wg-usa.org

Candidates for Election 2010

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 12:39:10 +0000

CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION 2010
The following WG-USA members will stand for election to the board.

Elections will take place online: September 17-24, 2010

Information about the candidates is also available on our website at:

http://www.wg-usa.org/c_nominations.shtml

CANDIDATE FOR SECRETARY – Not Available

CANDIDATE FOR MEMBERSHIP CONVENER

CAROLYN COWGILL has just completed a term as Secretary, WG-USA. She has worked for thirty years in public education and served as an administrator for special education programs and as a supervisor for the ESL program. She has a BS, MA and certification in the field of learning disabilities. She has also taught as a volunteer in a number of programs and continues activity in AAUW (immediate past branch president), church choir and Art Goes to School, among other activities.

Internationally she has lived and studied in Mexico City for a year, tutored a young woman from Burma, and worked professionally with students, parents, teachers, and paraprofessionals from over 40 countries. Work with international organizations includes attending IFUW conventions, Commission on the Status of Women at the UN and serving on the board of directors of Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund.

She has extensive computer experience as an administrator and as a WG board member.

Her goals as Membership Convener are to move the organization forward so that women we know and meet in our travels will want to become part of this exciting organization which is learning more about women in other countries and how we can extend the hand of friendship, provide resources on our website, and advocate for the well-being and education of all women and girls. Action steps include setting up an annual calendar of responsibilities with the Membership Committee, updating the membership brochure, working with the treasurer to provide a monthly member count, and contacting non-renewing members.

CANDIDATES FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE

JACKIE SHAHZADI
Jackie has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund for nine years. She has been an active member of the La Palma-Cerritos (CA) AAUW for over 25 years. She has been on the Program Committee of Women Graduates-USA for two years, and was present at the inception of this organization in Phoenix and in Manchester. Jackie is very active in international groups such as Servas, an international peace and friendship organization; and People to People Ambassador Programs, for whom she has led delegations to Cuba (2001) South Africa (2003), New Zealand, and Australia (2004). She has attended the last six triennial conferences of the International Federation of University Women.

Jackie is currently employed as Campus College Chair of the College of Humanities and faculty member for the Southern California Campus of the University of Phoenix. Jackie holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Southern California, M.S.Ed. From USC, M.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, and B.A. in Sociology from Drew University in Madison, NJ.

Jackie’s interest in international affairs began with her 12-year residence in pre-revolutionary Iran. She is co-author with her husband of a book about their life in Iran, Goldoon and Professor: Memoirs and Reflections of a Bicultural Marriage.

Jackie’s goals for the office of Member at Large are to raise awareness of WG and its mission among potential members who are as concerned with women and children globally as we are. She will join with the Board to further initiatives which strengthen our bonds with IFUW and with individual IFUW members worldwide, to promote our common goals.

NORMA CORET
Norma has taught at the secondary and college level, served on grant screening and college/university evaluation committees and been an art educator. She has completed her eighth year as an adjunct at Iowa Western Community College and established the art department at the Woodbine Community School. She has a PhD from the University of Nebraska, an MA from the University of Iowa and a BA from Iowa State University as well as extensive other studies. She has served at both the branch and state level in AAUW.

She has traveled extensively with the Virgilian Society of America plus individual extensions to Italy, Greece, Sicily, Crete and other Aegean islands, France, Germany England, Turkey Jordan, Israel Macedonia, Corinth, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. For her Master’s degree, she studied Giotto in Padua, Italy.

She has been active in local politics and has run for County Supervisor.

She has used the computer to process grant applications and to create a blog.

Her goals include equity for women as a major concern. She states, “I remember being especially interested in the progress Hillary Clinton made when she addressed the international women’s conference and the experience of having a female tour-guide in Greece at one point-her comments as inequity affected her.”

NOMINATIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Individuals not nominated, but who wish to run for a position as they might from the floor in a face-to-face meeting, must send their contact information, biographical data, candidate’s statement and a statement of support from another WG-USA member to the Convener of the Governance Committee by August 1, 2010. If a WG-USA member wants to nominate another person, the same information will be required, along with a permission statement from the proposed candidate that she allows her name to be forwarded.

All candidates will then be informed that there will be a contested election. An email blast will be sent to all members with the biographical information and candidate’s statement of the candidate(s) for the contested office(s), and if they so desire a statement from each candidate. The additional candidate(s) names will then be added to the regular ballot.

