Therefore, civil society organisations are urging the rescheduling of the UNECE RFSD 2020 to guarantee full and meaningful participation of all stakeholders, as well as meeting the aims and objectives of the Forum.

Following the decision in United Nations Headquarters regarding the postponing of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Asia-Pacific RFSD, we ask that the regional forum be not held in a sized down version with only Geneva-based participants, but that a full meeting is held later in the year.

In the light of the latest developments regarding the COVID-19 virus, we, civil society organisations in the UNECE region, sincerely welcome and appreciate the serious reaction to protect the health and well-being of people in our region.

We share UNECE’s significant health and well-being concerns, but we are concerned with the way it was addressed through scaling down the RFSD process as it has serious potential to disrupt the participatory process of the implementation of the SDGs in the region. Moreover, this change would directly undermine the legitimacy of the review process through the introduction of a participation bias and raising structural barriers to non-Geneva based CSOs. This would not be fully aligned with the purpose and functions of the RFSD.

However, we need to emphasise that the UNECE RFSD is the most critical annual process to review regional progress and challenges towards achieving SDGs. The process is robust in many other ways as it brings closer together governments, UN agencies and the beautiful diversity of civil society to discuss, debate and collaborate on ways to accelerate progress, solve common problems, and commit to actions that will achieve these joint goals. We believe that the purpose of RFSD is not only to feed into the HLPF process, but also is essential for creating and consolidating the space for engagement between civil society and member states.

Therefore, we urge governments to:

• Postpone the UNECE RFSD, to later in 2020, to ensure adequate accountability on the process of implementation on the SDGs in the region with full participation of civil society and other stakeholders, as it was done for CSW and Asia-Pacific RFSD.

• Ensure an interactive space and processes for Governments and civil society to adequately discuss VNRs, challenges, best practices and the sharing of insights from different sectors.

• Establish different modes of multi-stakeholder engagement leading up to the rescheduled dates of UNECE RFSD. Continue and build on the existing structure for online multi-language engagement. Including online sessions, webinars, written submission channels for civil society to share their insights and expertise, as well as to inform/influence the RFSD session and shape its outcomes, particularly in consideration of the fact that rescheduling of RFSD itself will undoubtedly affect the level of participation of diverse civil society organisations, and thus contribute to the more successful RFSD.

The civil society in the UNECE region is recalling the commitment to institutionalise civil society engagement and to leave no one behind.

Yours sincerely,

The Governing body of the UNECE Regional Civil society Engagement Mechanism.

The letter has been endorsed by a large number of civil society organisations in the region.

The post Letter to UNECE, Member States and UN agencies on UNECE RFSD 2020-endorsed by IAW appeared first on International Alliance of Women.

In Canada the plight of the Indigenous Woman to self-actualize is as daunting as ever and must become an area of focus to challenge the current state of affairs.  While other women in Canada are experiencing levels of empowerment, our Indigenous sisters are largely still fighting for their voices to be heard and their rights in the areas of gender based violence, access to transportation, health care and education.

The February 2014 Amnesty International Executive Summary of the 2011 Statistics Canada report states that, “Violence affects Indigenous women and girls in their own families and communities, as well as in predominantly non-Indigenous communities, and threatens Indigenous women and girls from all walks of life. This violence against Indigenous women and girls has deep roots in racism, marginalization and poverty.” Included for your convenience is the link to the document https://www.amnesty.ca/sites/amnesty/files/iwfa_submission_amnesty_international_february_2014_-_final.pdf

In response to calls for action from Indigenous families, communities and organizations, as well as non-governmental and international organizations, the Government of Canada launched a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in September 2016.  Composed of four Commissioners from across the country, the Commissioners’ mandate is to examine and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQ individuals in Canada by looking at patterns and underlying factors.

From the beginning, the Inquiry was fraught with controversy resulting in a rotation of commissioners and accusations that the Inquiry did not provide enough time or access for all Indigenous communities to participate.  However, as of July 25, 2018 the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls website reports 1273 testimonies have been provided by family members and survivors who shared their truths.  340 Artistic Expressions have been received.  1859 families and survivors registered to participate.

