By Eileen Burns SNDdeN; Executive Director, Notre Dame Education Center, Lawrence, MA,
US. When you take a tour at the United Nations, they explain to you that you are no longer in any country but are standing in international territory owned by all of the nations. It struck me forcefully how needed the UN is to have a spot-on earth dedicated to conversations, to dialogue leading to actions in the pursuit of peace. The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women was held in New York from March 13th to the 24th and about 8,000 delegates came from across the planet to participate. The theme was “Women in the Changing World of Work.” We are so blessed to be an accredited non-governmental organization at the UN, and Sr. Grace Amarachi Ezeonu is representing us well. I was able to attend plenary sessions in the General Assembly hall as well as multiple parallel events sponsored by many countries and side events sponsored by civil society organizations. It was a great gift for me to attend and I encourage others among us to consider participating next year.
There is a place Ideas and actions tried were shared
That defies boundaries Many faiths, no faith, women gathered
Where all are invited The Spirit moves within
To show their face The dreams that were dared
Women gathered at the UN How long, O God, how long?
Coming from near and far Till strong women, weak women, all women
To focus on gender equality Are valued and cherished
And ask how and when For who they are as they sing their song
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Gabriell Pascarella and Nahnsejay Mouwon are both Student Nurses at the Seton Hall University-College of Nursing, South Orange, NJ, USA.
By Gabriell Pascarella: My experience attending the United Nations 61st Commission on the Status of Women was definitely one that I will never forget. We were greeted by the many waving flags representing countries from all over the world. Once inside the UN we viewed our first exhibit. There was a wall of accomplishments made by women. Its purpose was to show advancing women’s leadership and its importance. Along with this wall of accomplishments, were the photos of the many strong women around the world. After viewing this exhibit we were able to attend some separate side events.
The first side event we attended had to do with the effects that alcohol has on women both physically and emotionally. In this session, we listened as representatives from the country of Botswana talked about different ways in which they are combatting this problem. The speakers discussed the linkage between alcohol and violence, as well as the linkage between alcohol and HIV. Some of the statistics they shared were very eye opening. Most of those affected are young women. Attending this side event made it clear that there are many issues going on in the world that we need to bring more attention to.
The next side event that we attended was my favorite event of the day. The topic of this event was the importance that the role of family has in a woman’s life. We first heard from a speaker who focused on the relationship between a woman and her father. He spoke about how the media and certain celebrities cast a dark shadow over the father-daughter relationship, when in reality, there are statistics to show all of the benefits this relationship can provide in a woman’s life. At many points the speaker himself, as well as the audience, became emotional thinking of their own personal father-daughter relationships and its importance.
The next speaker at this event focused on the family unit, and how parents should teach
their children, especially their daughters, about good character. She spoke about how in schools’ children are taught a wide variety of topics, but none of them include how to have good character. I believe this side event was one of the most important because it spoke about issues that many in the room could relate to. It also brought up the point that we need to enlist more men in the fight to women’s equality. Many of the points and recommendations they touched upon are things that I will bring back to my own family unit.
I am so honored to have taken part in this amazing experience. With such a strong interest in women’s healthcare it meant a lot to see some of the issues that women face all over the world. It gave me the determination to help combat many of these issues, and I will most definitely share my experience with the many women that I encounter.
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By Nahnsejay Mouwon: As a global intergovernmental body, the United Nations promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women; something that I truly admire. During the 61st Commission on the Status of Women, I learned more about the promotion of women’s rights, how to document and speak to the reality of women’s lives throughout the world. The idea of shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women is something that I believe worth global discussion, and at such, I feel honored to be part of such discussion.
Thanks to the UN for giving hope to women and children around the world, helping them to gain courage to make the world a better place. This conference provided the right platform to talk directly to youth and women issues. As a person who is passionate about women rights and gender equality, I am determined to teach others what I learned from the conference. I have already started to speak about some of the major topics outlined during the conference. I believe that when women start to actively engage policy makers regarding gender equality, sexual violence and other women related topics, the world will become a much better place.
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Over 8,000 women from all walks of life and from different parts of world converged at the UN headquarters in New York from March 13-24 for the 61st Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The theme for the 2017 Commission was “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work.”
Through the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur NGO Office, interested persons are able to participate in major UN meetings. There is no fee to attend these UN sessions, but participants are responsible for their housing, food, and transportation while attending the meeting. Funds are available to assist Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur from Latin America and Africa. If you are interested in attending a major UN meeting in New York in 2017, contact Grace Amarachi Ezeonu as soon as possible at 
By Nancy Rodriguez, Pace University student sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to attend 60th Commission on the Status of Women: I had the chance to meet many incredible people and was immensely inspired. I will work to incorporate the important stories and lessons I gathered from this experience into my future activism, because I am truly passionate about women’s rights and social justice. I will continue to reach out and keep working with many of the people I connected with during these days. I hope to lend any possible help to organizations like yours and the wonderful people engaged in the fight for human rights.
By Pamela Stoner, SNDatUN delegate to 60th Commission on the Status of Women: The breadth and quality of the NGO Parallel Events held each day near the UN were quite impressive. I particularly enjoyed all the various events held not just to inform but to train participants for on-the-ground advocacy and activism. For the second year running, NGO/CSW held ‘Advocacy Training’ workshops for different global regions and in English and French, focusing on how the UN is structured, how it operates, and providing an outline/toolkit for advocating within that environment. KADEM in Turkey provided us with manual and roadmap on civil activism. Groups focused on using creative arts to help transform victims into survivors and narrative arts to carry stories forward to world-wide audiences – all tangible ideas for going forward to impact change.
By Priscilla Aliu SNDdeN: On my last day at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) I met Mme Matoti from Liberia. She did not go to school and can neither read nor write. She told me she came to CSW to be the voice for uneducated persons. She loves to speak for people who are like her because she feels she understands their plight in a way that only someone with that background can.
classroom, Matoti has done remarkable things in her country. She opened an orphanage for children whose mothers died during the 1990’s war in Liberia. She built a school and a church near the orphanage to meet the children’s education and spiritual needs. She is also a skilled farmer and co-chair of a farmers’ co-operative organization she founded. She has proudly won the farmer’s trophy for her country. Quite extraordinary! Isn’t it so true of the saying that we are either maimed or made by our life’s experiences? In line with Intentional Creativity teaching, Mme Matoti has indeed transformed her personal story into a position of empowerment and healing.
headquarters in New York. At this session I was pleased to see the presence of women in greater numbers and they were more active and articulate. There were increased opportunities for indigenous participants to speak in plenary sessions and for the first time there was an interactive dialog in a plenary session for indigenous peoples only. Government representatives were not allowed to attend this session so that the indigenous could freely voice their concerns and complaints brought up in other sessions but always rebutted by the states.
All too often indigenous peoples report harassment, discrimination, racism, criminalization, imprisonment, torture, and assassination. The Inuit and Sami reported violations of their rights by the Russian Federation and a debate ensued between the indigenous and the governmental representatives. The statement of the World Bank, represented by an Andean native person, was strongly contested by many participants which also provoked an intense debate. Other complaints are about education and health practices that do not attend to the peoples’ needs or violate their customs and cultures.
