Rwanda Association of University Women (RAUW) members also send greetings to all IFUW members everywhere. Today is also my 70th birthday so a special celebration.
IFUW is well represented at the 54th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women conferences in New York from 1-12 March 2010, with over 20 registered delegates. RAUW has been especially visible.
Official Rwanda Government representatives Oda Gasinzigwa and Aquiline Niwemfura from the Rwanda Gender Monitoring Office, both members of RAUW will take part in government discussions this week to finalise the conference document on world progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA).
Ms Therese Bishagara, President of /Profemmes Twese Hamwe/ and RAUW member was a panellist in a parallel event on Progress of African countries towards the MDGs and BPFA.
During the first week, I spoke at two seminars. The first was the 5th International Helvi Sipila Seminar to honour Finnish Minister Sipil’s work and the work of women with the UN and the CSW and its bodies, as well as in other international and national women’s organisations. It was chaired by Dr Leena-Maija Lauren, of the Finnish Federation of University Women (FFUW) and attended by 50 CSW participants.
Speakers included Minister Stefan Wallin, Minister of Culture and Sport, responsible for Gender Equality in Finland who summarised the extraordinary progress being made on women’s issues in Finland. The latest success has been related to achieving the quota of at least 40 percent for women on boards in the government and private sectors.
Acting Director Rachel Mayanja (Uganda) of the UN Division of Advancement of Women outlined the progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment being made internationally. Women have made huge advances politically, including the outstanding political representation in Rwanda, but there is still a long way to go in many countries, she said.
I spoke on /Rwandan Women say Yes to Power/, with Ms Jessicca Notwell, Vice President of World YWCA speaking on /Young Women say Yes to Power/. We held a dialogue after our presentations. The main focus was on the need for intergenerational leadership and membership of women’s
organisations.
A second IFUW seminar that I chaired was attended by 60 participants from around the world, on Networking Centres on Gender in Higher Education. I summarised the progress being made by the Centre for Gender, Culture and Development at KIE in Rwanda and the work being done by gender centres in seven other African countries who attended the December 2009 Rwandan international seminar on gender centres in Africa.
Speakers included RAUW member Professor Jennifer Fish, Head of Women’s Studies at Old Dominion University and RAUW member, Professor Najmunessa Mahtab, Department of Women’s Studies at Dhaka University and member of the Bangladesh Association of University Women (BFUW), Dr Alice Siqin Yang, Assistant Director of Global Education, Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership in China and independent member of IFUW.
Discussants at this seminar included Ambassador Salma Kahan, BFUW, Dr Leena-Maija Lauren, FFUW and Ms Shaila Mistri, member of Women Graduates-USA and there were other interventions, including one from Mary Balikungeri. Ambassador Joy also attended this session both from RAUW.
And I kept meeting members of WG-USA, AAUW and VGIF throughout the week.
Have a wonderful day!!
Shirley
Professor Shirley Randell AM, PhD, FACE, FAIM, FAICD
Vice President, International Federation of University Women
Director, Centre for Gender, Culture and Development Studies
Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) Rwanda