On June 5th, 2018, the federal government granted the National Inquiry a short extension of six months, instead of an additional 24 months requested. The National Inquiry is expected to conclude its research and submit its final report by April 30, 2019.  The Commissioners have been given the direction to conduct hearings on the following topics:

1. Colonial Violence – socio-economic, health impacts, wellness
2. The Family: Child Welfare, Supports to family, Domestic Violence
3. Oversight and Accountability in/of the Criminal Justice System
4. Sexual Exploitation/Human Trafficking/Sexual Violence

Testimonials from Indigenous families during the Inquiry being held across Canada indicate that police procedures and practices for responding to missing persons often fail to take into account the pervasiveness and severity of threats faced by Indigenous women and girls, resulting in a failure to take the report seriously.  Bias among law enforcement officers often result in the ignoring of a suspicious death leading to investigations that are under resourced or aborted without further consideration. The resulting impact is the normalization of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Since the arrival of the colonials on Turtle Island (Canada), Indigenous women and girls have been the target of all forms of violence.  The entire Indigenous culture has suffered racism, cultural rape and genocide. However, for women and girls the impact has been more intense with continued power imbalances within families and communities.

The continued practice of human rights abuses toward Indigenous communities have long been an embarrassment for Canada.  However, calls from private citizens, civil society organizations and Indigenous community leaders have had little impact on influencing government response to address the issues and provide culturally appropriate redress to heal a centuries old wound.

In seeking to understand the issues that affect rural women, Indigenous communities are often rural, it was important to spearhead “The Rural Woman Survey-Community Organizations” which was distributed to organizations across Canada, India, Rwanda and the USA in January 2018 and closed on February 15, 2018. The break down of responses are as follows: New Brunswick (2), Quebec (1), Ontario (3), Sasktachewan (7), Alberta (8), British Columbia (59), California (1), India (1), Rwanda (1) and one Native Band from an unidentified location. In total eighty-four organizations responded to the survey about their experiences in serving women in rural communities in the following categories: Transportation, Health Care, Education, Technology, Gender Based Violence, Equity, Challenges and Opportunities.

Of the 84 respondents 59 were from British Columbia (BC). The organizations included representatives from the Peace River District and as far north as Fort Nelson down to the Kootenay and Selkirk areas, the Okanagan, the Caledonian region, the Skeena Valley and Haida Gwaii, the Central BC Coast, parts of Vancouver Island (central west and east coastal areas) and offshore islands in the Strait of Georgia/Salish Sea, as well as the Howe Sound area. These areas are isolated by geography – immense distances, isolated valley areas separated by mountain ranges, and offshore islands requiring either flights or ferries to reach larger population centres. One organization indicated it took 7 hours to drive to a larger population centre.

Transportation

Overwhelmingly, transportation is the greatest problem for rural dwellers in Canada. While not a huge problem in heavily populated India, certainly public transportation is inaccessible in Rwanda, two other countries included in the survey. In fact, public transportation was rated “very accessible” by none of the total number of respondents. The vast majority (91.21%) of all organizations rated it either “accessible with challenges”49.9 % or “inaccessible”42.21%. Only 6 Canadian organizations and the one from India rated public transportation as “accessible” (8.4%)

Another question that further breaks down these statistics dealt with the kinds of transportation available: buses, trains, taxis and other. Of those who responded to how many buses per hour were available, 6 reported none, 7 reported 1 or more, 2 replied 1 a day, one each of 2 a day, 3 a day, 4 a day and 3 buses 3 times a week. Those who did have bus service hourly frequently volunteered the buses did not run in the evenings, weekends or holidays.

The availability of taxi companies was much more varied, with several further comments. Thirteen reported no taxi service at all while 14 listed 1 and another 2 were part time. Thirteen reported 2 or more taxi companies. Comments included the fact that the company had only one car, or there was one “sometimes” and another “with one driver who works when he feels like it.” Another listed two taxis but “who rarely ever answer”. Others were Not enough with long waits, limited, one taxi for a very large area and one reported 4 but only certain hours and are very expensive.

The availability of service organization rides received 34 answers of none, 18 reported one organization with a comment but “with specific days for specific destinations”, and one of those who mentioned the dial a ride program claimed it was “very hard to get a ride”, another “only for seniors home and disabilities,” 2 qualified rides as “not available for out of town” and one long answer “This may be accessible but requires women to feel comfortable to access ride sharing and the impact of people knowing about what they are doing and where they are going.”

“Other means of transportation” had the lowest response rate, with only 72% responding while the first three were all in the 92-93% range. The answers, however were the most varied, with 6 listing hitchhiking, 5 their own vehicle, 5 family or friends, 3 walking, hiking, bicycling, 3 volunteer drivers but costly, or only if registered and qualified, 3 ferries but with limited schedules, 1 neighbours, 1 boat or plane. One person summed up the area as “You are on your own or reliant on family or the community.” India reported public transportation and Rwanda three wheelers, rickkshaw, autos and scooters but mostly walking.

