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YWCA says rates of violence against young women in the Pacific ‘unacceptable’

ywcaworldcouncil — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:31:15 +0000

Across the Pacific region, high rates of violence against women and children, unstable political environments and ethnic conflict continue to undermine peace and security – compromising the safety of individuals, families and entire populations.

On the eve of International Youth Day ( August 12, 2011), the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand says it is time to challenge and redefine narrow gender roles and stereotypes that condone and perpetuate violence against young women in the Pacific.

“We have major concerns about the safety of young women not only in New Zealand, but across the Pacific region. Recent studies highlight intimate partner violence against women in the Pacific Islands is amongst the highest on the world and that is unacceptable” says Sarah Davies of the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand. Violence against women rates are as high as 68% in Kiribati, 63% in the Solomon Islands, and 46% in Samoa.

The YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand, in partnership with other Pacific YWCAs, recently launched the very first Pacific young women’s leadership strategy that puts young women at the centre of efforts to strengthen women’s leadership to create safe communities; including in the elimination of violence against women

The strategy was developed after consultations with young women in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, Solomon Islands and New Zealand , an expert reference group of representatives from regional organisations, including the Commonwealth Youth Programme, Pacific Youth Council, Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, New Zealand Family Planning, Leadership Solomon Islands and FemLINKPACIFIC, as well as key UN Agencies, amongst which UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO were invited to further develop the strategy.

In launching the report a number of Pacific women highlighted the issues affecting their communities including early marriage and violence against women.

“Young women in the Pacific have rights and International Youth Day is a great day to speak up and demand them. The YWCA firmly believes the best way to eliminate violence against women is to prevent it before it occurs and we strongly advocate for long term, adequately funded violence prevention initiatives that give young women and men the skills to develop safe and respectful relationships with their parents, peers and partners,” says Davies.

Empowering or Confusing? Voting at YWCA World Council 2011

ywcaworldcouncil — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:45:50 +0000

Written by Josie Swords, YWCA of Australia and awesome Feminaust blogger

I’m sitting in the plenery room of the Kongress Haus in Zurich attending the final sessions of the World Council of the YWCA. The last three days have been a combination of official business sessions (presenting, debating and voting on resolutions, constitutional amendments and electing office bearers etc) and breakout and visioning sessions giving delegates opportunities to share and discuss programs, ideas and visions for the future of the YWCA movement.

I will talk about some of the aspects of the breakout and visioning sessions at another time, but now I want to consider the process of voting at YWCA World Council. Over the last two days a few aspects of voting at the council has concerned me. Most importantly the high number of abstentions that are taken from voting.

The basic process is that member associations and world board submit resolutions and constitutional amendments a period before council which are then amended and voted on during council business. This can be a long and tedious process when the conversation is about specific wording but what strikes me is the number of points of clarification which the president has had to call on and how often those points are repeats of each other. World President Susan Brennan has done a valiant effort not to get openly frustrated with the floor but it does indicate a clear message.

the floor ain’t understanding

Of course there are a variety of reasons why this might be, from voting delegates not having done their pre-reading to misunderstandings to general failure to concentrate but the elephant in the room really is language. Both foreign languages and technical vs plain language. All proceedings were conducted in English with some responses in French and the occasional Spanish but other than that it was all English all the time. Simultaneous translation was supplied for French and Spanish and due to high demand and the availability of translators, later in Korean as well but that was it and even for those participants who speak perfectly good conversational and everyday English, the proceedings at Council can be complex and challenging and I think the high number of voting abstentions signals a greater need for either pre-council training or better translation services.

Of course it’s easy to brush this all under the carpet and say it’s just part of the process and if the member associations didn’t send delegates with good English it’s their own fault. Except that at Council, constitutional amendments need a two thirds majority to pass, and that’s a two thirds majority of the entire movement, not just those associations present at Council. Which, for Zurich 2011 mean that 73/80 something associations needed to vote in favour of an amendment… if everyone turned up or had their voting card, which wasn’t guaranteed. The result being that any abstentions effectively served as deal breakers for the entire process and with abstentions frequently out-numbering no votes and regularly breaching 20, the entire process was fraught and somewhat ludicrous. Plus, in the end this really is just a question of power. Who has the power and how do they use it? If the people with the power don’t share it, by not having acceptable translation services or by any other means, what does that mean for process and participation? What does it mean for leadership and opportunities across borders? Does it mean that power stays with the traditional owners and isn’t share equitably with those who need it most?

