SI UN Representative, Martina Gredler, recently attended and
presented at the 13 UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice in Doha, Qatar. In this blog, Martina writes about her personal
experiences at the Congress, and her thoughts on Doha as a rapidly developing
city.

 

Tuesday 14 April:

As I walked out of the airport in Doha, I was met by a
private car to take me to my hotel. This was already a warm welcome! They say
that first impressions are important, and driving through Doha, it struck me
that this was a paradise for architects. There are major construction works
everywhere, and everything looks pristine. Despite being in the middle of a
desert the gardens are all green. Qatar is a land of great contrast.

Wednesday 15 April:

I am being treated like a VIP. Today I was taken to the
Congress in a private bus. With a private car and private bus so far, I am
expecting a helicopter tomorrow and then a rocket to take me around! The
Congress Centre is so huge that you walk for miles to get to the different
meeting rooms, and there are around 20 meetings happening at any time. There is
so much going on it is hard to choose which meetings to attend. This morning
there were twelve ancillary meetings, the plenary and two working groups all at
the same time!

Around 70 NGOs are here at the Congress, and it is very
helpful meeting with their representatives and hearing about their work. It has
taken us a long time to make governments listen to our important input, but
finally we are receiving compliments from them. Tomorrow I will be giving my
presentation on SI’s work in helping victims of crime.

The Qataris are extremely well
organised. Lots of helpers are assisting the delegates. This gives you a good
feeling as a guest here. I have noticed that women and men are working side by
side. But women are covered accordingly. Shaking hands is unusual between men
and women, but you can still be friendly without it. Women here seem to be
treated a bit more openly than in Saudi Arabia which is good.

Thursday 16 April:

Today is the day that I presented
on behalf of SI at workshop 4. We can be proud! Our recommendations were good and
will be included in the official documentation. The presentation received a lot
of compliments too. Although it is harder for me to present in English, there
were volunteer translators. People were impressed by the variety of activities
that SI clubs do to assist women and girls who are victims of crime, the modern
approach that we take, and that SI acts globally. It would not have been
possible to give this information without the work done by the clubs, and it is
a wonderful experience knowing that this information might end up in the
actions and papers of the United Nations. This way, we can be a role model organisations
– we can make development work for women and girls.

 

Find out more about Martina’s presentation here. 

The Congress is not only attended
by NGOs and governments, academics and police are here too. But despite the
building being full of the world’s leading experts and law enforcement officers
my computer got hacked today! Luckily my firewall protected me, but I did lose
some of my work. It is very ironic to be hacked at a Congress on Crime
Prevention. If I tell people this story they will think I am making it up!

Friday 17 April:

It is clear that the UNODC is
finally getting involved in emerging areas of crime. They have just launched an
assessment toolkit on the trafficking of persons for the purpose of organ
removal. This is a big issue in parts of northern Africa and Asia. Often women
are kidnapped and then a kidney is removed from them without their consent.
They might even be killed for other organs, like the liver or heart. We need to
be aware that in western civilisation, some people are prepared to pay a lot of
money for a transplant organ, but those organs are not always donated.

Women’s interaction with police is
also a big topic of discussion. A number of people and organisations, including
SI, have pointed out that women often are not treated well by police officers.
The police can make women feel responsible for being a victim of a crime. It is
already hard to come forward about domestic violence or rape and police
reacting this way makes reporting harder. But there is also positive news here.
When specialist units look after women victims then there are good results.
Similar results are seen when female police officers are used. Often a
cooperation with specialized NGO´S leads to a better result for the victims
too. We are moving forward, just very slowly.  

Saturday 18 April:

Whilst I was here, all the Congress participants were
invited for dinner and a performance by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Qatar by
the Qatari Prime Minister. Some years ago I was given appropriate formal dress
when I visited Saudi Arabia as a guest of the King. It was lucky that I had it
and was able to reuse it for Qatar.  

As I am coming to the end of my time in Doha, I can see that
it is a city which is trying to move forward and not remain in the past. As
well as wanting to attract banks, tourism is also being developed.

A big effort is being made on the education sector. A big
education district is being built in one part of Doha. Qatar has signed
contracts with very famous international universities, like Georgetown
University. The Focus on education should help make Qatar a leading country in
the Arab Peninsula. Women’s participation is also clearly growing. Women do
well in universities and are wanting to work. We should give them all the
support they need on the way to equality. The good part is that they are heading
in that direction.