Millennium Development Goals - 1000 days to go

Friday 5th April 2013

In 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted by UN member states, forming an internationally agreed blueprint to ensure everyone has access to basic human rights.

The MDGs aim to improve eight key areas affecting women and men, girls and boys, all over the world.  You can find out more about how the UN is working to achieve these goals on the UN Women website and here:

 Today, there are 1000 days left until the end of 2015, and the target date for achievement of the MDGs.

I will talk more about the MDGs and what will happen post-2015 in future posts, but for now, here is my inspiration for the weekend:

Let's do something awesome.  Let's change the world.

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: Voices Against Violence

Thursday 7th March 2013

(Or: How I spoke in a conference room full of people and then realised my flies were undone)

Today was a really special day for us as delegates, for WAGGGS and for the Stop the Violence campaign – today was the day we officially launched the Voices against Violence curriculum.

Emna speaking at our "Life Course" event

I headed to the UK NGO briefing while the rest of the group stayed at the hotel to do one final run-through of our dance for this afternoon's flash mob! When I got back, we split into two groups. One group stayed to make sure everything was ready for the curriculum launch while the other group went to an event where Emna (from Tunisia) was speaking about violence against girls in her country.

Emna's speech was wonderful – she talked about the different forms of violence that girls in her country face, and about the attitudes that girls have towards violence.  At the end of the speech, she got a standing ovation!  Andrea and I looked at each other and we both had tears pouring down our cheeks!  (You can read Emna's speech here!)  

WAGGGS Voices Against Violence Launch

 After the event, we all ran to the UN Headquarters for the Voices against Violence launch. We had special guest speakers – Mary Mc Phail, WAGGGS' Chief Executive, Kathleen Lynch, Irish Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People and Ahmed Alhindawi, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth. Hasiniaina, one of WAGGGS' Youth Delegates, also spoke about violence against girls and women in Madagascar and how her MO had piloted the curriculum.  The event was so popular we turned away over 100 people!  The room was so full that, again, there were people standing and sitting on the floor.  It was so full that I was very squashed in a corner of the room.  (I do wonder how much of this was strategically planned after my spectacular rage a couple of days previously!)

WAGGGS delegates demonstrating non-formal education

At the launch we also had a special performance by four WAGGGS delegates, showing what non-formal education on gender-based violence looks like.  At the end of the event, Michelle Bachelet came to speak about the curriculum and why non-formal education is so important to empower girls and young women. She also said that the Girl Guides are a force to be reckoned with (AND she was still wearing our wristband)!

Before she spoke, we were asked if anyone would like to talk about our experiences with the VAV syllabus.  Again, I stood up to speak about my wonderful Brownies and how fantastic they are.  As I stepped forward to the microphone, I realised Michelle was sitting at the front of the room.  I'd already committed, so had to follow through, but I started to realise something was wrong. I had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY!  As I looked around the room, I was aware of hundreds of eyes staring at me.  And Michelle Bachelet.  All waiting for me to say something.  In true Rosy-style, I opened my mouth and hoped that whatever came out of it would resemble something vaguely sensible.  I could hear myself speaking, but I honestly couldn't tell you what I was saying.  Do you know what was going through my head?  "Ohmygod-I'm-talking-in-a-room-at-the-UN-and-Michelle-Bachelet-is-looking-at-me!!"  aaaaaaaand breathe...  As I stepped back from the microphone, I realised something else.  My flies had come undone.  And the whole room could see my pants.  At least they were pretty, I suppose...!

WAGGGS Voices Against Violence Launch

On a complete high from the amazing launch event, we all headed across the road to a hotel where we met a lot of potential funders. My lovely friend Claire from New Zealand spoke about her experiences with introducing the curriculum to her Pippins (five - seven year olds).  On the first day of our training, Claire had told us how she was terrified of public speaking, so it was brilliant to see her speak in front of all of those WAGGGS supporters - I was so so proud of her!

WAGGGS Voices Against Violence Launch Reception

Halfway through the event, as we were all busy eating the lovely cheese and salad the hotel had laid on for us (well, I ate the salad.  Damn lactose intolerance), we heard a voice saying “I am one in ten million... I am one in ten million... I am one in ten million...”  This was our cue – if we were going to embarrass ourselves at all during this trip, this was our time. 

As we all walked towards the front of the room saying “I am one in ten million”, hundreds of eyes turned to watch us and silence descended.  Suddenly, our music started and the dance we had been practicing all week began.  I'd spent the whole week trying to learn the moves from a post-it note, and despite being the shortest (I think), strategically hid myself at the back.  As it turned out, we were (mostly) in time with each other, I didn't fall over or punch myself (or anyone else) in the face, and our guests seemed to really enjoy it, so all-in-all, a success!  [There is a video, but I don't have a copy.  I'll try and find one for you!