ELECTIONS
WG-USA members in good standing will receive an invitation via e-mail in August 2010 to vote one month prior to the elections. Voting will take place on line. All members in good standing of WG-USA are entitled to vote. Instructions on how to vote will be included in the e-mail invitation.

WG-USA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – Teleconference
September 25, 2010
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. EDT

Information will be sent via e-mail in September to all members in good standing.

Annual General Meeting 2010

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:11:24 +0000

September 25, 2010

11 a.m. – 1 p.m. EDT

Teleconference

Information to follow

WG-USA Supports US Ratification of CEDAW

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:55:13 +0000

At the 2009 annual meeting in Long Beach, Women Graduates-USA voted to join the official list of more than 200 American NGOs that support US ratification of CEDAW. Our organization is now officially registered with the CEDAW Task Force, which is housed at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Women Graduates-USA is designated as an NGO that can provide grass roots pressure and support nationwide efforts to move CEDAW through the ratification process.

At least two Women Graduates-USA board members participated in an April 6, 2010 nationwide phone conference on CEDAW organized by the national office of the United Nations Association. We have used and adapted fact sheets, petitions and lists of talking points on CEDAW from Amnesty International designed for that purpose. Some of our members are included in the national contact list of US Women Connect, which mobilizes grassroots action on issues which are important to women. Women Graduates-USA members have been encouraged to work with NGOs in their local areas that share an interest in US ratification of CEDAW, and some of those organizations have issued requests for action to their contact lists.

For more information about what you can do, go to:

http://wg-usa.org/groups/?page_id=420

Open Letter to Un Secretary General

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:53:40 +0000

Please find attached a letter the IFUW Board of Officers is sending to the United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for gender equality in all UN appointed committees.

One of IFUW’s priorities is the promotion of women in leadership positions in all settings. As early as 1966, IFUW adopted a resolution urging the UN Secretary General to appoint qualified women to high ranking positions. Forty-four years later, gender equality within the United Nations system is far from being achieved. The recent appointment of an all-male Advisory Board on Climate Change Financing serves as a key example that action is still needed.

The IFUW Board of Officers is therefore advocating for gender equality in all UN appointed committees. As the Beijing Platform for Action called for governments to “aim at gender balance in the lists of national candidates nominated for election or appointment to United Nations bodies…”, IFUW is urging governments making nominations to UN bodies to propose one woman and one man for all positions.

Download the letter: http://www.wg-usa.org/docs/2010-Letter-GenderEquality-UN.pdf

Program Priorities 2010-2011

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:50:52 +0000

In this year, 2010, many disparate issues affect the well being of women around the world. A cynic might ask any woman today, “What do you want? Haven’t women, especially (those in an affluent western world) gained ‘enough already’? After all, those status of women commissions have been around for quite a while now and the law says there shall be equal pay for equal work, so-o-o what do you want now? Aren’t the gains women have made enough already?”

The ready reply, at least by members of the WG-USA program committee, is a loud and strongly spoken “NO!”

WG-USA Identified Three Priority Issues

This year the Program committee of Women Graduates –USA identified three priority issues which, as a result of the committee’s thoughtful and committed consideration demanded attention as first and urgent priorities, chosen from many possible priorities. At year’s end an evaluation will occur setting in place a plan for action in the year 2011, as well as, perhaps, the identification of emerging and additional urgent priorities. The three priority issues are

1. Program focus: The ratification of CEDAW
2. Advocacy for access to education for girls, world wide
3. Awareness of the extent and implications of trafficking of women and girls worldwide

A complete description of these three program priorities along with templates for action, both individual and as a group, are available in the Meeting Place on the website at:

http://www.wg-usa.org/groups

You may comment on or discuss these priorities by first registering as a subscriber under the Log In section in the right-hand sidebar. Please tell us what activities you plan to undertake or have already accomplished as an individual or a group.

Other items for action are available for viewing at:

http://wg-usa.org/program.shtml

Say a resounding “YES!” to learning more about these urgent priorities for the women of the world.

