Basak Ovacik
Dr.Ovacik Turkish Association of University Women Women on Boards-Impactful Leadership for Systemic Change and Inclusive Entities STEM Institute Women in power and decision-making, Education and training of women SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality Women and STEM (2019) My NFA supports STEM education and encourage girls to prefer STEM fields at their education. Jackie K. Weatherspoon was the keynote speaker. UWE President Anne Negre and GWI member Shailo Mistry made excellent presentations. Alex Blakemore from Britain presented the academic side of STEM and gave statistics. It was an informative session with highlights from the world. We can write a statement on STEM education.Rate of progress varies in different parts of the world. But we need to take a collaborative action. The underlying low number in girls’ choice of STEM is gender inequalities they face. We need to provide gender equality...
SaharGamal
Ms.Gamal Independent Member, Egypt. CSW65 Side Event: Connect2Include.Include2Connect, Thursday, 18 March 2021. International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Women in power and decision-making, The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Violence against women, Women and poverty, Women and health SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being, SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality, SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal Bullying (2016), Disability (2016), Harassment (2016), Tolerance of Minority Groups (2016), Young Members (2016) The session focused on the importance of connectivity and digital inclusion of women and girls as a powerful enabler and empowering tool . This coincides with GWI's Marketplace Initiative and, in turn, with FUWA's ICT Literacy Course targeting 100% literacy of FUWA members. This session was the second stop in ITU's "Road to Addis" for their "World Telecommunication Development Conference" (WTDC-2021) that will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8-19 November 2021 preceded by a Youth Summit. ITU aims at achieving digital inclusion of women and girls, children,youth, persons with disabilities, older persons, indigenous peoples, and people living in remote areas. They aim to do so by ensuring that technology is people centered and that no one is left behind due to lack of connectivity or due to lack of accessibility of digital information, products and services. To achieve that, there is a need to develop appropriate policies, strategies and actions that address the specific needs for this digital inclusion. ITU promotes the building of inclusive digital societies because connectivity will help accelerate the global socio-economic recovery after the current pandemic. To accelerate connectivity for sustainable development, ITU identified "6 enablers" which are "Partnerships, Inclusion, Financing, Leadership, Innovation and Youth". Participants of this session concluded that "Connectivity and Inclusion" should be regarded as the 18th SDG and digitalization is the only means to do so. Because of the current pandemic situation, all GWI members have realized the importance of ICT literacy and accessibility. Women and girls' education has been negatively affected in areas where there is no appropriate digital infrastructure. Girls' school drop-outs and child marriage have increased. Women's economic independence has suffered because of lockdown and downsizing. VAW has increased, unreported and unnoticed, because of social distancing. ICT tools have been the main source for pandemic-related information and health-related advice. Digital platforms were the only available educational resources. Online small businesses have been the main source of women's economic independence. This session, in turn, provides GWI members with information related to digital accessibility...
SaharGamal
Ms.Gamal Independent Member, Egypt. CSW65 Parallel Event: Mock Trial: Women and Girls' Empowerment through Responsive Quality Education, Tuesday, 16 March 2021. Graduate Women International (GWI). The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Violence against women, Women and poverty SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal Bullying (2016), Child Marriage (2016), Diversity in Teacher Education (2019), Women and STEM (2019) GWI's NFAs, in general, followed their national restriction rules and were obliged to resort to digital educational platforms to cope with the current pandemic situation and the lockdown of all educational institutions. This necessitated that all teachers, as well as students, needed to be ICT literate. Realizing this fact, as a GWI independent member, and benefiting from my own personal experience, I have volunteered to give courses on Basic ICT Literacy Skills. As an educator of university level female students, I have been training my students on how to maximize their benefit from our online classes. I have also facilitated their communication with the IT technical support personnel to solve the problems they encounter. The session was another one of GWI's very successful Mock Trials. Participants debated two statements. The first one was about E-learning and digitalization being the one and only solution to decrease inequalities and ensure inclusion. The second was about schools providing IT home based education by trained teachers, while redirecting their functions to be places for practical subjects, social interaction and extra-curricular activities. Participants agreed on the inevitability of e-learning during crisis situations such pandemics and conflicts areas. They also agreed on its benefit in areas that lack schools. Yet, they disagreed that either one of the statements could be the one and only solution. The first statement raised concerns about mothers having to leave their jobs, and thus their financial independence, to monitor their younger children while being home schooled. Another concern was the deprivation of less advantaged students from the in-person services provided by schools such as medical attention, meals and physical exercises. Yet, the most pressing concern was that abuse and domestic violence might prevail unnoticed by the different authorities. The second statement raised a concern about digitalization of education that might lead to teachers losing their jobs as fewer ones will be needed to address many more students through the digital platforms. Another concern was that students, especially younger ones, might be negatively affected as far as socialization and human interacting are concerned. Participants weighed advantages and disadvantages of both statements and reached...
