already visited the campaign website, please go to www.stoptheviolencecampaign.com to add your voice to the global call to action. You can also find out more about the campaign and what WAGGGS are doing around this subject, and follow me here for more information about our lobbying efforts at CSW!

Rx

Four internet-free days

Sunday 24^th – Wednesday 27^th February 2013

So, it's been a while! I hope you are well – we have a lot of catching up to do!

I will miss things out, purely for your sanity (and my terrible memory), but here is a very brief overview of my first four days here in the Big Apple.

Me, terrified, at (nearly the top of) the Empire State Building!

Sunday was a totally manic day – we decided to go and explore the local area, our main objectives being to buy New York City Passes and to see Times Square. As it turned out, we achieved both of these things and more, all before 2pm (when we went back to the hotel and promptly fell asleep!) Due to some disastrous map-reading on my part (which is impressive considering NYC is built in straight lines), we completely bypassed Times Square and found ourselves at the south end of Central Park, having visited the Empire State Building, NY Public Library, the Chrysler Building AND Grand Central Station en route. Once we'd fought our way through the hordes of horse-drawn carriages and pigeons, we found a map and realised what we thought was Broadway was actually 6^th Avenue. Luckily we were close enough that we could walk back to the hotel along the right road, so we managed to visit Times Square before going to Macy's (that was particularly traumatic – whoever decided disco music, fluorescent lights and make-up counters was a good idea is just mean) for giant pizza and sugar-cinnamon bagels. After all the excitement, what we needed most was a trip up the Empire State building – I was traumatised enough, so the thought of being 86 storeys above ground level didn't faze me at all! I think in total today we walked about 8 miles, so I was glad to get back to the hotel for a lie down!

Me & Lady Liberty- my ears were cold

On Monday, we were hoping to visit Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty but these have been closed since Hurricane Sandy hit at the end of 2012, so instead we took a 2 hour cruise around the south of Manhattan, passing the Statue of Liberty, the Financial District, and turning at the UN Headquarters. I managed to position myself right at the front of the boat, so had the best view (which was awesome apart from the fact it was FREEZING!) After we'd warmed up with lunch at Subway, we went to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for a couple of hours. The art was great, but my favourite thing about MoMa was the Security Guards – they all seem to have a really wicked sense of humour – hiding behind installations and jumping out at each other, high-fiving small children and generally having fun! We walked home down 5^th Avenue and saw all the shops and a true representation of what NYC is like at rush hour!

LOOK!  NEW YORK!!

Tuesday, we had decided, would be a lazy day with a well-deserved lie-in. So of course I woke up at 4am. I gave up trying to sleep by 6am so instead enjoyed a couple of hours sitting in the hotel lobby working on a presentation I will be giving next week. After breakfast, we walked to Central Park where we visited the John Lennon memorial (Strawberry Fields) and then carried on to the American Museum of Natural History. We went to the planetarium and then wandered round the very random collection of installations – we liked the dinosaurs best. We left mid-afternoon to walk back through Central Park to the Rockefeller Center. Since I went up the Empire State Building, I didn't really have an excuse not to visit Top of the Rock, so after a Starbucks, we took the lift up 70-something storeys to the outdoor viewing platform. The views were incredible, and it was nice to be able to see Central Park as well as the Empire State Building. We walked up to the very top, which had even more amazing views but I didn't like because the fences were only waist-height. After some faffing around in the shop at the top, we walked back out onto the viewing platform to find that the sun was setting, so we hung around to see the lights of NYC – AMAZING!!

The lights of NYC

Alice In Wonderland - Central Park

Wednesday was the day I discovered my waterproof jacket is not waterproof. This was the day we walked 60 blocks to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), so I spent half of the day dripping everywhere. The Met is HUGE – I am pretty sure no-one has ever actually seen the whole thing in one day. We spent about 1.5 hours in one section before realising a) we were hungry, b) the cafeteria was on the other side of the museum, and c) we'd only done one corner of one (of three) levels. While we were having lunch, we planned our strategy and decided the best approach would be to just visit the sculpture, weapons and Egyptian exhibitions. Even that took the best part of 5 hours, so we were glad when we left that it had stopped raining and we could walk home via the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

So, a very brief overview of four very manic few days in New York City.