In answer to the question” What are the barriers (If any) to achieving gender equality faced by women and girls in your rural communities?” lack of transportation received the highest number of responses at 91.4%. Only India, and 4 organizations in Canada did not list lack of transportation out of the 75 respondents. Yet one of those did list lack of transportation in answer to the question concerning the two highest challenges to life in rural communities.

Clearly, the lack of transportation is a glaring problem to be addressed in improving the quality of life to those who live in rural communities.

Health Care

This section of the survey investigated how participants would rate access to health services using 4 categories of an ordinal scale: very accessible, accessible, with several challenges in accessibility and inaccessible. After categorizing data under themes associated with health dimensions set by the survey questions, we have crosschecked for co-occurrences and performed a qualitative analysis by ordinal categories and by themes.

There were rather polarized opinions expressed by the 84 respondents, with a large proportion (64/84) considering health services accessible with several challenges and 13/84 claiming these services were accessible while an insignificant proportion reported health services that were either very accessible (3/84) or inaccessible (3/84).

Inaccessible health services were associated with several determinants mainly:

• Poor transportation infrastructure resulting in long distance traveling in order to access specialist and non-specialist care (paediatrician, psychiatrist, obstetrician/gynecologist, orthopedist).
• Difficulty finding a family doctor.
• Difficulty making medical appointments.
• Long waiting list for consultations and interventions.
• Inadequacy between available clinical hours (evenings) and bus schedule (days).

Very accessible health services were routine care delivered in medical clinics, community health centres, schools and band office, by family doctors, general practitioners, and to a lesser extent by nurses, midwifes and douhlas. However, regardless of the domain of health studied, these services were hindered by a lack of health professionals available (doctors, social, workers, counsellors, specialists).

Accessible health services were those offered mainly by general practitioners, family physicians and other health professionals. These services were limited to routine care and small interventions; they were offered in community clinics or regional health hubs and usually required travel- ling «in surrounding communities with no medical clinic or hospital there is significant barriers regarding transportation and access».

Challenges in accessibility encompassed several factors related to lack of resources, care delivery, and transportation infrastructures.

First, due to lack of health resources available, it was difficult to get a family doctor, thus, routine care or referral to a specialist. This scarcity of resources has affected the health care system and the community by:

Creating a bottle neck in city hospital emergency rooms: in the absence of health professionals, people tend to travel to the next emergency room to get health care and services.

Increasing the waiting time to see a health professional « go to walk in clinic, you show up first thing in the morning get a number and hope that at some point in the day they will look at your child, if you are lucky».

Exacerbating mental health crisis in an environment with high incidence of mental illness and abuse : «There is no child and youth counsellor skilled to work with children who have been sexually abused or assaulted».

Influencing negatively preventive health: « there is limited access to planned parenthood, or re-productive choice services»

Second, although routine health care was delivered locally it required travelling: «you have to travel extensively to access specialized hospital care. Some women and kids cannot get into the nearest mental health services due to lack of transportation». The closest local clinic was 16 km away; pregnant women must drive 2-3 hours to get to a maternity ward, parents traveled more than 65 km to see a paediatrician; older adults must travel up to 4 hours to see a specialist. Travelling is done through a medical bus twice a week, other wise one needs to drive or get a ride from friends or parents. The volunteer drivers charged money to cover cost of gas, thus “many seniors cannot afford it due to poverty”. Older adults sometimes have to wait up to a week for air ambulance.

Third, geriatric services were limited with insufficient nursing homes and assisted living quarters. Older adults living with families were at risk of abuse «From the elders they state, that they need better care where people come into the home to decrease elder abuse».

Child health was provided mainly by family doctors, general practitioners at medical clinic, walk in clinics, health clinics, at school, at Band office or via tele-health. Travelling was necessary to see specialist or to deal with acute cases in emergency rooms: « Must travel into town or wait at ER if no family Dr. and long waitlist to see any specialist».

Maternal health was reported mainly as the pregnancy period, where future mothers drive to access health services provided by family physicians, public health nurses, nurse practitioners, midwife and douhlas. There were limited female doctors and almost no specialists. Complications were dealt with at Regional hospitals «services exist for basic needs, but must leave town for anything beyond basic as most rural communities do not have access to maternal health therefore requiring women to travel».

Mental health services were very limited, there were no local shelters to take care of women or girls with mental health issues. Mental health services were delivered on psychiatry wards or through regional health authority services with a strong focus on pharmacotherapy. Patients needed to travel in city or nearby community to get consultation or treatments. There were insufficient qualified resources available to manage mental health crisis « most communities do not have access to mental health support, or if they do there are long waitlists and not enough access ».