After all of our guests had left, we headed across a couple of blocks the second young women's caucus.  There were about 30 young women at this second event, and we looked at the first draft of the Agreed Conclusions and recommended changes that we would like to see. This was a great opportunity to find out what other young women had been doing at CSW, and to speak about different forms of violence in our own countries. 

This was yet another opportunity to find out about "real life" situations that girls and young women face every single day.  I forget sometimes just how lucky I am to be a young woman in the UK, to be able to take contraception, to talk openly about sex (and to have it if I want), to choose who I will marry (or not - whatever we decide), to be able to work, to travel, to wear what I choose to wear...  This evening it really starting to sink in that millions of girls and young women are relying on us to make that difference happen, and what that difference could actually look like.  

I left the caucus that evening, excited and ready for whatever the final day at CSW would bring us.  And definitely not scared any more.  I can do anything.

CSW57 Update: Girl Child

Wednesday 6th March 2013

(Or: how I made the UK say the Girl Guides are fantastic!)

Today didn't exactly turn out as planned. I was hoping to go along to quite a few parallel events to work on lobbying on my subject group's topic (relationship and psychological violence).

However, I started the day by going to the UK NGO briefing, where we heard about how the formal discussions were going. We were told that there were a number of contentious issues which were at risk of being removed from the agreed conclusions completely. Included in this was all mention of girls, education and empowering boys and men, all of which are key elements of WAGGGS' nine calls to action, so this was a potential disaster!  At the end of the briefing, I ran back to the hotel where Andrea and I started to formulate a plan.

Since I had already missed my first event of the day, I decided I needed some down time.  Slouching infront of the TV in our hotel room, I ended up watching CNN's coverage of the Jodi Arias murder trial.  Having not really recovered from yesterday's anger at the EU, and subsequently not really slept, I started to really miss home and the non-biased-ness of BBC news.  The intensity of the previous three days had really started to hit me, so I was glad to have some space to myself for an hour or so.  (I may have also cracked open my secret stash of Cadbury's chocolate - sssshhh, don't tell anyone!)  It was lovely to be able to step out of the UN-bubble for a while, but I was glad to climb back into it before too long!

At lunch time, I went to a side event run by the National Association of Women's Organisations (NAWO),  where four members of NAWO's Youth Delegation (who I met at the UK NGO Reception - they were awesome!) spoke.  Of all the parallel events I attended this week, this was absolutely my favourite.  The speakers were so confident, and it was fantastic to hear such inspiring speeches from young women and men (that makes me sound really old.  I'm not old.  I just wouldn't have had the confidence I had when I was their age.  These guys were 17, and they were incredible!)

During the afternoon, I had planned to attend a joint UK and Netherlands side event about changing young people's attitudes towards violence, so I ran to the UN Headquarters to make sure I picked up a ticket on time.  When I got there, 45 minutes before the event, to find out all the tickets had already gone, I had no idea what to do.  I needed to get in to that event to find out how the UK and Netherlands were going to make sure the girl child was discussed and included in the Agreed Conclusions.  

Just before the stress properly kicked in, my saviour came along in the form of Annette Lawson, chair of NAWO, who had two spare tickets.  I just about managed to restrain from giving her a giant bear-hug before sprinting to the conference room.  For someone with a lifelong fear of exercise, I have done a lot of running this week...  Anyway, the event was so popular, I nearly got squashed on my way into the room, but I was going to get a seat at the table if I had to fight may way to it!

We heard about a number of different initiatives used in the UK and the Netherlands to engage young people and make them aware of what violence is, and it was really interesting to look at the different approaches used in the two countries. Lynne Featherstone, a UK Minister in DfID, spoke about the UK's “this is abuse” campaign.  She played the videos (also this one) and I tried very hard to hide my frustrations.  I mean, I get what they're trying to do, and yes, the videos are really hard to watch.  I get that.  There's just something that really bothers me.  Can anyone tell me what it is, 'cause I really can't work it out! 

When the time for questions came, I had my hand up first (surprised?) and asked what the UK and the Netherlands positions on the inclusion of the girl child in the agreed conclusions was.  The response from both ministers was really positive - they both absolutely supported it, which was a huge confidence boost. We also asked how governments would support NGOs in delivering non-formal education programmes (or something along those lines) and, completely un-prompted, Lynne Featherstone said that she thinks the Girl Guides are a fantastic organisation and that we do great things! WIN!