Dr. Janet Heinicke
Convener, WG-USA Program Committee

March is Women’s History Month

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:49:43 +0000

More than 20 members from Women Graduates-USA attended the sessions at the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York City. These sessions marked the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995 and “The Platform for Action” that resulted from that meeting. Emphasis was placed on the sharing of experiences and good practices, with a view to overcoming remaining obstacles and new challenges, including those related to the Millennium Development Goals. Member States, representatives of non-governmental organizations and of UN entities participated in the session. A series of parallel events provided additional opportunities for information exchange and networking. National and regional review processes fed into the global review process.

From the opening remarks made by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to the closing remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it was a very busy and information-filled two weeks.

WG-USA members will be submitting their reports about their time at CSW and their recommendations for action by WG-USA. These reports will be posted on the WG-USA website in the new Meeting Place section of the website: www.wg-usa.org/groups. Please take the time to visit the Meeting Place where other items of interest about CSW will also be posted (speeches, remarks, resolutions, call to action).

Program Priorities

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:49:30 +0000

The Women Graduates-USA Program committee is putting the final touches on the Program Priorities for 2010. One of those priorities is The Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). For the next several months, WG-USA will be informing its members about this most important UN Convention along with a plan of action to push for ratification by the United States. Below is an invitation to join UN-USA on a nationwide conference call about CEDAW.

————–
The UN, The Status of Women, and What You Can Do!

Join UNA-USA on Tuesday, April 6th at 6:30 pm EST for a nationwide conference call to discuss the UN, the status of women and what you can do! Present on the call will be multiple experienced UNA-USA activists and members who will discuss women’s issues, important UN institutions, and their experiences at the recent 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW54), and how we can push for U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Conference Call is Scheduled for Tuesday April 6th, 6:30pm EST
Call: 1-866-844-6898 Passcode: 881558
Please RSVP via e-mail to Roger Nokes at Rnokes@unausa.org

If you care about the status of women worldwide, do not miss this important discussion!
For more information and important resources, please visit: www.unausa.org/april6

Regional Reports from the 2010 NGO Global Forum for Women

lmcleod — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:43:31 +0000

Regional reports from the 2010 NGO Global Forum for Women are available at:
http://www.beijing15.org/?page_id=13

NGO Shadow Reports from countries and regions are also available there.

If the link does not work, please go to www.beijing15.org and click on resources and documents. Scroll down to see the full list of reports and resources.

2010 CSW advances key issues for world’s women

lmcleod — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:54:10 +0000

For more than 3,500 civil society representatives and hundreds of government
delegates who traveled, often long distances, to New York for this year’s Commission
on the Status of Women (CSW), it was an occasion to mark large and small victories
over the last 15 years and to focus on the challenges that remain.

It has been 15 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action were
adopted, concluding one of the most influential global meetings ever held – the
Fourth World Conference on Women. During its two-week session from 1-12 March, the
CSW focused on assessing what has been achieved since the Beijing Conference, on
sharing experiences and good practices and outlining priority actions. In addition,
nearly 100 side events were organized by UN agencies, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), the private sector and governments.

The following four areas of priority importance to women were discussed by the
Commission:

Maternal mortality

The Millennium Development Goal to improve maternal health – and the affiliated
target of reducing the rate of maternal mortality by three-quarters – has been the
most elusive target of all. Lack of decisive progress in this area has been matched
by a lack of reliable statistics, and a failure to attract large-scale support. Best
estimates are that in 2005 more than half a million mothers died as a consequence of
childbirth.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recognized the conundrum at last June’s Global Health
Forum. He said that “people often call an issue on which all can agree a ‘motherhood
issue’ … however, motherhood itself has not yet become a motherhood issue.”

But the Secretary-General also detected a “tipping point” in international concern,
as the outcome of the 2009 World Health Assembly included a special focus on
maternal health, and global philanthropies stepped up their commitment of resources
to this goal.

With a strong CSW resolution adopted at the March session on eliminating maternal
mortality and morbidity, with the Secretary-General’s planned launch of a global
framework for action to fast-track progress on women’s and children’s health, and
with the selection of this issue as the “top priority” of the host country, Canada,
for the G8 meeting in June, there is reason to believe that the imperative to save
mothers’ and infants’ lives will gain added momentum over the remaining five years
of the drive to reach the MDGs by 2015.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro on maternal mortality

“My formative professional experience was working as a Legal Aid attorney, and I
will never forget the heartbroken families who came to see me seeking redress after
their loved ones had died in childbirth.

I understand their pain even more now because I, too, have lost friends. Not in the
villages, either, but in the cities, where you might think the services are far
better.

