GRAIL LINK TO THE UNITED NATIONS NET WORK
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
GRAIL LINK TO THE
UNITED NATIONS NET WORK
UPDATES ON GRAIL AND UFER ACTIVITIES
January/February 2018
COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN (CSW-62) 2018
CSW-62, March 12 to 23, is under the experience planning activities for the Girls and
capable hands of our two interns: from Mexico Young women that are coming to The Grail at the
Montse Fregoso, and, Khensani Nhambongo from Bronx! We are ready to receive girls from Italy,
Mozambique. Arriving in early January, they are Portugal, The Netherlands, Portugal, Kenya, South
already an integral part of the Working Group on Africa, Uganda, Mexico, & USA! Our mission is to
Girls (WGG), taking leadership in not only the Grail make the Grail visible throughout CSW through
orientation but the WGG orientation for youth on sharing all of our experiences and knowledge!”
March 11, helping to plan the UN Women
Khensani, 19 years old, considers the
sponsored Youth Dialogue on March 17, two or
experience an opportunity to strengthen her
three Girls Caucuses during CSW, our Girls parallel
understanding of the Grail and learn a new Grail
event on March 14, visiting various Missions with
lifestyle. “… a great learning experience for all of
the WGG Advocacy committee, speaking at Boys
us and also an opportunity for us to make the
and Girls Clubs and two Catholic high schools in
international Grail work visible and known during
NYC, attending the Commission on Social
the two weeks of CSW by bringing all these
Development to see what they are saying about
different stories of girls and young women who
the Sustainable Development Goals.
are fighting fearlessly for a better world for
As shared in the Grail International everyone.” (They will be here through Easter and will
Newsletter, 21 year old Montse, finds the write again next month as so much is happening now
internship inspiring and motivating: “…a fulfilling through March.)
Pictured left: Interns Montse and Khensani speaking with girls at the Newburgh Boys and Girls Club.
Pictured right: At the Lower East Side Girls Club, in Manhattan, Montse and Khensani along with Grail
members Judith Brown-Leigh, Lillian Wall, Emily Thomas and Lisa Petro.
From Mary Kay:
Interns play such an important role in the Grail’s involvement in CSW. Every year we all learn more how to
best use their time and talents. Especially in this era of social media/cyberspace, they have an expertise we
can’t imagine! Khensani has just gotten us through the very complex new system of the UN for registering
people for CSW. Montse will be keeping track of expenses and various logistics. They both are involved in
Working Group on Girls (WGG) Girls Participation Task Force and that involves: designing handouts and
flyers, visiting the Mission at the UN with the WGG Advocacy Task Force, serving on the planning
committee of the WGG Youth Orientation and the UN Women Youth Dialogue. Then, of course, organizing
with Lisa Petro, Grail member who lives in Newburgh, NY and Mexico, our Grail orientation, pre-
orientation skype meetings and materials, Open House, practicalities of living together, etc. And they are
incorporating the skills and interest of Rebecca Lamm, granddaughter of Annemarie Czyzewski, studying in
Brooklyn. There is more but this gives you a taste! Be thinking now of next year’s interns!
From where come the interns? Here is a breakdown:
2012 Ana Heleno/Portugal 2016 Timeika Mucambe/Mozabique and
2013 Diane Mali/PNG and Sara Mduma/Tanzania
Anelisa Shamase/ South Africa 2017 Thando Naimande/South Africa
2014 Bernadette Gemmell/Australia and 2018 Khensani Nhambongo/Mozambique and
Hyacinta Mgonja /Tanzania Montseratt Fregoso/Mexico
2015 Fuva Muiambo/Mocambique and
Sonia Monteiro/Portugal (Next newsletter, we’ll share more about them)
YOUNG WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP TRAINING IN MOZAMBIQUE
JULY 18 to AUGUST 1, 2018
From Lucy Jones: The International Coordinating Team (Abida Jamal, Lucy Jones and Thanh Nguyen)
are happy to report that recommendations for the Young Women’s Leadership Training have been
coming in prior to the February 10 deadline. To date, there are 13 applicants from 8 countries: Australia,
Kenya, Mexico, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, USA and Zimbabwe. Three more countries have
promised to send recommendations soon.
The final deadline for participant applications is March 10, 2018. We expect to have a full cohort of 20
young women by then, ready to expand their leadership capacity, contribute to a more sustainable world
and to learn about resources to better serve their communities and the world.
Participants are deemed current or potential leaders by their country’s Grail leadership and are between
ages 18 and 28. They have demonstrated capacity to work with local Grail leaders or other community
organizers to transform their communities after they have completed the training. They will develop local
projects and build awareness and action connected to
gender equity, economic justice, environmental
sustainability and other Global Goals.
In 2015, the 20 participants of the Grail’s Sacred
Activism Summer Camp visited the United Nations
General Assembly hall. Local projects in ten countries
arose from that training of young women leaders. This
year, we will continue to equip young women for
achieving the Global Goals.
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Standing with the Ramapough Lenape Nation by Joy Garland
The January 18, 2018, meeting of the NGO Committee on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples had as guest speaker Owl Smith (aka)
Stephen Smith of the Ramapough Lenape Nation. He spoke of the
continued discrimination against the Lenape Nation of Mahwah,
New Jersey. I first heard about the actions that imperiled the Native
American Community in February 16, 2017 when Tribal Chief
Dwain C. Perry spoke to our Committee about efforts of the local
police and others to have their tribe leave the land where they were
on where they had a tepee for prayer. Chief Perry had brought their
case to the Court and members of our UN Indigenous Committee
offered both professional and financial help.