After this event, I rushed back to the hotel to debrief Andrea on the day and what I had heard about the discussions so that she could pass this on to Mary McPhail (WAGGGS' Chief Executive) and the rest of the WAGGGS' team.  Today was the first day I properly realised the importance of what we're doing here.  It's all very well attending lots of parallel events, talking to lots of people, even asking lots of questions.  But if the people who are actually in the discussions and negotiations aren't there, they're never going to know what you want.  Today really showed me that, although Governments might not always be talking about the things you need them to be talking about, they'll never know that's what you need unless you tell them and then hold them to account for it.  

After yesterday's anger, today I really felt like I could do anything.  Today my life changed.  Again.   
 

Ps.  Sorry for the lack of photos - it was one of those days.  Tomorrow there will be something special.  It has something to do with this. 

Keep reading! Rx 

CSW57 Update: STOP The Tide

Tuesday 5th March 2013

(Or: how I got very angry at the EU)

This morning started bright and early as I got up, put on my green (for girls) tights, a skirt and my "Stop the Violence" kit, and headed to Starbucks for a last-minute run-through of the speech I was to be giving this morning.  

After a super-large cup of tea and the biggest slice of cinnamon bread I have EVER seen I headed across to the UN Church Center.  The butterflies were flapping away on overtime (blame the cake!) and I think I went to the toilet at least three times within the space of half an hour (sorry - toilet chat), but eventually it was 10.30am.  The room was full of people - not just in seats, but standing at the back and sitting on the floor as well!

This was a joint parallel event run by WAGGGS and Soroptimists International called “STOP The Tide: Tackling Adolescent Dating Violence”.  We started with a presentation by a lady from the US Government about her work tackling Trafficking, which was really interesting but I'm not sure I heard much of as I tried to ignore the butterflies, the number of people in the room, and the fact that I'd put my tights on backwards (don't ask!)

All too quickly, I heard my introduction - Fiona, one of WAGGGS' Youth Delegation Coordinators, was chairing the panel - and so I stood up and walked over to the microphone.  It wasn't until I got there that I realised I wasn't wearing my shoes.  Oh well, no turning back now.

Karaoke, UN-Style

As I started to speak, I realised the room had gone quiet.  As had the butterflies.  After a couple of seconds, the nerves had disappeared and I was starting to enjoy myself.  I knew what I was talking about and I recognised at least 10 of the people in the audience from the previous night's NGO reception.  I was aware of the reactions I was getting, particularly to a very un-childproof extract from 50 Shades of Grey, and they were exactly as I was expecting.  *phew*
 
I spoke about the issue of teen dating violence from a UK perspective, focussing on sexting and the impact of the media, particularly films, on creating stereotypes. I also spoke about why non-formal education is key to empowering girls and young women, giving examples of the work my Brownies did during our pilot of WAGGGS' Voices Against Violence syllabus. 

Signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships

After my speech, we ran an activity from the Voices syllabus, asking participants to look at a picture they had been given when they arrived and to decide whether it showed a sign of a healthy or unhealthy relationship.  We then heard about Soroptimist International's Live Your Dream campaign and the Take Back the Tech! campaign.  

The event was a massive success – I'm not sure how many people attended, but I was told afterwards that somewhere between 60 and 100 people were turned away because there was no space in the room.  I'm so glad I didn't know that beforehand! 

The biggest thing I was most nervous about on this trip was how I would respond if anyone asked me questions – I always worried that I would stutter and say something stupid. But that didn't happen, and I felt really confident speaking as part of the panel, so that was a huge confidence-boost!  I talked about my amazing Brownie unit so much, I'm sure everyone at the UN is sick of hearing about this small group of young girls in Edinburgh, but I don't care.  Those girls were absolutely the inspiration I needed to keep me going when things got tough.  They also gave me great examples of why non-formal education is ACE!

Some Gender/ Equality MEPs

After this event, I went to an EU NGO meeting with some MEPs and a discussion session with one of the EU Negotiators.  At the first meeting, my challenge was to sit directly opposite the Chair and stare at him until he looked at me, and then not break eye contact.  I'm not entirely sure why I decided this was a good strategy, but it definitely got me noticed, and when it came to question time, my hand was up and I got the first question in. 

The session with the negotiator was really interesting, although I started to get really frustrated because the EU only refers to "violence against women" and doesn't mention girls.  When I asked about this (obviously I got the first question in again!), I was told the EU wouldn't be discussing girls seperately to women because there were existing agreements in place that relate to girls.  And here began the anger!

