Wow – it is now one year since we launched the SoroptiVoice Blog at CSW 55! And now we are back again, reporting live from CSW 56! Thank you to our team of Soroptimist delegates who will be keeping us up to date with all the latest news from New York. To start the week, here is an update from International Programme Director Hilary Ratcliffe, as she arrives in New York for the first few days.
one: Sunday 26th February
I am sitting at my
computer at 6.00a.m having been awake since 3.00a.m. I love jet lag! All is well here in New York. The
flight was very good and I am safely here, meeting up with Soroptimists and catching up with friends. I went to UN to complete my on site registration. What a difference to other years! There was no line! I was
straight in and had my pass issued with 5 minutes. Well done to DAW (Department for the
advancement of women), UN Women and the NGO committee of CSW. At last we have a good
system in place!
a flurry as we landed at Newark but the sun shone so despite a cold wind New
York has its best face on to welcome us.
NGO consultation day where we will hear from Michelle Bachelet, head of UN Women. That will be a great start to CSW.
Then tonight the
Soroptimist delegation will meet over dinner where flyers, information and Global
impact report CDs will be given out, questions will be answered, and networking
take place (also known as eating and laughing together!) which is what some
might say Soroptimists do best!
showered and be ready to face the day.
More news to follow soon….
Consultation Day
Took a yellow taxi to the Salvation
Army centre downtown on a beautiful sunny day. The event started with some fantastic
dance from a group of young people enrolled under the National Dance Institute
They danced a celebration to Stevie Wonder which got us all energized at the
beginning of what proved to be a full day.
For me, there were two memorable speakers. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. She is a very inspiring
speaker and told us about the work achieved in the first year since UN women
was established. She then spoke about the challenge of involving civil society
NGOs and wanting to form consultation groups from regional areas to inform and
drive forward their work.
The speaker who took my “heart” was
Nobel laureate prize winner, Leymah Gbowee. She won the award for her role in
obtaining peace in the recent Liberian war. This story was filmed by Abigail
Disney in “Pray the devil back to hell”. This film is being screened again here
at CSW so I hope many of our delegation will get to see it. I remember being
moved to tears when I saw it a couple of CSW`s ago. She was a really inspirational
speaker and emphasized so strongly that women are at the heart of
reconstruction in post conflict situations. AND she was absolutely focused on a
ground up approach to change and development. A sentiment close to the heart of Soroptimists all over the world.
A great start to my CSW 56
experience!
SI International Programme Director