Almost a
year later, As often as she can, Sandy goes and brings with
the speaker her food and firewood for the community
at our there. She encouraged us to visit saying she
meeting was Owl Smith. He said the town knows that we’d be welcomed by the Native
officials spoke against the tribe saying they American community.
failed to obtain “zoning permits for building
tepees and using the property as a camp ground Lillian and I met with Sandy and told her we
and prayer space and moving the soil without a would like to visit in the Spring and look into
permit.” The court battles and fines were a hiring a bus so we could bring ourselves and
tremendous drag on the tribe’s finances. After others who would want to go to be with the
the meeting, Lillian and I stayed to speak to people in solidarity. Here Lillian and I are
Sandy Sheridan of the Sunray Meditation pictured with Owl Smith of the Ramapo Lenape
Society who is our committee treasurer. Sandy Nation. (Joy, Lillian and Sharon represent both
told us that the Split Rock Sweetwater Prayer the Grail and UFER on this committee.)
Camp is subjected to constant harassment, Looking ahead: United Nations Permanent
discrimination, constitutional and human rights Forum on Indigenous Issues: April 16-27, 2018
violations plus expensive court visits.
WOMEN´S MARCH 2018! By Montse Fregoso
Today I did not stand alone... I stood with hundreds hatred... #IMarched today, and it felt so good to
of thousands of women & men, girls & boys, dogs & stand up for all girls, all boys, all men & women...
horses. We are only fighting for our basic Human and most importantly, for #MeToo. Because I also
Rights... which I personally think that is very much want to live in a world where I can be the best
reasonable. Such a wonderful experience walking version of myself."-
side by side with a gigantic group of people, all as
one. It really was a peaceful, fun, energetic, and
powerful experience! It feels great to speak up, I just
want to make sure we are heard. "I am
a #FEMINIST ! I stand up for
both #MEN, #WOMEN, & #ANIMALS!
I #SpeakUp for everyone that cannot be heard! I
will #StandUp for anyone that is held! #Equality is
for everyone, everywhere, all the time. I do this
because #Times Up for injustice, racism, war,Pictured above are Grail Members: Thanh Nguyen,
Montse, Khensani, Carol Skyrm, and Carol Barton.
56th Commission for Social Development by Montse Fregoso
January 29th --February 7th, Khensani and Montse attended the Commission for Social Development
with “Strategies for eradicating Poverty to achieve sustainable development for all” as the priority
theme. The key factor to eradicating poverty is to “Leave no-one behind”. This includes women, girls,
LGBTQ, people with disabilities, and any other vulnerable group.
At the opening session, the chair mentioned another very important key activity to eradicating
poverty: Empowering the youth! He stated that the inclusion of Young Leaders at the decision-making table
was essential, including women and girls.
In one of the sessions, it was concluded that quality education (everywhere and for everyone) is an
important factor to empower young people, especially with the use of Information, Communication and
Technology (ICT). Innovation and interconnectivity is crucial for social development. That way, the ability
to share knowledge, experiences, and innovative strategies that have shown to be effective can be taken to all
parts of the world.
There is also an organization in the USA that provides support for homeless young persons that helps
them develop skills for them to know how to work as a team, be community leaders, and create their own
profitable projects that can help them, and their surroundings, to end poverty.
As Grail team members, we are also part of eradicating poverty in various countries around the
world. With the different projects being held, targeting multiple objectives, girls and young women have
been evolving their communities, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, girl by girl.
GRAIL STATEMENT TO THE 62nd COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF
WOMEN ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN
ACHIEVING GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF
RURAL GIRLS (In the next few issues of this newsletter, we will share with you the statement The
Grail presented to the CSW.)
The realization of gender equality and full empowerment of all women and girls everywhere is crucial to
achieving sustainable development. The constant inequalities and exclusions women and girls face, such as
access to education and fair wages, cut across all income and location divides. Rural women and girls,
however, are subjected to inequalities and hardships at a higher rate than other geographical areas. The Grail,
an international women’s organization, with roots in Christian faith, present in more than 17 countries on all
six continents, is committed to the empowerment of women and girls, environmental sustainability, and the
transformation of the world into a global community of peace and justice. The Grail calls for international
and local action to tackle the global issue of rural women and girls’ inequalities and exclusion.
We acknowledge the lack of access to education as one of the biggest challenges rural girls face. The reduced
number of educational institutes in rural areas limits the opportunities for girls to access higher education and
be qualified for better jobs. Moreover, the long distances girls have to walk to and from school constitute a
huge barrier for girls’ completion of basic education levels. One of our Grail chapters in Brazil shares about
the impact of this issue, “In Brazil, the vast majority of rural girls have to travel great distances to access the
school and, even when they finish high school, rarely they can attend university. Lack of opportunities to
have a job has often the consequence of early marriage or, for those who do not marry, the exodus to the big
cities where they will work in services with precariousness as domestic servants, often being subject to
sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and prostitution, especially in the poorest regions of the country.”
In Mozambique, “Lack of employment increases the chances of human trafficking in rural areas as many
girls and young women are trafficked to urban areas believing they will have better opportunities there while
they will actually work as maids (with unacceptable salaries or no payment at all in some cases) and
prostitutes.”You can also read