Chronic and geriatric health services delivery was similar to previous health domains in terms of delivery of health services. Population with chronic diseases having to travel to see specialists were facing the same transportation challenges. In addition, support to pain management was non-existent «there is only a pain group run once a year through Mental Health and Addictions». Home care was not very popular and there was no emphasis on social support.

In summary, rating access to health services seems to be an outcome of poor a transportation infrastructure along with a lack of adequate resources and a deficit in the health services.

Education and the Internet

This section of the survey had 5 questions related to access to child care (which is early years education), cost of child care, opportunities for child care, access to secondary education and access to post secondary education.

In response to whether or not there was access to subsidized child care the answer remains, “not enough”. In Gujarat, India there is an “Aanganwadi” which means a kind of childcare for children ages 9 months to 5 years old. The cost per month for child care in that area of India is $200 Canadian dollars per month. The Canadian organizations report that childcare can cost between $601- $1,300 per month, at an average cost of $65 per day.

On the question of access to higher education, organizations reported that in most cases students had access to online courses, community college for a few programs, otherwise they had to leave their communities to attend university in the urban centres.

It must be noted that access to the internet to participate in online courses is unreliable in rural areas and would seriously compromise a student’s access to education.

Gender Based Violence

Five questions (#17-21) on the survey sought information about gender based violence and the availability of support for those experiencing such violence. 94.5% of the respondents in this survey answered yes to the question “Are there incidents of gender based violence in the community?” 75% of the organizations agreed that there were women’s shelters in their area. Only 26.5% of the organizations answered yes to the question “Is there sufficient support and information in the community for women experiencing violence? Based on these stats, gender-based violence is occurring in rural communities and more support needs to be provided for women who are experiencing it.

Gender Equity

Question #22 on the survey asked about barriers to the achievement of gender equity in rural communities.

Respondents to this question identified lack of economic empowerment as a very significant barrier to the achievement of gender equity with an impressive 90% agreement rate! One might ask “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” because in reality, all the other barriers noted in Question #22 contribute to our knowledge of why so many rural women have not achieved economic power. As an example, lack of transportation (91%) and lack of care services for children and the elderly (84%) are seen as very significant barriers to the achievement of gender equity. If a person is unable to travel to a job/educational institution or leave the house, it is rather difficult to gain economic empowerment.

Reinforcement of traditional gender roles (75.5%), the lack of training/educational services (74%), and the lack of access to health/mental health services (72%), are seen as substantial barriers to the achievement of gender equity in rural areas.

Of less significance, but still seen as important barriers to gender equality are: the culture of self-reliance (64%); lack of access to community services such as employment offices, social services, etc. (60%); lack of access to technology (53.5); and lack of access to information (52.5%).

Opportunities

Overwhelmingly in first place (31) were comments related to community support networks and strong local relationships evidenced by a sense of belonging, closeness to family roots and closer-knit families. This might have a negative connotation however, as some respondents said everybody knows everybody and that can be good and bad! But generally the emphasis was on people helping people, and being able to make a difference in the community because of participation in the networks.

The runner up (16 comments) had to do with the physical environment and its effects – sense of space, fresh air, outdoor recreation opportunities, quieter, slower lifestyle, closeness to nature, greater sense of interdependence, growing one’s own food, hunting and farming.  A corollary perhaps was that some respondents saw rural areas as being safer places to raise children.

Several people (8 comments) mentioned developing self-reliance and opportunities for creative problem-solving. This also included developing “patience” because of time spent waiting! Perhaps also related here was the mention of multi-agency coordination and co-operation in the provision of wraparound services. “Every door is the right door”, was one quote used.

In terms of economic issues, several saw the cost of living and especially housing as being lower than in urban areas but with the caveat that it was still not always affordable. The growth of small family businesses and opportunities for self-employment was counterbalanced by the small size of the community and the predominance of the minimum wage. The geographic locale often determined the kind of work opportunities mentioned – e.g. tourism, arts and crafts, mining, logging, oil and gas from some smaller resource towns in different parts of BC.

Challenges

The overwhelming challenge was that of transportation – mentioned in some form or other by 33 respondents. The huge distances, the lack of public transportation or its inadequacy, the expense of private travel (flights and or ferries), inaccessibility to services without a car were frequently mentioned. Closely related was the isolation factor mentioned by nine respondents.