In the end though, what can be done? In my humble opinion this essentially boils down to a participation issue. Delegates cannot be expected to fully participate in the process if they do not have an excellent understanding of what’s going on and what they’re voting for and with an abstention essentially serving as a no vote it is in the best interests of good process for the World YWCA and host-associations to do their utmost to ensure acurate understanding, which in this instance probably boils down to comprehensive simultaneous translation.

So Thailand 2015 what do I advise? Get theeselves some awesome translators from all manner of language backgrounds. Not just English, Spanish and French but some of the broad spectrum African languages, Korean and Mandarin (assuming that a larger delegation will be present in Thailand from China). If you need to, ask delegations to volunteer members to help out, just get it done so that everyone feels like they’re participating, not just attending.

Visit the Feminaust blog: http://feminaust.org/

YWCA takes up issue of climate justice

ywcaworldcouncil — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:21:39 +0000

During the business meeting of the World YWCA Council, some important resolutions were adopted.

!. ‘Women Creating a Safe World through Climate Justice’ – this resolution supported by YWCA of A/NZ and put forward by YWCA Sweden mandates YWCAs to take action for climate justice. WAHOO!

2.’Strengthening North Korean Women and Children’s Human Rights’ – joint resolution put forward by YWCA of Korea and YWCA of Japan – This was an interesting resolution in that North Korea apparentley won’t accept aid or support from South Korea. The call was for YWCA to try to provide help and aid to North Korea, a closed society – it may be that North Korea would take aid given by countries other than South Korea, thus helping to open up access to North Korean women and children

3. ‘Women’s Human Right to Participation and Freedom of Movement’ – a resolution by the World YWCA Board was passed. A number of women and young women were refused visas by the Swiss Government because of their lack of finances and limited family ties in their home country. This affected African countries and Pakistan. This stance was viewed as discrimanatory against women…’cause it is!

When the delegation presents World YWCA Council back to the YWCA A/NZ movement, we will share what actions you can take and we will take as a national movement to support these resolutions

Busy voting to change the world

Capturing the key messages of World YWCA Council

ywcaworldcouncil — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:39:43 +0000

During the International Women’s Summit and the World YWCA Council, there were many comments, reflections and quotes that were shared to help us further our work in women’s rights. The delegation have captured some of that and here are some of the best for you to use and share as well:-

- You just missed the perfect opportunity to sit on your mouth

- Crisis is opportunity chasing a dangerous wind

- ‘Dwell in possibility’- Emily Dickenson

- This conference is not an event, it’s an experience

- We need to change our mind about what is normal – Depak Chopra

- Criminalise hate , not HIV

-On funding available for health – ‘ More money for health, more health for the money’

- Make a difference in small spaces, close to home

- Those who matter dont mind, and those who mind don’t matter

- Young women can not fight for their basic human rights if they do not know their basic human rights

- What if you looked at pease as if women mattered? – Abagail Disney

- Investing in women is smart economics, investing girls is even smarter economics…

The YWCA invests in young women and girls

There are so many great speakers at World YWCA Council

ywcaworldcouncil — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:50:14 +0000

It’s hard to pick just one standout speaker at World YWCA Council and the International Women’s Summit. There has been many inspiring and thought provoking orators…Michelle Bachelet from UN Women and Mary Robinson amongst them.

Stephen Lewis however gave us chills down our spine! He is is a Canadian politician, broadcaster and diplomat and the current Co-Director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation… if you don’tknow him, google him…the man is a LEGEND. Above all, he is a feminist and a powerful one at that. He received a standing ovation at the International Women’s Summit and he deserved it – highlighting the crappy contributions Member States have made to UN Women and howthe UN istelf is unaccountable to the promises made when this very important UN agency was formed.

We hope to get a copy of his speech to show YWCA of A/NZ members when we return…in the meantime, Sarah and Shannon made sure they got a picture with this amazing man – what a role model he is for women and young women around the world! Check out our Facebook page to see!

We love Mary Robinson

ywcaworldcouncil — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:48:54 +0000

And we love the Mary Robinson awards! Some AMAZING women were awarded for their human rights work and there were tears as we listened to their stories.

Four awardees were selected among more than 70 nominations by an international review panel headed by Dr. Sigrun Mogedal. The award ceremony was opened by Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, General Secretary of the World YWCA. Mary Robinson, Chair of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice and the first female President of Ireland (1990-1997), gave a keynote speech to present the awards and emphasise the critical work that the recipients are doing in human rights.

