BLOGS: US Practicum Blogs CSW 57

UN Practicum Blog - Catherine Odera

Before this UN Practicum in Advocacy began, I had no inkling of what my experience would be. Upon arrival to New York, it soon became apparent to me that I was surrounded by other dynamic women whose experiences spanned a wide range of areas including women's rights, human rights, community organizing, public health access, training, among others. On the first day, as I walked from one session to another, I remember equating my experience to that of a child in a candy store because of all the opportunities available for me to learn about violence against women. Except…… there was nothing “sweet” or trivial about the topics that exposed the unimaginable violence that women face and the structures of violence and power that continue to perpetuate injustice and violence against women and girls everyday all around the world READ MORE>>

UN Practicum Blog - Ashley Schmueker

While many of the sessions at CSW57 have shared critical information such as program best practices, prevention strategies, and evaluation results, there are a few that have pushed me beyond simply intellectual engagement. Two sessions ignited my passion for activism through performance, writing and film READ MORE>>

UN Practicum Participant Post #3

Throughout my life I have been placed and have placed myself in safe spaces and unsafe spaces. Some of which posed a threat to my physical safety, others my intellectual, emotional, and spiritual safety. Because I am a white, educated, economically comfortable, able-bodied, documented, never-incarcerated, assumed hetero "American" woman, I have had the luxury of moving in and out of these spaces without much consideration READ MORE>>

UN Practicum Blog - Jun Chen

I went to UN HEADS OF AGENCIES FORUM ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS on Tuesday and got to know more about how different UN agencies are engaged in addressing violence against women. When Head of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, asked the Executive director of United Nation Development Program (UNDP), how violence against women impacts human development. The latter mainly argued that violence against women caused loss of productivity and hindered GDP growth READ MORE>>

UN Practicum Blog - Jamie Bussey

I often feel that I am running a race. It's a race, against myself: a yearning for a mad dash to get to where I think I ought to be; some great notion of making a difference that I fear I will never realize. Some nights I go to sleep tossing and turning thinking of not just what I have to do the next day, but how all of it will lead to this great something. I have long realized that in this perpetual motion of reaching to do more, I miss out on all that is right in front of me READ MORE>>

UN Practicum Blog - Laura Briese

Why am I here? It is a question I have been asking myself for the past week. What am I doing here, at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women, as a practicum participant for WILPF? If you asked me this question prior to leaving my Iowa City apartment, I would have said I was attending the conference to learn about advocacy through experience and shared goals. However, when I arrived in New York, after a slew of trying travel arrangements, I was less sure of myself READ MORE>>

UN Practicum blog- Katelyn Brewer

Tuesday March 5th, 2013- Today was a day of heartbreak, uncertainty, inspiration, and gratefulness. Heartbreak upon thinking back on what I have already experienced and what was reaffirmed for me today; uncertainty about who I am and what I am doing; increasing inspiration from what I am hearing and learning and gratefulness for the people I have met and the learning experience of the CSW. With so emotions going on today, trying to get my heart and head to align, and attending events- I had to stop for a second and truly think what is the goal of ALL of this? READ MORE>>

CSW Presentations--Might we expand the formats?

I am right now in a CSW session entitled "From Girl Child to Mature Woman: A Life-Course Approach to Gender Empowerment and a Violence-free Life." It was coordinated by Soroptimist International and includes women from Pakistan, Tunisia, Moldova and New Zealand, among other countries, representing SI, Girl Guides/Scouts and World YWCA. The content is very much like that at other sessions of CSW 57: intense narratives of how women are suffering with violence in various settings, and summaries of policies and implementation. The speeches are both moving and factual and the Q & A is well-organized and useful READ MORE>>

UN Practicum participant post #1

Attending the CSW NGO Consultation was truly eye opening. It was encouraging to see so many organizations working together to eliminate Violence against Women. From the opening session demonstrated by the Girls be Heard! Group to the ending session on the impact of social media in violence prevention, the diversity of the NGO's working actively was very evident READ MORE>>

UN Practicum participant post #2

NGO Consultation Day— March 3, 2013: The NGO consultation featured many stakeholders, policy makers, survivors, innovators, and activists from all corners of the world. This forum opened the 57th Commission on the Status of Women Meeting, the largest gathering on the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls in the world. There were several panels on issues related to violence against women and girls such as human trafficking, prevention of violence, and best practices in tackling the problem READ MORE>>