Lack of services of various kinds was mentioned over and over – 13 times in general; 12 respondents mentioned the lack of adequate employment services; 13 mentioned the lack of affordable housing – safe, healthy affordable rentals were in short supply and some residents became homeless in the summer in one locality when there was a demand for rentals by visitors who could pay more; six people mentioned lack of health care services and access to medical and other health care specialists; lack of access to educational programs especially post-secondary education opportunities was also mentioned by five respondents.

Poverty was mentioned as a challenge by eight respondents – the cost of living in rural areas especially for food was seen as being more expensive than in the city and lower wages (often the minimum) were a problem. One mentioned the failure of small businesses due to small market size.

Psychological challenges were mentioned several times: outdated attitudes, stigmas, ingrained gender biases, community pressure to not call police when they should be called, stereotyping and gossip were all mentioned as were conditions of colonization and trauma related to residential schools that faced indigenous people. A couple mentioned the difficulty of disclosures of domestic abuse based on gender and racial discrimination.

Conclusion

In 2018 the International Alliance of Women framed areas of concern for women across the globe.  A focus has been put on the challenges of Indigenous women in Canada and their struggle with violence directed toward them.  IAW President, Joanna Manganara states that “because of the weaknesses of the Sustainable Development Goals’ accountability architecture, it is crucial to seek other complementary pathways and tools of accountability. These offer opportunities for women rights’ organizations to influence and inform policy-making and implementation in the long term and to identify systemic failures as well as good practices”.

After careful analysis of the information collected, while it is difficult to rate one challenge higher than the other, the intersectionality of all the issues is quite obvious. Transportation has meaningful impact on the lives of women in rural areas. Access to health services is impacted by poor transport infrastructure along with a deficit in health service organization. Economic empowerment is dependent on a woman’s level of education and her access to technology. Transportation doubles back to affect access to education and gender-based services. Gender based violence often goes unnoticed due to isolation created by geographic location, lack of access to shelters and addiction treatment centres and a justice system that fails women.

The opportunities for rural women on the other hand all relate to quality of life, fresh air, a heightened sense of community and a sense of peace attributed to the connection to nature. It is our hope that the positive benefits of rural life can be enhanced by government policies that prioritize transportation needs, access to education, technology and healthcare in a community sensitive model where human rights are respected.

It is important to highlight that not only government is responsible for ensuring the human rights of Indigenous women but everyday Canadians equally have the burden of correcting the objectification of this demographic of Canadian society.  The Indigenous community is often racialized, therefore removed from mainstream consciousness.  Calling on government to fix the problem and then never engaging an Indigenous woman in meaningful friendship or to give her equal opportunity in civil society organizations is hypocritical.

If we are to achieve sustainable development goal #5, gender equity, we must not only influence policy makers but we are obliged to be personally committed as women’s rights defenders to cross the tracks, bridge or road to meet our sisters where they are.

Finally, I would like to thank the service organizations that responded to the survey and the team that helped to analyze the data; Valerie Hume, Audrey Thomas, Nancy Mayberry Ph.D., Gillian Brown and Dr. Saode Savary. This is the beginning of a long awaited dialogue on the issues rural women and girls face globally and ensuring that we stay focused on achieving the sustainable development goals to ensure the absence of violence against women and girls in our society.

The post Contributors to Violence in Indigenous Communities in Canada. appeared first on International Alliance of Women.

Annually CFUW participates in an International Women’s Day Project to highlight progress towards women’s equality in Canada and world-wide. It raises awareness about SDG #5 and the ongoing challenges and opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements.  We believe by celebrating International Women’s Day with gusto we send a strong message that women will not be silenced, ignored or dismissed.

This is the seventh feature in the series of nine Theme Days (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, World Day to end Human Trafficking, International Literacy Day, International Day of the Girl Child, National Day of Remembrance of Violence Against Women – Canada, International Women’s Day, Earth Day, and 50/50 Day).  This initiative provides a critical opportunity to discuss the interconnectedness of the SDGs to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. As well, we aspire to highlight the intersectionality of women’s issues and the need to engage all stakeholders in the conversation.

Achieving the 2030 Agenda is a challenge to all, and requires action at all levels. Recognizing that the priority theme of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women this year is “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls”, our contributors have focussed on experiences of rural women.  We hope you can connect to and extend the conversation beyond your circle.

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Her Story is Important

I met her when she came in to register her daughter for kindergarten in public school.  She made an impression as a woman of spunk because her ball cap had a marijauna leaf embroidered on it.  This is not something you see in this setting everyday.