In her opening speech, Ms. Robinson discussed the need for further advocacy, saying that “the world itself has woken up to the largely untapped potential of young girls and women.” Speaking on issues such as child marriage, education, and healthcare, Ms. Robinson stressed the need for both broad alliances and work within local communities. “The most effective way to bring about the change we need is to empower girls themselves, but they need examples to follow, they need young women leaders to stand up and have their voices heard,” said Robinson.

Awards were given in three categories: a young woman human rights activist from the YWCA movement, a young woman human rights activist from the broader community, and a YWCA that demonstrated exemplary leadership in the area of human rights. Nominees were judged on impact, community empowerment, innovation, human rights focus, adaptability, motivation, and partnership with others.

Nancy Kapembwa, from the YWCA of Zambia was the young woman that was selected from the YWCA movement.Growing up in the rural town of Chipata in Zambia, she witnessed the effects harmful traditional practices have had on women and girls and the primary motivation of her work has been to see her community make such practices a thing of the past. In her work for the emancipation of women in Zambia, she uses innovative techniques to empower women. Ms. Kapembwa has created a Survivor Support Group for women living with HIV. This group of women meets regularly to share experiences and to grow strong together. Equipped with knowledge, many of the young women Ms. Kapembwa has worked with now execute sensitisation campaigns in their own communities.

Another innovative method that Ms. Kapembwa uses in her work is community conversations. This is a six phase process that she designed to ensure progression from problem identification to action. The process involves men and women, and boys and girls. The involvement of men gives them a role as agents of change, thus rendering the process more effective and inclusive of all members of the community.

Ms. Kapembwa has become a role model to many women and girls. To date she has reached approximately 2,500 people, many of whom are women and girls survivors of violence and living with HIV.

Jacinta Nyachae is the young woman outside of the YWCA movement who was the recipient of the Mary Robinson Award. Jacinta Nyachae, from Kenya, has demonstrated relentless dedication to the legal protection, education and health care of people living with HIV and AIDS. In 2007, Ms. Nyachae founded the AIDS Law Project, which addresses the gap in provision of legal services to people living with HIV. Through ALP, Ms. Nyachae has reached over 1,000 people through legal awareness at the community level and at least 300,000 people through public litigation on matters relating to health and rights.

In her advocacy work, Ms. Nyachae has cultivated the interest of young women in rural Nairobi who wish to know more about their legal rights. A simplified version of the HIV Act that was published by Ms. Nyachae, in conjunction with the legal aid training, has empowered women to identify violations in human rights and then seek legal justice. Ms. Nyachae has done much to framework violations against female rights on the basis of gender and HIV stigmas. She has successfully devised a way for young women to be educated and empowered on a community level and, in doing so, curbed and restrained abuse.

It is Ms. Nyachae’s commitment, promotion and protection of the human rights of women living with HIV that brought her to Zurich, where she gave an inspiring and moving acceptance speech saying, “I still believe in human rights.’’

The Mary Robinson Award for Young Women’s Leadership in Human Rights was originally destined to be awarded to one YWCA. However, due to the exceptional work of two YWCAs, the panel decided to present a joint award to the YWCA of Belize and YWCA Canada.The YWCA of Belize has led the way in human rights with their innovative use of barbershops and beauty salons as resource centres for HIV and AIDS education and dissemination. Their projects address the increasing rate of HIV transmission and have expanded to include violence against women, distribution of condoms, and advocacy. The General Secretary of the YWCA of Belize shared moving words in accepting the award, “The difficulties faced by the women of Belize drive and inspire our programmes. We believe setbacks, obstacles, and challenges are all temporary. We can never give up.”

YWCA Canada accepted the award for their ground-breaking programmes that consistently and strategically further human rights for women and girls, including Girlspace , YW Leadership Miles , and Power of Being a Girl. YWCA Canada continues to be at the forefront of leading social change within the country through building strategic partnerships and using social media. YWCA Canada strives to help girls understand what personal and human rights mean in their everyday lives. Accepting the award with intergenerational leadership, the recipients emphasised the power of influence and how one speech, one conference, or one person can serve to inspire.

Setting the tone for future Mary Robinson Awards for Young Women’s Leadership in Human Rights, the four recipients served as an inspiration for delegates at the International Women’s Summit and for human rights activists worldwide.