In far too many parts of the world, when a woman goes into labour, relatives and
friends do not go so far as to say goodbye, but they are often thinking, is this the
last time they will see her? And the reverse is also true. . . .

When I was giving birth to my second child, I had the same fear. I was wondering
whether I would get out of the room alive, whether my kids would survive, and this
is just a few years ago, just about ten years ago. Isn’t it an irony that, just as
we celebrate an impending birth, we fear an imminent death. . . .”

– 15 June, 2009

Violence against women

Violence against women is a pandemic behind closed doors – it is calculated that up
to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime. It not only inflicts
personal suffering, but “undermines development, generates instability, and makes
peace in society much harder to achieve,” as noted by the Secretary-General at a
panel discussion at this month’s Commission.

Margot Wallström, his newly appointed Special Representative on sexual violence in
conflict, departs for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April. On her return,
she will report to the Security Council.

In the meantime, action on the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against
Women campaign has moved to the regional and national levels, with particular
emphasis on the first of the campaign’s five goals – the adoption and implementation
of national laws on violence against women.

Role of women in decision-making

An Inter-Parliamentary Union survey found that women comprise 18.8 per cent of
members of parliament worldwide – an all-time high, although this falls short of the
30 per cent target advocated in Beijing.

Rachel Mayanja, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Gender Issues and
Advancement of Women, describes the representation of women in parliaments as “an
accountability issue.” She finds that countries where women are under-represented in
government tend to be “less inclusive, less egalitarian and less democratic.”

Under-representation in decision-making positions can be self-perpetuating, in that
it limits the incorporation of gender perspectives into policies. For example, the
absence of women in top positions in peace processes limits the attention given to
gender in peace agreements. Since 1992, women have constituted only 7.1 per cent of
official delegation members in negotiations, and only 2.1 per cent of signatories to
peace agreements, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Very few have been formal mediators.

“History has taught us that any peace not built by and for women is far less likely
to deliver real and lasting benefits,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
speaking at the Commission 15 years after her seminal address to the Women’s
Conference in Beijing.

New gender entity

The General Assembly adopted a resolution late last year paving the way for the
creation of a new UN body for gender equality and the advancement of women, and
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has submitted his proposals for the entity to the
General Assembly for their consideration.

The importance of moving ahead with the creation of this new entity was repeatedly
and emphatically highlighted throughout the Commission’s 15-year review session. In
his remarks at the official observance of International Women’s Day (8 March), the
Secretary-General made it clear that it was now up to Member States to act, urging
Governments to adopt a resolution creating a new entity “without delay.”

His plan would merge four separate UN units with differing mandates: the Office of
the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI); the Division
for the Advancement of Women in the Department for Economic and Social Affairs
(DAW/DESA); the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); and the United
Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW).

There has been strong support for the creation of a unified body that would
strengthen the participation of women in international affairs and give the UN a
stronger mandate on women’s issues. However, different strategic approaches have
emerged from the discussion of this issue. Some Member States stress gender
equality, ensuring full rights and legal protection. Many from the developing world
place more emphasis on “advancement,” entailing a strong pro-women development
agenda.

Through the adoption of seven resolutions at the conclusion of its 54th session, the
Commission on the Status of Women:

• Urged Governments – with the support of civil society and the private sector – to
take all steps to empower women and girls to protect themselves against HIV
infection;

•Called upon all parties to armed conflict to release women and children taken
hostage, and reaffirmed that hostage-taking is an illegal act aimed at destroying
human rights;

• Urged continued special attention to the promotion and protection of the human
rights of Palestinian women and girls;

• Called upon Member States to take all necessary measures – including enacting and
enforcing legislation – to address and eliminate harmful traditional practices,
especially female genital mutilation;

• Urged States to develop and implement specific policies and programmes to promote
economic empowerment, including through enhancing women’s access to full and
productive employment and accelerating women’s full participation in economic
decision-making;

• Urged global and national leaders to generate the political will, resources,
commitment, cooperation and technical assistance urgently required to reduce
maternal mortality and morbidity, and improve maternal and newborn health;

• Welcomed the General Assembly resolution on establishing a new UN entity for
gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Produced by the Department of Public Information Strategic Communications Division,
March 2010

Yours Sincerely,

NGO Relations, DPI
United Nations
www.un.org/dpi/ngosection