Her child started senior kindergarten. The only formal social situation she has been engaged in since she arrived in Canada.  Twenty new classmates and two unfamiliar teachers to get acquainted with.  Being a bright and curious child she picked up things easily.

Back to her black skinned mother, who was working the night shift at a factory and felt herself lucky because she had found a man to take her in and pledge to help her and her daughter get oriented in Canada.  This twenty three year old mother had recently immigrated from a small island in the Caribbean to live with her sister, go to nursing school and raise her daughter in the snowy land of hope.  The relationship with her sibling collapsed shortly after her arrival.

Into the school term I received a call on Thursday from her saying she was in a hotel because she had been removed from where she was living due to domestic violence.  There were no beds available in the women’s shelter in town so the police put her up in the local motel.  This single mother, with no support over the week end was moved to a shelter 175 km north of the urban area where she had settled.  A rural area unfamiliar to her.  She had no family connection there, no advocate and no input into the decision to transfer her and her daughter to a rural shelter.

The chances of securing an affordable apartment in town were slim but with her permission, I applied for subsidized housing for her and her daughter.  Somehow she made it back to town to live with another single mother who also has a child.  She pays $660 a month for one room.  One has to keep in mind that her daughter did not attend school for 3 weeks while she was being bounced from motel to shelter to a one bedroom accommodation.

When they finally settled back in town she was outside the boundary of the school her daughter attended.   To get to “her” school she would have to take two town buses and spend an hour, return trip, each day on the town bus.  That would cost her $81 a month.  $81 more than any other student in our school had to pay to get to school.   Bussing is free to get to school if a family lives more than 1.3 km away from school.  This was too much for a twenty three year old mother who works the night shift to get her five year old child to school every day!  Understandably she decides to register her daughter at the neighbourhood school.

The registration secretary told her she had to have proof of address to register her child.  She had just moved into the one room arrangement and had no lease agreement or other documentation that she lived in that area.  Despondent and beaten, because she did not know her human rights, she decided to send her daughter back to the island of her birth to live with her father.

Four weeks after the report to the police of the physical and emotional abuse from her intimate partner, three moves and loss of time at work, her daughter was on a flight back to the Caribbean.  Loss of dignity, loss of her child, and loss of her savings to pay for the plane fare, all in less than one month.

This got me to thinking that this story could have had a different outcome.  A young woman who has no clue what her rights are is vulnerable to injustices that will change the course of her life.  1) She should have never been sent to a shelter in a remote area because she does not drive and had no advocate or services appropriate for her case.  2) Schools need to have provisions for registering families that are coming out of a shelter and do not have documents to show proof of address.

I can only image that the day she put her child on the plane was the lowest day of her life.  It certainly was a low day for the small group who knew her story!

She has since returned to work. Her supervisor kept the job open for her while she was away.  Two thumbs up for the supervisor! She says she feels like there is community there and is happy working there.

Why is her story important to tell?  Her story is important because women without support from family or friends sink into a cycle of dysfunction.  The biggest concern is will she ever be able to overcome and realize her dream of becoming a nurse. If she were rich, financially independent, educated and had community she would have been able to establish herself in a home, start her studies in nursing and support her child.  Instead she has to depend on a system that did not have her in mind.  Her dream remains in embryo.

She reminds me of Maya Angelou who told the following story to an audience at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, “In 1945 the United Nations was advertising for simultaneous translators.  I wanted so badly to be a simultaneous translator, the only trouble was, I was poor, black, pregnant, seventeen and uneducated”.  Maya Angelou went on in June 1995, to deliver her poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth”, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. I hope this young woman’s story in the end will be as inspiring.  The same way my cousin and I were excited to go hear Dr. Maya Angelou speak I wish that she will have an audience hanging on her every word and that her daughter will grow up to be phenomenal as well!

Cheryl Hayles

VP International Relations, Canadian Federation of University Women,

Vice President North America, International Alliance of Women

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 The Challenge of being a Rural Woman in Canada

The plight of rural women and their struggles are not well understood by those who live in larger urban areas around the world. This is perfectly evident to those  who have experienced both rural and urban life in Canada and abroad. Certainly there are wonderful advantages in Canada for lovers of animals and nature, an unpolluted and healthy environment, a slower, relaxed and quiet life style, the satisfactions of  a close-knit, friendly and caring community, and of producing one’s own safe food, all mentioned in a survey.

CFUW sent this survey to all clubs in Canada designing it to collect data on members’ perceptions and experiences in preparation for the Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW62) and its theme of challenges for rural women. The answers were illuminating.