Congratulations Nancy Kapembwa, Jacinta Nyachae, the YWCA of Belize and YWCA Canada!

World YWCA – Young Women’s Leadership Dialogue

ywcaworldcouncil — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:43:39 +0000

All the young women in the delelgation attended the Young Women’s Leadership Dialogue in Zurich in Monday, July 11th.

We had the opportunity to participate in different panels around

- Women and Technology

- Young Women’s Leadership in the YWCA

- Positive Sexual Health

In the afternoon we started discussing a global young women’s leadership strategy…and this was intense! Lots of thoughts around the 25% quota – is it good or not? Some felt that it was irrelevant, and others that it must be in place to ensure young women’s voices are heard. Also discussion around the term ‘ inter-generational’ leadership…is it a move away from young women’s leadership?

We could have talked on these issues all day but we had to head off and take part in the opening worship at the Swiss catherdral. It was a packed ceremony and there was great music and atmosphere….we sat up the back with the organist who played music like Dracula was about to appear. Funny times…even if it was worship!

And we are off and racing…

ywcaworldcouncil — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 22:10:30 +0000

Although World Council doesn’t officially start just yet – there is still plenty taking place in Zurich.

Today , it was registration and our delegate bags are so cool! Red of course – this is Switzerland after all. There were some comments that the delegate bags made us look like postmen…but we beg to differ and think they are rather styley! What’s more – their contents were great. Along with programmes and important information which will make this World YWCA Council a lot eaiser for us, there were some goodies such as condoms, USB drive and Swiss chocolate – what else does a girl need?

We headed into delegate orientation. Although it was a long session it was very helpful – giving us a sense of how World Council will run, and some of the do’s and don’ts around elections and rules and procedures. It was really well facilitated and interactive – and Andrijana won some Swiss chocolate. We like to be bribed with chocolate.

The highlight of the day ( aside from the breakfast buffet at the hotel) was the Young Women’s evenings. All the young women were hosted by YMCA – YWCA Switzerland at a lovely outdoor area on the outskirts of Zurich. With traditional Swiss food, we had an opportunity network with other young women and meet our amazing Swiss team of volunteers. The fresh air was lovely and to celebrate , there was a diversity catwalk where young women could wear their traditional clothes. All the models were fantastic and some of the costumes truly beautiful. Janelle was the YWCA of A/NZ model and she did us proud.

We are taking every opportunity to meet new YWCA women. Whether it’s on the tram, near Lake Zurich, in the bathrooms – we are making new friends all over the world.

Meet the delegation # 2

ywcaworldcouncil — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:18:17 +0000

Janelle Nee is the YWCA of A/NZ Vice President. However, her YWCA experience spans over 5 years and includes time on the YWCA Auckland Board, Young Women’s Collective and even as a YWCA Auckland Future Leaders mentor. Janelle shares her thoughts around World YWCA Council…

Janelle Nee

Why do you want to attend World YWCA Council?

I thought I would represent the YWCA of A/NZ most effectively as a young woman and would be able to help strengthen and foster our relationship with the World YWCA and with other YWCA’s from around the world. I think the opportunity to learn and develop new skills that could be applied to our organisation in New Zealand would be of great benefit to strengthening our position in New Zealand as a community organisation and I would be interested in helping this occur.

What are your personal expectations around attending and what do you personally hope to gain from the experience?

It’s a great honour to represent New Zealand young women from the YWCA of A/NZ . I wish to further develop my public speaking skills as I realise this is an area I often shy away from. I’m currently enrolled in personal development in public speaking through my AUT degree and have some speaking occasions coming up in which to practice this skill. Learning from the practices of other YWCA’s from around the world will be a great experience and I personally want to see how these practices could be applied in our organiastion where applicable.

World YWCA Council will explore ‘Women Creating a Safe World’. What does this mean to you?

It means to me that Women regardless of background foster enviornments of inclusion and empowerment that allow and encourage the development of safe environments through activity promoting the philosophies of the YWCA. This to ensure that no matter what age or involvement a person had with the YWCA they would be able to recognise that the YWCA stood up for a safe World, that through its practices and involvement in the community it lead by example how a safe world could be sustained.

Sarah Davies is the YWCA of A/NZ Strategic Development Manager. In YWCA language, that is a General Secretary. Sarah started with YWCA Auckland at age 21, and throughout her years has been a YWCA A/NZ Board member, YWCA Whangarei board member, Young Women’s Collective member and also spent three years working at the World YWCA in Geneva, Switzerland.

