Participation of Think Young Women (TYW) in the 58th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Yassin at the CSW

Think Young Women (TYW) in its strive to create and lead change is pleased to continue its participation in international events and foras as part of continued efforts to highlight the participation and empowerment of young women on the global stage.

Two young women who are executive members of TYW, Yassin Nyan and Aisha Keita attended the 58^th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) from the 10^th to the 21^st March 2014 at the UN Headquarters in New York as part of the Vice President’s delegation. Other members of the delegation were; The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Mrs. Fatou Mbye, The Director of Social Welfare Mrs. Fanta Bai Secka, Mrs. Haddy Dandeh Jabbie Vice President of the Female Lawyers’ Association of The Gambia (FLAG), representatives from UNFPA and UNDP, Gambia Government staff, NGOs representatives; the Network on Gender-Based Violence Haddy Mboge Barrow and Mrs. Fatou Jah, President of The Gambia Women’s Federation.

As part of activities in this year’s CSW, they attended a series of meetings and events that took place geared towards deliberating on the main theme of the event ‘Challenges and Achievements in the Implementation of the MDGs for Women and Girls.’ They also participated in bilateral meetings between the Gambia Government Delegation headed by Her Excellency The Vice President of the Republic Madam Isatou Njie Saidy and global institutions like UNFPA, UN WOMEN  amongst others.

Various issues challenging women worldwide were discussed in a series of High level meetings, symposia and side events organised by UN Agencies, country delegates and international NGOs. These issues ranged from education, healthcare, agriculture, access to productive resources, equal access to opportunities, encouraging women and girls to venture into the sciences, to name a few.

Some of the key sessions attended included:

‘To 2015 and Beyond; Putting Girls’ Education at the Heart of the Agenda’ organised by UNICEF  

This session sought to take a keen look into the world situation as far as girls’ education is concerned and measure progress made in this area since the MDGs came into being as well as explore the successes and gaps in attaining the different levels of education for girls. Among issues highlighted was the relationship between girls’ education and child wellbeing and survival as well as how gender equality impacts the wellbeing of young women and their fertility rates.

A key power statement that emerged during this discussion was “Education is the vaccine of the 21^st Century”. By educating women and girls it becomes easier for other interventions to take effect.

‘Good for Gender Equality, Good for the Economy: Getting Girls into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)’ organised by the United Kingdom and deliberated on by Partners UNESCO DG, GSK (a global pharmaceutical and research company), Tanzanian Govt

Globally, women represent only 30% of researchers globally. The reason for the lack of diversity in women’s participation in the sciences was explored in depth in this session as well as the importance of women’s involvement in STEM areas. These were three main reasons; women’s equality, opportunity and for each country’s growth. To achieve this, the identification and support of role models for girls and the integration of gender sensitivity into science education is pivotal. Better data is needed to design sharper policies to address this and by sharing best practices with stakeholders we act globally while working on the ground.

 ‘Intergenerational Dialogue on Faith, Culture, HIV and Reproductive Health and Rights’ organised by World Council of Churches and Partners;  Symposium: “Driving Down Maternal Deaths through Evidence-Based Policy and Technology: Anaemia, Postpartum Haemorrhage and Digital Medicine” organised by the Global Alliance for Women’s Health and partners; and ‘Addressing Violations of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women Living with HIV in Healthcare Settings’ jointly organised by UNDP, UNAIDS, International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS(ICW) and Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)

These sessions sought to explore the barriers that hinder women’s access to reproductive and general health services. These range from religious and cultural norms to HIV/AIDS and of course the ever present denominators of poverty and exclusion among others. Some recommendations were put forward in order to tackle these problems and they include: making use of sport, music and art as tools of advocacy and sensitisation, using radio to reach out to rural populations, removal of parental consent requirements for young people to access sexual and reproductive health services (SRHS) and at national level the decriminalisation of sex work to enable sex workers come out without fear to access preventive services.

Other sessions the young women delegates participated in were:

‘Lesson Learnt in Country: How to End Child, Early and Forced Marriage organised by PLAN international; Indicators for monitoring Gender Equality: Lessons Learnt for the MDGs’ organised by UN Women, UN Statistics Division and Partners; ‘Assessing Ghana’s implementation of the MDGs: Best Practices, Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward organised by Ghana delegation’; ‘The Voices of African Women and Girls in the Post-2015 Development Agenda’ organised by UN Women and the Special Youth Envoy of the Secretary General; and ‘Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture’ organised by FAO, IFAD and IFPRI.

Yassin and Aisha were also invited to a Young Women’s Caucus organised by the World YWCA. The purpose of this caucus was to bring together young women delegates to put up recommendations based on their countries’ contexts and realities to be featured in the Post 2015 agenda.

MILEAD Fellows Panel

Both young women also participated in the panel organised by the Moremi Initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa, in collaboration with UN Women-Africa as MILEAD Fellows. The MILEAD Fellows represent a regional network of Africa’s most extra-ordinary young women leaders. They are emerging young women leaders who are already engaged in actively leading change on critical issues in their communities. Twenty-five Fellows are selected each year through a highly competitive selection process and criteria, including their outstanding leadership promise, community service accomplishments and commitment to the advancement of women in Africa.

As fellows of the Moremi Initiative for Young Women’s Leadership in Africa (MILEAD) both Yassin (2011 fellow) and Aisha (2012 fellow) were opportune to speak to an audience of diverse backgrounds from different countries about their MILEAD experience, their MiChange projects, and how the programme as a whole has impacted their lives as individuals and as young women advocates. For more information on the MILEAD programme you can visit their website on –www.moreminitiative.com. Other MILEAD fellows from the different year groups who attended this year’s CSW also spoke at the event. They included young women counterparts from Liberia, Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

The two young women are now back in the country and will with the collaboration of the membership of Think Young Women work towards implementing recommendations from the country relevant to our context while making use of the best practices learnt during interactions with counterparts during the event. Participation at this important event was essential in exposing these young women and the work that TYW does.

As Aisha rightly said “It offered a unique platform to showcase best practices of empowering and inspiring the next generation of young female leaders, as well as contribute towards the Post 2015 discourse”

Aisha during one of the sessions

A comprehensive report of the event will be compiled and available on the group’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/thinkyoungwomen/?fref=ts)