In response to the question “What are the two greatest challenges to life in rural communities?” the majority listed transportation as their number one problem. Almost all the other answers were variations on this. Many pointed out that long distances cause a lack of access to services, health services being number one. (This has been exacerbated by the closing of hospitals in smaller towns and specialists become increasingly limited to urban “hubs”). Others listed in order of frequency were: lack of access to employment, education opportunities, social, recreational and cultural opportunities as well as child care.

The second highest category was also linked to the distance involved in keeping in touch with others, the physical isolation and loneliness being mentioned by a majority of the respondents to this question. This included the lack of access to mental health services, affordable access to hi-speed internet and Wi-Fi as well as the insecurity involved in the time required to get emergency help in the case of fire, sickness or injury, and especially for women, crime and violence against women.

Economics was the next highest challenge. Limited choice in shopping for essentials such as groceries, the high cost of car maintenance necessary to access essential services, the higher costs of hydro, garbage disposal, septic systems and snow removal were included. Longer work hours with less return, and the lack of vacations or holidays were challenges as well as affordable housing.  (Access to affordable housing or land purchase is decreasing with urban sprawl taking over former farm land. This has led not only to lack of housing but to increasing property taxes in rural areas as they become annexed to large municipalities.)

The last category with fewer comments was more nebulous but certainly important. This was a general feeling that the work and life of rural women were neither understood nor appreciated by the general public and even the government.  There is a prevailing feeling of discrimination, stereotyping, sexism or patriarchy, and lack of appreciation or support for the rural population.

This is especially true in regards to public transportation for rural areas where trains and buses were rated “accessible with challenges” or “inaccessible” by the majority. In my own area there is the feeling that rural areas are neglected while large cities and urban metropoles receive a disproportionate amount of transportation funding.

Another problem in my own rural area, but not included in the survey, is the anguish of many local families whose elementary and high schools are also being centralized in large urban areas. This marginalizes the rural families. Their very vocal protests decry the long school bus ride, the distance involved making it difficult for rural families to attend school events. The necessity of catching the school bus home makes it impossible for rural students to attend after-school sports or events, or to join clubs including drama, and music. This further marginalizes rural families. Their argument that their local rural schools provide a sense of community and serve as community centres for both recreation and meetings, consistently falls on deaf ears and their schools are closed. A similar situation exists when small hospitals in rural areas are closed, leading to a loss of security for those with transportation issues, especially in winter when rural roads may be closed.

In order to foster and encourage the rural woman, we need solutions, especially to the problem of transportation for the young, the elderly, those with disabilities and those who cannot afford cars. Our clubs can make a difference. For example, CFUW Stratford in Ontario won a CFUW award for advocacy for its work on re-establishing train service for their rural area.

The St. Thomas CFUW club also supported a public meeting on transportation. From that has grown a large transportation committee headed by the Health Care Centre.  Along with the VON, the Health Care Centre provides volunteer drivers for health appointments, but, being widely unknown, the service is under-utilized. This is a problem all across Canada borne out by the results of the survey. The overwhelming majority of the answers to the question on accessibility of volunteer drivers was “Don’t know” or “No information on this.” The local committee is working on acquiring a computer program for shared rides by commuters from rural areas to the city, as well as a centralized telephone number (perhaps a reference librarian) with an explanation of service organizations’ programs for affordable rides from volunteer drivers. Uber is not generally accessible in rural areas.

The transportation issue also presents a problem for rural members in CFUW. Not only does travel to meetings become challenging, travel to provincial, national and international meetings is difficult and expensive. This results in less voice and fewer votes than the larger clubs in urban areas. Their district representatives have longer distances to travel between clubs making personal visits and communication more difficult, especially in areas where computer access is limited.

Hopefully, the data from this survey, shared with an executive summary, will inspire CFUW clubs everywhere to share the information, to become more aware of rural issues, and to participate in advocacy and programs to further empower rural women and girls throughout Canada.

Nancy Mayberry, Ph.D., Member of the International Relations Committee, Canadian Federation of University Women 

________________________________________________________________

Rural Women Survey for Organizations, sister survey to the Rural Women Survey 

This survey was conducted by CFUW January 15 – February 15, 2018.  Community organizations in Africa, India, United States of America and Canada responded to the questions.   Of the 85 responses, the majority are from the provinces of British Columbia – representing multiple communities, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick.  The 3 international responses came from Rwanda, USA – a Native American Band and India.

The survey had 24 questions.  However, only two will be high lighted at this time.