Why do you want to attend World YWCA Council?

I was lucky enough to attend World YWCA Council 2007 in Kenya and I knew then I would attend the World Councils for the rest of my life. It gave me a real sense of what it means to belong to a global movement and it was life changing to meet women and young women from different YWCAs around the world.

I am very in interested in the issue of young women’s leadership and I am intrigues to see in Zurich whether YWCAs are really walking the talk or whether there is still tokenism in the YWCA. And of course, is there is, I will be interested in discussions and initiatives to address this.

What are your personal expectations around attending and what do you personally hope to gain from the experience?

I am really looking forward to hearing more about different programmes run by YWCAs. There is dynamic work happening around the world and I would like to bring those ideas back to New Zealand. I believe that attending World Council opens your eyes to the world around you and also gives you an appreciation of the country we are so lucky to live in. I have made friends through the YWCA who I know I will be friends for life with – and many were made at World YWCA Council.

What do you feel are some of the big issues facing young women in New Zealand?

There are many. Binge drinking and low self esteem around body image seem to be big issues in New Zealand today and it concerns me that we live in a society that promotes this. Violence against women also continues to be a huge problem all over the world and we need to start developing primary intervention programmes and services at YWCAs to address this. I hope this comes up at World YWCA Council.

Sarah Davies

Meet the young women of the delegation…

ywcaworldcouncil — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:58:27 +0000

Andrijana Trajanovska: YWCA of Auckland Board member, Young Women’s Collective member

Andrijana

Andrijana has been actively involved in the YWCA movement for the past two years and is professionally involved in tertiary education. Andrijana has a Bachelor of Communications and was born in Macedonia…adding to the cultural diversity of the YWCA of A/NZ delegation to World YWCA Council, 2011.

Why are you looking forward to going to World YWCA Council?

I want to learn more and see the ‘big picture” of YWCA global movement in order to understand it better and that will strengthen my contributions to the YWCA Auckland.

What do you feel is the biggest issue facing young women?

The biggest issue for young women is building a healthy image of themselves and a high self-confidence that would prevent or eliminate all other issues young women face at the moment.

How do you plan to use what you learn at World YWCA back in New Zealand?

My commitment is the same as the World YWCA’s commitment – developing effective young women leaders. We often forget young women are the leaders of today, not only tomorrow; so my first priority would be sharing the experience and knowledge gained from the Council with the young women in the local and national YWCA movement as well as with the members of the Young Women’s Collective. I intend to do that by:

writing an extensive report of my experience of the World Council and electronically distributing it to the YWCA of A/NZ to be then delivered to every Member Association, as well as to the members of the Young Women’s Collective and Wahine o Wairua;

organising a session during the first YWC’s hui after the return from Zurich where I will be explaining the major lessons learnt during the World Council and giving practical suggestions and ides for projects and funding that YWC can implement to help create a safer world for women

writing a proposal for a new programme with an aim of “women creating a safe world” (with the focus being given to a recipient group that is currently not being targeted by any other programme by any Member Associations of YWCA of A/NZ) and disseminating it to the Boards of all local YWCA organisations

Shannon Kelly: YWCA of A/NZ Board member, Wahine o Wairua member, Young Women’s Collective member

Shannon

Shannon has had many roles in the YWCA in her five year involvement. Shannon originally served on the YWCA of Hamilton’s young women’s scholarship panel, helped develop strategic plans, collaboratively developed the Maori Women’s Community Scholarship at the Hamilton YWCA, participated in the development of World Aids Day, participated in WoW and YWC meetings. Elected as Co-Vice President 2010 for Hamilton YWCA.

Why are you looking forward to going to World YWCA Council?

I’m looking forward to going to World Council because it will my first experience of seeing how women from across the globe come together to make a difference for our communities.

What do you feel is the biggest issue facing young women today?

I think the biggest issue facing young women at the moment is… well I don’t know what that is. I do know that in my family and community, self esteem and confidence is a big big issue, but I wouldn’t know what the biggest one is. I’d have to do more research.

How do you plan to use what you learn at World YWCA back in New Zealand?

I intend to make a significant difference in my local association as a board member, and on a national level as a board member as I am strongly supportive of developing resources aimed at young women, and young Maori women regarding HIV and Violence against women.

In our next post, meet Janelle and Sarah…