SSND Participants at the United Nations Inspired by Recent Nobel Prize Winner
It was announced on Oct. 7 that Liberian activist Leymah Roberta Gbowee is one of three women awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A delegation from the School Sisters of Notre Dame attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meeting in February, and as part of their program, the participants had the opportunity to hear Leyma tell her inspiring story. The report from that event is reprinted below. The program began with an address from Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women. View more photos from the UN CSW event here. Read more about the Nobel Peace Prize winners here.
SSND delegates counseled to promote gender equality, advocate for women
(Feb. 20, 2011)
The members of the SSND delegation attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) were urged to take every opportunity to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, and they were challenged to “fight for what they believe in” while they are at the UN this week.
Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile and executive director of UN Women, and Leymah Roberta Gbowee, executive director of Women, Peace and Security Network-Africa, offered the advice and wisdom Sunday during the Girls Stand Up! CSW Orientation at Pace University.
The SSND delegates were among 300 participants from all over the world attending the program, coordinated by the Working Group on Girls of the NGO Committee on UNICEF. The orientation included speakers and interactive workshops to inspire and empower participants to become effective advocates at the CSW.
“You represent the future,” said Bachelet, who was the first woman president of Chile and who was named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes in 2009. “But you also represent the present. You are not only tomorrow’s leaders, but you have a voice today and wisdom to share with the world today. And the world has an obligation to listen.”
She explained that the UN General Assembly established UN Women. It encompasses and builds on four existing entities – the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
“UN Women will see that all four continue their work and do so in a much more coordinated way so that more can be done to champion women and girls,” Bachelet said.
UN Women will focus on five priorities: political participation, economic empowerment, ending violence against women, women’s peace and security, and supporting member states in planning and funding national plans for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The empowerment of women is essential, particularly in political decision making. Of the 192 member states in the United Nations, only 19 have women heads of state.
“When women are not in decision-making positions, women’s needs and concerns are not taken into consideration,” Bachelet said. “Without women in positions of authority, women’s rights cannot be achieved or they are achieved very slowly.”
Leymah Roberta Gbowee
Gbowee, whose powerful story is told in “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” advised the participants not to let the world’s distractions keep them from fighting for what they believe in. Her relentless efforts as a peace activist during the civil war in Liberia led to the election of the Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first woman head of state in Africa.
She said that she is often asked what she would do differently if she had the chance to do her live over again. Her response is “nothing.”
“I can’t imagine not experiencing war because then I would not understand the plight of women and girls,” Gbowee said. “I tell myself that I have gone through everything because God was equipping me to fight for the rights of women and girls today.”
She recently brought together 150 girls in Liberia to meet with their president and the women government ministers. They focused on five issues – HIV/AIDS, commercial sex workers, teen sex and teen mothers, rape and abuse, and education. The issues in Liberia, she said, are no different than the issues facing women in other countries all over the world, including the United States.
“You are sitting in this room and thinking, ‘What can I do?’ Stand up and fight for what you believe in,” Gbowee said. “Fighting for what you believe in, with sincerity of your heart, pays. I am fighting for what I believe in, and it is a satisfying thing.”
SSND delegates with Michelle Bachelet (fifth from left), former president of Chile and executive director of UN Women. In the photo: Yunyun Cheng, Sister Limétèze Pierre-Gilles, Eri Watanabe, Adaku Ihekweme, Michelle Bachelet, Glenance Green, Kelsey Guthrie, Sister Sharon Kanis, Sister Carolyn Jost, Emily Gore, Megan Hobbs, Sister Judy Bourg, Sister Eileen Reilly and Sister Miriam Jansen. Kneeling in front: Julie Gilberto-Brady.