Some more Equality MEPs

My final session of the day was an EU Side Event (these are events run by member states or the UN) in the UN Headquarters called “Comprehensive Strategies to tackle Domestic Violence”, where six EU ministers spoke. The session was really interesting, but I had noticed that the EU only talks about violence against women and doesn't mention girls at all. I also noticed that they didn't say anything about tackling the root causes of domestic violence, one of which is adolescent dating violence. So I stood up and asked them why. The response was that they only recognise male and female, and not woman/girl or man/boy. They ignored my question about teen dating violence, and we later found out that this was because the EU is doing nothing tackle this issue. I got very angry and spent the rest of the evening being really frustrated! 

Apparently, this is something I'm pretty passionate about!

CSW57 Update: Monday 4th March 2013

Monday 4th March 2013

(Or: how I'm sick of static electricity)

I should probably explain myself.  I'm not sure why, or what it is about me, but literally everything I touch in New York gives me a static shock.  It was funny for about the first 2 hours, but I've now been in New York over a week and have found myself doing some really weird things (like rubbing my feet on the carpet, and doing everything as fast as I can) before opening doors/ climbing into bed/ switching on a light...  I'm starting to think I'm going insane, and anyone watching me will definitely be considering calling the men in white coats.

Anyway, apart from my slightly bizarre behaviour, today has been an incredible mixture of completely amazing and completely overwhelming. 

My day started early, as a few of us headed out to collect our CSW handbooks.  In an attempt to convince myself it wasn't time to get up, I just put on my jeans and a hoody over my pj's.  Note to self - when going out anywhere near the UN, this is NOT a good idea.  You will feel like a complete idiot when you're standing in a lift with delegates and people you should be lobbying, trying to fix the mop of hair you haven't brushed for 3 days (I *really* should find my hairbrush).  After all that, our mission failed anyway - despite it only being 8.15am, the handbooks had already disappeared. 

Finally here and feeling like a delegate!

After a shower and a cup of tea, I headed over to the UN Headquarters to take notes at the first session of the Commission on the Status of Women.  It wasn't until I was standing in the queue for security that I realised this session would be the Opening Session, in the General Assembly!  Most of the sessions would be held in separate conference rooms, so to be able to attend the GA without having to pay for a tour absolutely made up for the fact I'd only had 5 hours sleep! 

I made it into the viewing balcony of the General Assembly with seconds to go before the speeches started.  The session was opened by the Chairwoman, and we heard from the Deputy Secretary General, Michelle Bachelet (she's still wearing our wristband!) and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.  Member states and regional blocks (groups of countries who had formed alliances) were then invited to give their statements and to outline their positions on gender based violence. 

Proof that I really was there!

About half an hour into this session, I had the sudden realisation that I was sitting in the General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters listening to world leaders and decision-makers speaking about an enormous global issue affecting billions of women and girls.  Thinking back, that seems like a pretty daft realisation, given all of the work I'd done in the run-up to this trip.  But at the time, it didn't feel like such a big thing.  There are no words to describe how immense being in that room felt.  This was the point at which I realised my life was about to change.  I knew at this point that my existing life and career plans were about to go in the bin, and a new plan was being formed.  Pretty overwhelming for 10.30am on a Monday morning!

I spent three hours sitting in the General Assembly, too scared to leave incase I missed something important, and too engrossed in the discussions to realise I was desperate for the toilet (sorry, more toilet chat!).  When I got back to my room, fortunately right next to the HQ, I found myself sitting on the bathroom floor, sobbing into my knees.  This was partly caused by the electric shock(s) I got from my laptop.  But mostly, I think, it was the result of being so tired and completely overwhelmed.

I don't want you to think that I spent my whole week in New York a miserable wreck.  It was quite the opposite infact.  I just want you to know that this trip was NOT a holiday.  It is impossible to describe the intense mixture of emotions we were all feeling during this week.  Even though it was only day 4, we had already put so much effort into getting to this moment, that finally reaching it was like a huge weight had lifted from our shoulders.

A WAGGGS delegate has already been here!

After a few minutes, I gave myself a shake, washed my face, uploaded a picture of the General Assembly onto Facebook, and headed out to my first Parallel Event (these are events run by NGOs in buildings outside the UN Headquarters).  We heard five university students from North Carolina talk about their specific research areas: Domestic Violence, Education and Empowerment; Rape Culture in Society and the Media; Human Trafficking Legislation and Policy; Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women; and Engaging Men and Boys.  At our training, we were told about a WAGGGS delegate from the previous year who made it her mission to ask a question at every session she attended.  I thought I'd never be able to do that!  But this morning, something had changed.  So at the end of the presentations, I found my hand sticking up in the air, and all of a sudden there was a microphone in my face.  I felt like I was watching someone else as I stood up, introduced myself and asked a question about non-formal education.  It was almost as if something in my brain had woken up and said "ok, this is it - mission: accepted". 

