Day Two : NGO CSW New York Forum Consultation
Early rising morning to get over to the East side of town for "Consultation Day." This is more or less a "pep rally" for participating NGOs to get together, hear about the pressing issues and set the stage for CSW. We arrived far before the event started in order to get seats... It was a little too prepared, but the extra waiting time was a wonderful opportunity to get to know my fellow delegates! I had a chance to spend some time talking to Rachel, the 28-year old intern for United Thank Offering (UTO). UTO is an incredible organization within the Episcopal Church that aggregates funds that come from the generosity of church-goers, and puts it into global philanthropic projects like a senior center in Louisiana, or career training in Haiti. Rachel had been interning in North Dakota, at a church center right next to Standing Rock. Her internship started just before news of and protests around the pipeline hit. Shortly thereafter her main task was to support the citizens and protestors throughout the battle.
The youth movement will be increasingly important. (Director Mlambo-Ngcuka seemed very impressed with the potential of the youth forum throughout CSW).
Strengthening multilateralism :: building alliances between orgs within civil society and beyond. The need to show solidarity,
Upholding rationalism and humanism - maintaining the human as the center of policy
Support in the public sector is growing, but private sector discrimination is prevalent. Pressing concerns especially as it pertains to informal economies where there is less regulation and protection.
Need for girl's and women's empowerment to reinforce positive cultural norms, deterring ones that take away from the benefits of good legislature.
** Good, affordable public education is the silver bullet **
Need a zero tolerance policy for violence. It is a universal problem we need to combat with vigilance, laws and accountability.
Economic empowerment contributes to the resistance of abuse.
 |
| Dr. Mabel Bianco |
Then, the moment I had been waiting for.... A reading by poet Rupi Kaur, author of Milk and Honey. Her poems speak to the experience of being a girl, a young woman, the child of Indian immigrants.. At the beginning she reminded the folks in the audience that they could clap or snap or cheer if they heard something they liked. I think she was worried it was an "old and stuffy" audience that wouldn't know how to interact with spoken word. When she talked about her leg hair, or insecurity around developing breasts, or friendship, there were hoots and hollers, giggles and claps. She stopped mid-way through her reading to congratulate us on being so participatory! By the time she read her longer piece about her mother, there was not a dry eye in the house. Being involved in a room full of women who could resonate with some part of this artwork so deeply, and reverberating off of that energy, letting it overcome my being and cause me to feel proud and sad and unified and unique all at once.
 |
| Performance by Rupi Kaur |
- A Kenyan woman who has attended CSW for nearly a decade, each time trying to bring agricultural workers to the attention of key players at the UN. She spoke about colonialism in Kenya, the difference between agricultural farmers and subsistence farmers and the need to supply farmers with adequate and affordable financing. She stressed that work is more than just income - it is lifestyle and power and more.
- An American women, working in the private sector, who realized gender disparities in business. She spoke about the need to recognize who/how we are hiring, making sure unconscious bias is recognized and accounted for at all levels of hiring, and seeing that employees are all entering on equal footing. She started a mentor and sponsorship program to achieve this latter end, and mentioned the "amplification strategy" (as seen with Obama's staff..). The private and public sector need to work together, and "that which gets measured is that which gets done."
- Radhika Balakrishnan, Faculty Director, Center for Women's Global Leadership, Rutgers University argued that the neoliberal economy is 1/2 it was in 1960s, that money is just following money and we need some sort of global regulation. Need human rights at the center of economy, and to invest in social infrastructure. She also quoted stats from Oxfam:
- In 2010, 388 individuals held more wealth than half the world's population. In 2015, that number was 62. This week (1/17/17), 8 men own more wealth than 1/2 the world's population.
- Elizabeth Tang from International Domestic Workers Federation spoke about how many countries do not include domestic workers in their policies. This means tha tmany domestic workers are not earning a wage, but rather just room and board. Or just $60-80 a month for daily work. The need for action and policy to support these workers as they find the value and voice as the care economy is growing.
- Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, spoke about the repurposing of economy to build accountability of all stakeholders, not just the government but also private sector. The necessity for an active role of women in this process. Also on the growing infrastructure of both the technological and care economies.
I then went to a promising but ultimately disappointing talk about feminist internet... Was confronted by the uncomfortable reality of all of the ways that American women still tend to take up more space than is equitable, and the need to constantly remind ourselves of how to mindfully take up space in dialogue. A quote from Chani Nicholas on feminism.. "Feminism demands the user engage in a deep and rigorous psychological, emotion and spiritual process of reflection. Always and forever. This reflection never ceases. It is how feminism functions. If you don't want to be challenged on the privilege that you do have, whatever that may be, you need to find another name for yourself."
Still the prompt of the talk was very compelling -- what does a feminist internet look like? That is, how do we need to change to update or re-envision our use of the internet such that it is just and equitable for all? Some ideas that were brought up - regulating anonymity in commenting power, non-weighted google searches, marginalized communities protected from vulgar image manipulation, inclusive images/pornography, protection from vengeful acts. Any thoughts on these and novel ideas are welcome in the comment section... Let's practice intentional comment usage. :)
I did have a chance to talk to a couple of people after the dialogue of heavy-handed facilitation, and made a friend from Japan who blogs about fashion and feminism ( for those Japanese speakers... https://taomelba.themedia.jp ). Also learned about the "Harmful Digital Communications Act" that was just passed in New Zealand to address online bullying.
 |
| My reward of ramen noodles that day... |
Whew. Day two was a doozy. The other are packed a little differently, the first two being uniquely immersive. Will try to be a bit more brief in coming posts, for your sake and mine...
Notable Quotes
"That which gets measured is that which gets done" - Female leader in business sector
“[seeing Rupi Kaur yesterday reminded me] what can happen when a young person is free to express themselves and develop talents”
No comments:
Post a Comment