Tomorrow – a taxi ride, a new hotel, meeting some wonderful people and the real reason I am in the Big Apple!

Rx

Planes and Trains and Automobiles

Saturday 23^rd February 2013

So I finally finished packing. At 2am. After an eventful and hectic few weeks, I finally collapsed into my bed knowing that there was nothing left to do but sleep.

Until 5am, when I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock. I don't know why I do it, but whenever I travel I think it's a great idea to get the first flight of the day. For some reason, I always forget that a 9am flight means leaving our flat at 6am, to get to the airport, to check in and then spend an hour or so wandering around the shops just to keep myself awake long enough to board the plane.

We arrived at Edinburgh Airport at 7am, which (we thought) would give us just enough time to check in, drop our rucksacks at the oddly-shaped-luggage desk, get through security and go to Boots to buy the last few things I'd forgotten to pack, before boarding our flight at 8.15.

It all went smoothly (we'll ignore the fact that my rucksack was 1kg over the weight allowance – told you I'm bad at packing!), until we arrived at our gate. We sat down, exhausted by the rush of the previous couple of hours but knowing that in just a few minutes we'd be able to settle into our seats on the plane. Half an hour later, we were still sitting there. Just after 9am, when we should have been taxi-ing down the runway, we were still waiting. A short while later, an announcement came over the tannoy that our flight was delayed due to a “small technical fault”. Now, the last time I was given that reason for a delayed flight, five fire engines followed the plane down the runway as we came in to land. Excuse me for not being particularly filled with confidence at this point.

Two hours later, we finally boarded the plane. The technical fault – a leaking toilet.

Our flight was relatively uneventful – I think the highlight was probably the hilarity (caused by a mixture of over-exhaustion and being 35,000ft above sea level) that ensued whilst trying to work out the difference between the grapes that came with my meal (labelled vegan) and those which came with my boyfriend's meal (labelled Hindu. Ironic considering his meal was beef).

We landed at Newark Liberty International Airport at about 1.30pm and an hour later, after queueing in the hottest arrivals hall I have ever experienced, we passed through immigration to find our rucksacks sitting in the middle of the baggage reclaim hall being watched by two very lovely American security guards. I'm not sure how, considering we were among the first people off the plane, but we were the last people from our flight to come through immigration and the security guys were bored of watching our bags travelling on their own around the carousels. Phew!

From the airport, we took a train to New York's Penn Station. The train (which we had to wait an hour for – more waiting!) was a double decker train, and of course we decided the top deck was a good place to sit with our 70litre rucksacks. Note to self- the stairs on those trains are not wide enough for me, my rucksack and my hand luggage! 

On the train from the airport looking exhausted.  The label is a luggage label which got stuck in my hair somewhere between Edinburgh and Newark.  It stayed there until bedtime!

Most of the journey is through the industrial flatlands of New Jersey, until you enter a tunnel and all of a sudden you are at Madison Square Gardens – this took both of us by surprise! I'm not sure we were quite ready to arrive in New York, so when we walked out of the train station after 16 hours of travelling, we both just stood and stared like small children in an old fashioned sweet shop!

New York is SO TALL!

We giggled like school children all the way to our hotel, Hotel Wolcott, where we finally managed to collapse – we have arrived!

We wanted to try and stay awake for as long as we could to stave of the inevitable jetlag, so went out to try and find somewhere to eat. Just one block from our hotel there is a deli. Those of you in Edinburgh – imagine a cross between Peckhams and the Mosque kitchen. It's an amazing mixture of all sorts of fancy snacks, biscuits, crisps, wine and beer around the outside, with international food service counters in the middle!

Long story short - I was asleep by 7.30pm!