At the end of the event, I ran back to the hotel to get ready for the Young Women's Caucus (I did a lot of running today!)

The YW Caucus is jointly organised by WAGGGS and the World YWCA, and is a group of young women who meet to focus on policy discussion, advocacy action and networking with decision makers at CSW.  Any young women attending CSW are invited to come along, and at this first session there were about 30 of us!  Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for very long as I had to go to another event, but I believe the first meeting was a success.

Sir Mark Lyall Grant at the UK NGO Reception

My final event of the day was an NGO reception held by the UK's Permanent Mission to the UN.  This was really my big opportunity to lobby decision-makers and to tell the UK about WAGGGS' Calls to Action.  Before going to New York, I had sent a lot of emails to people from the UK who had attended last year's CSW.  I was so glad I had done this as I arrived at the Permanent Mission wearing my formal Girlguiding UK uniform and was instantly recognised as "the girl guide".  I met so many incredible women this evening, by the time I left the Mission, I was absolutely buzzing.  (This has nothing to do with the 2 glasses of wine I had).  I was so inspired and felt so supported by this group of women, and I realised that I could channel the emotion I had felt earlier in the day to help me through the week.

By the time I arrived back at the hotel, I was exhausted, but very excited to catch up with the rest of the team and find out if their day had been as intense as mine.  (They had!)

CSW57 Update: Training

On Thursday 28th February, I met up with the rest of the WAGGGS Youth Delegation.  There were 11 of us from all over the world (the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Zambia, The Netherlands and Tunisia!) and 3 delegation coordinators (from New Zealand, Malawi and Malta) and after 4 months of trainings and chatting online, it was great to finally meet everyone!

Thursday was really chilled out - a few of us went for lunch with Pippa, one of last year's WAGGGS delegates who was in NYC for a couple of days.  In the evening, we did a few icebreakers and started to get to know everyone for real!

Friday and Saturday were our training days, where we would find out more about what we will be doing at CSW.  We started by drawing our individual advocacy journey - the journey that got me to where I am today.  This really made me think about what I have achieved since I joined Girlguiding UK as a shy 5 year old who was scared of people, 21 years ago! Here is my advocacy journey:

My Advocacy Journey

WAGGGS delegates hard at work

I've forgotten what order we did everything in now, but other things we did on Friday included: role-playing how we would use every opportunity to lobby decision-makers (such as how to get your message across when you're standing in a lift with them, or at different types of function or event); what the different expectations of us, as individuals, from our member organisations, and from WAGGGS, are; a reminder of WAGGGS' 9 calls to action; and a discussion about the first draft of the agreed conclusions for CSW57 - this is basically the output document that is being negotiated here, and that all countries will (hopefully) agree to at the end of the conference.

There are no good pictures of my presentation - this is the best

We also heard individual presentations from half of the delegation about the issues relating to violence against girls in their countries.  We have each agreed to carry out a project following CSW, relating to an issue within our own country, so these presentations also discussed everyone's potential project ideas.  I was first to give my presentation (mainly because I got distracted by something else and forgot to add my name to the list) so it was nice to get it out of the way!  At this point, the plan was that my project would focus on the issue of sexting, and the use of social media to perpetrate violence against girls and women.  This has subsequently changed - more details will come as I gradually formulate clearer thoughts and start to discuss my ideas within the UK...  Watch this space!

GS USA Headquarters

Our first day of training was held at the Girl Scouts of the USA headquarters, and while we were there we met some Junior Girl Scouts.  It was really exciting to be able to tell them about Guiding and Scouting in our countries, and what our favourite thing about being part of WAGGGS is.  They were so interested, and it really started the amazing week to come on a high note!

 

The MASSIVE CSW57 banner outside the UN HQ

Saturday was just a half day of training, and we spent the morning looking at how we were going to lobby and get the message out about what we're doing at CSW.  Halfway through the morning, we got our first chance to visit the UN Headquarters!  As we stood in the queue to go through security, we could all feel the excitement growing.  There were signs and banners everywhere, and there was even a security queue specifically for CSW participants.  All of a sudden, this began to feel very real!

The final hour of our training became even more exciting as we realised it was starting to snow.  Half of our delegation had never seen snow before, so there was a little bit of chaos as everyone ran to the windows to take pictures and stare at the tiny flakes of white (I'm not even sure we'd have seen them if we weren't on the 25th floor of our hotel!) 

By the end of the training days, we were all inspired and ready to go and change the world:

Me and my advocacy kit!

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!

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