Sessions Attended by Sue Calhoun

 Report prepared by NCWC Delegate Sue Calhoun:

 1) Monday, 12:30pm. Empowering Women as Change-Agents through Global Networking. This parallel event focused on the use of technology to empower girls and women. Open a Door Foundation (www.openadoorfoundation.org), for example, connects professional women in the US with young female leaders from post-conflict countries, and has been able to bring these young women to the US on full scholarships.  Bpeace (www.bpeace.org) connects aspiring entrepreneurs in conflict-affected countries with technical expertise from other parts of the world that they need to help them create significant employment, and expand the economic power of women. The objective is to reduce violence in communities, and “set a once troubled community on the path to prosperity and peace.” A third presenter represented Let Girls Lead (http://www.letgirlslead.org/), which empowers girls to lead social change that education, advocacy and storytelling. This session was quite lively, and inspired, I’m sure, a lot of ideas for how technology can be used to empower girls and women.

 2)   Monday, 2:30pm. “How does the New (Sustainable) Economy Advance Women’s Opportunities?” The moderator noted that since Beijing, women are increasingly “at the table” for economic development and global issues, although they have not necessarily been asking to “change the model.” The current economic model – which might be defined as “growth for growth’s sake” ­– is not sustainable, and has not necessarily worked well for women. The speakers addressed other economic models, such as social and solidarity economies. The Mondragon co-ops, started 50 years ago in the Basque region of Spain, and now employing people world-wide, was cited as one good example of an economic model that can work for women. 

   Tuesday, 13:15. Towards 2015 for African Women & Girls: Accelerating Implementation of the MDGs and Defining a Post-2015 Development Agenda and the African Agenda. This side-event included participation from high-level Ministers from Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Ghana as well as several UN officials, including the representative for the NGO CSW/Africa.  The African caucus is particularly interested in a post-2015 agenda for peace and security, especially for women, and a stand-alone MDG for economic empowerment for girls and women in Africa.  

4) Wednesday, 10:15. Cybersafe girl. This by-invitation event at Canada’s Permanent Mission was sponsored by Atlantic Canada's Status of Women Ministers. The purpose was to consult Canadian NGOs, to get feedback from women's groups as they move into Phase 2 of their CyberSafeGirl project. (http://www.cybersafegirl.ca/) In this phase, the website will be expanded to include information on hypersexualization of girls. There was excellent dialogue and good feedback given to the Atlantic Ministers. Everyone lauded the excellent cooperation between the four provinces, especially given that there were few resources available for this project.

5) Wednesday, 13:15. A side-event on Sex and Human Trafficking, organized by UN Women. Speakers were from the Philippines (where HT is rampant), Mexico, and Norway. The latter gave a presentation on the Nordic model, which has been in force in Sweden since 1999, and in Norway and Denmark 10 years later. An evaluation has just been carried out on impacts in Sweden, which have been very positive. Human Trafficking is the second fastest growing crime in the world.

   6) Thursday, 12:30. Promoting gender equality and empowering women in traditional societies (MDG #3). This was a lively screening of a new film, The Honor Diaries (http://www.honordiaries.com/oc-change). Three of the most insidious forms of violence against girls and women are female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour killings. All are very prevalent in Muslim-majority countries, as the film documents, but the reality is that all are being imported into countries like Canada, and being used as a cultural tool. Remember the three sisters and first wife murdered by their parents and brother in Kingston? Their story is included in the film. Very animated discussion followed.  

7) Thursday, 2:30. A parallel event called “Is Prostitution ‘sex work’?” Focused on the terminology and language used around the sex trade. All the presenters had lived experience, and were adamant that it’s not work, and it’s not a choice anyone makes. As Mary Scott noted in her report: “The term ‘sex work’ is problematic when referring to prostitution. It is violence against women and a human rights violation. Legitimizing prostitution as ‘work’ sanctions violence against women and girls as well as the inequality of women and girls. Referring to prostitution as ‘work’ ignores the fact so many women are trafficked into prostitution. Promoting prostitution as a ‘job’normalizes and legitimizes it as an employment option. It allows for enormous legal profits for the sex industry and tax revenues, generated from the exploitation of poor women.” Panelists referred to the website, Equality Now (www.equalitynow.org/) where there are a number of ways that individuals can get involved.

8)  IWD march at the end of the first week of the Commission on the Status of Women in NYC. Always a lot of fun!

-- Sue Calhoun