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: 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. 

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!

Home

As I landed in my bed yesterday morning, a mere 14 hours after leaving New York (on the second attempt, thanks to United Airlines' inability to count the number of seats on their planes), I was vaguely aware of a fleeting thought popping through my head before sleep took over.

Blogging.  I haven't written a post for nearly a week.

Dear readers, I am so sorry for my tardiness.  The last week has been an overwhelming, incredible, amazing and inspiring whirlwind, and I just don't know where to start telling you everything that has happened. 

Plus the internet in our hotel was terrible and kicked everyone off if more than about 3 people were using the wifi at the same time.

I fully intend to update you on everything we did, but please forgive me as I close my eyes now and try to pretend that a) I don't have A LOT of catching up on study to do (whoever said doing an MSc was a good idea is an evil person!) and b) I AM NOT JETLAGGED!

Thank you for your patience!

Much love,
Rx

Feminism

In the UK, Feminism is a dirty word.  It is a word that I think I actively avoid, and I would never have thought I would use it to define myself.

Yes, I wear DMs and have discovered I am incredibly passionate about lobbying and advocating for women's rights.  But I have never burned my bra (they're really expensive!) and I don't hate men. 

Being here at the UN's Commission on the Status of Women has really challenged my feelings about feminism.  I have spoken to so many women who are passionate about making a genuine difference to the lives of girls and women around the world.  They're not standing in the streets waving placards, burning their underwear and shouting about how women are better than men.  Instead, they are talking to people, having incredible conversations about the practical things that we CAN do to empower girls and women to change the way that society views them (us!)

These are women who work on a daily basis to enable girls and women to feel equal and to become equal.  Not just equal to men, but equal to one another. 

I am starting to realise that, by seeing feminism as a "dirty word", I am perpetuating that stereotype.  How are women ever going to be seen as equal when those of us who are fighting for that equality are stereotyping ourselves?! 

I don't know that I'm quite ready to label myself as a "feminist" - it is still a word that makes me uncomfortable.  But I am prepared to start thinking about my own definition of what this word means to me.  Even if I don't outwardly define myself as a feminist, maybe with time I will come to accept that there is a little bit of a one somewhere inside of me. 

I promise no underwear will be burned in the process.

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