MaryellaHannum
Ms.Hannum WG-USA Virtual Downhill Meeting of Civil Society and UN SG, 16 March 2021 UN Women Women and the environment, Women in power and decision-making, The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Violence against women, Women and poverty, Institutional mechanisms, Women and health, Women and armed conflict, Women and the media SDG5 – Gender Equality Child Marriage (2016) The meeting provided an opportunity for women and youth civil society organizations to engage with the UN Secretary-General (SG) on the CSW65 Priority Theme: Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. The townhall also built upon discussions from the SG virtual meeting with women’s civil society in light of the COVID-19 crisis, addressing ways to build back better and continue protecting and promoting women’s rights and agency within this new context. The SG began the session by proclaiming that his priority for the session was not to answer questions but to listen. He wanted to hear the opinions and suggestions of civil society representatives, and to then be able to incorporate them into “our” thinking and forthcoming policies. The SG went on to present some alarming information as a result of the pandemic and what it has meant in terms of progress for women’s rights and gender equality. He emphasized that the social and economic impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for women’s rights. He particularly focused his comments on the rights of the most vulnerable and marginalized poor women and particularly on women working in the “informal” economy. The SG stressed that, according to the World Bank, women in Latin America and the Caribbean were 44 percent more likely than men to lose their jobs at the onset of the crisis. And, he noted that UNICEF reported in the prior week that up to ten million more girls were at risk of becoming child brides as a result of the pandemic. The SG reviewed and acknowledged the severe impact of COVID-19 on many fronts; i.e. on domestic violence as many women are trapped at home with their abusers, on education with school closures, overburdened elder and healthcare services with women bearing the brunt of the care economy, and the inequalities that all of these dilemmas perpetuate. Many of these issues were considered emergencies even before COVID-19. Furthering the crises is a lack of access for women to sexual and reproductive health services and an extended disruption of supplies and services. The SG stressed the importance of women in equal...
SaharGamal
Ms.Gamal Independent Member, Egypt. CSW65 Side Event: The Rapid Response to Women and Girls needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Tuesday 16 March 2021. Egyptian National Council for Women, UN Women Egypt and UNFPA Egypt. Women in power and decision-making, The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Violence against women, Women and poverty, Women and health, Women and the media SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being, SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality, SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal Bullying (2016), Disability (2016), Harassment (2016), FGM (2016), Child Marriage (2016), Sexual Health and Reproduction Education (2019) The session covered the majority of issues related to women facing the COVID-19 Pandemic, providing suggestions on how to minimize the negative impact of this pandemic and sharing successful measures that were already implemented. The Egyptian National Council for Women (NCW); in collaboration with China, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Zambia; presented a "Ministerial Interactive Dialogue" demonstrating national and regional efforts to respond to women and girls needs during the COVID-19 pandemic situation. They shared Egypt's Policy Paper titled " Strengthening national and international rapid response to the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on women and girls". This policy was adopted unanimously as a resolution by the UN General Assembly (https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/75/156). The aim of the policy is to provide a gender- sensitive approach to women and girls during the time of the pandemic. The session started by analyzing the situation,identifying the most vulnerable segments of women and the response measures suggested for them. These response measures targeted women and girls' physical and mental health, their social and economic protection, the needed intervention measures for elderly and disabled women, the necessity of digitalizing education and providing the needed infrastructure, protecting the girl child and preventing all forms of VAW, and ensuring women's equal chances in leadership and decision making. NCW Egypt also launched the "Women Policy Tracker" which included indicators and techniques to monitor the rapid and gender-sensitive responses to women and girls' needs. The session was a follow up on the implementation of the related policies and programs dividing responses into immediate recovery, short term and long term interventions that rely on already existing mechanisms as well as initiating new ones. The end result is to have an inclusive healthy society for women and girls. The session provided the first policy ever to address women and girls needs in the time of the pandemic and the necessity of a...
