United Families International has four representatives attending the Commission this year. They are joining approximately 4,000 women from around the world. It is a very colorful place to be – not only in terms of seeing the wonderful clothing worn by women from around the globe – but in terms of “colorful” comments and expressions of ideology and worldview. We plan to spend the next week giving you an insider’s perspective. Here’s the first installment.
The U.S. Mission Briefing
We managed to get our name on the “list” to attend the U.S. Delegation’s briefing held in the newly remodeled U.S. Mission right smack across the street from the UN headquarters. The U.S. delegation’s roster has a smattering of “experts” from all walks of life. The delegation is headed by Melanne Verveer who served as Chief of Staff to the former First Lady Hillary Clinton and includes such notables as Dr. Mae Jemison (former NASA Astronaut) and Geena Davis (yes, the movie star).
The delegation each took a few minutes to discuss their feelings about the CSW theme: “Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology.” Here are a couple of interesting excerpts from their remarks:
Dr. Mae Jemison (the former astronaut):
“Men think more highly of themselves while women and girls think less highly of themselves. The gap is huge and it’s a problem. Men are coming up with things that they think are more brilliant than they actually are…”
Geena Davis (referencing the negative influence of media on females – she has started a foundation to address “Gender in Media” with its focus on girls age 11 and younger):
“The more girls watch TV, the less options they feel they have in life. The more boys watch TV, the more sexist they become. Only 7 percent of movies are ‘gender balanced.’”
Melanne Verveer conducted an ongoing dialogue on “why we should ratify CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women):
“I think part of the problem is that the acronym “CEDAW” means nothing to people. We need to somehow pound it into people’s heads that it is the ‘Women’s Human Rights Treaty.’”
Sorry Melanne… the problem with CEDAW is that it is a dangerous treaty that threatens U.S. sovereignty and the U.S. and its women stand to gain nothing from its ratification. That has been the case for over 30 years.
MORE REPORTS ON WHAT’S HAPPENING AT CSW TO FOLLOW.