Question:
How you define a rural woman?

“In our context, a rural area is a place or area with no modern or better infrastructure for example; no access to modern roads, running/piped water, no modern markets or shopping malls, schools, hospitals. A rural woman in this case is one who hails or lives in the kind of place explained above. A rural woman in our context depends on agriculture for food in her household and is limited to access to modern development processes”.   Rwanda

“Women who live a place that is defined by its geography and its challenges. Having to travel (long distances) to access services therefore, where the risk of isolation is high because of roads, weather, natural disasters, etc.”.  Canada

“As varied as a city woman”.  Canada

“A woman living in a both peaceful (and risky) environment –is quite isolated with limited access to convenience, safety and support”. Canada

Question:
What are the opportunities in living in a rural community?

“More laid back, not the same hustle and bustle of city life, cheaper accommodations. People know each other or at least know off others”.  Canada

“There can be a tremendous amount of community support for anyone experiencing a crisis. It can create a strong sense of ‘belonging’ which is important for health”.  Canada

“Women can feel more supported by organizations that work together to provide wrap around services. Oftentimes, they will be remembered by service providers and addressed by name (rather than number or can’t recall them because the organization is too big)”. Canada

“Rural areas may be good if girls, women, boys and men had access to all services. In the absence of those services as it is today, I don’t see any opportunity of living in our rural areas”. India

“Inherently rural women are having basic specialized traditional skill with family background. Physically they are fit and fine who can work very hard”.  Rwanda

In summary, it is clear that a rural community provides both opportunities and challenges for women and girls.  In attempting to isolate the markers of each we found that the opportunities are related to a well developed sense of community created through interaction with others, culture and nature.  Unfortunately, the challenges are all related to isolation and lack of gender based services which if they were community based would increase empowerment and promote a heightened state of emotional, physical and mental well-being.

Cheryl Hayles

VP International Relations, Canadian Federation of University Women

Vice President North America, International Alliance of Women

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The meeting was videotaped and can be watched here

In his introductory remarks and responses to questions from the floor the Secretary General among other things stressed

• that there is a backlash not only where women’s issues are concerned, but in all fields
• that parity is essential in order for women to achieve empowerment, but it is a struggle as some men will lose their seats or positions
• that parity is the best way to overcome resistance
• that a road map is being prepared for the UN to ensure gender parity throughout the UN system by 2030
• that there is a shrinking space for civil society at the UN and in the world as such. Consequently he would like to launch a campaign raising awareness about how  working with civil society is the best way to govern
• that equality creates wealth and welfare
• that there must be zero tolerance to violence against women among UN staff including peacekeepers

During the meeting a document was handed over to the Secretary General. It has over 900 signatories from 85 countries. In the document it says among other things:

Excellency, we are waging a battle alongside your efforts, to achieve a peaceful and prosperous world, one in which all members of society have the opportunity to live a life with justice, human rights and dignity. While current financial and political trends continue to hamper our efforts, we draw courage and hope from our long-standing relationship with the United Nations. We recognize that strong mutual support has propelled substantial progress for girls and women of all ages.

Read the whole letter and see the signatories:
NGO letter to UN SG March 2017_group edited FINAL (2)

Charlotte Bunch, long time activist for women’s rights,  Funding Director and Senior Scholar at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Rutgers University welcomed  the Secretary General hoping that this would be the first of many such meetings.

She continued:

Many of us were involved in UN Reform and the creation of UN Women, and women are among the most important supporters of the United Nations.

 We welcome you as a MAN who stated in the opening of CSW that: you “will stand up for women’s empowerment and gender equality.”    We take you at your word, and we will work with you & work to keep your feet to the fire.

We thank you for the initiatives you have already taken in that direction, —–such as the appointment of the top UN Posts of the 3 great women leaders here today with you;

-your recognition of the importance of women’s equality to achieving the SDGs and all UN goals, especially in peace and security. 

– We were pleased to learn that you met with local women’s projects in the Mathare slums in Kenya on International Women’s Day.  We see this as a Best Practice and hope you will make contacts with diverse women’s groups on all your trips around the world… to see both our daily realities and  the amazing activism of women for change taking place at the grass roots.

Today we hope to explore with you how we can break down barriers to gender equality and make faster progress on the commitments to women’s rights made by the UN.  This is especially crucial now – in a time of growing populism, racism and other forms of intolerant extremism with backlash against women’s gains, especially around reproductive and sexual rights.

As members of civil society  we have many questions to ask, but we all share the concern of shrinking space for our advocacy at the UN and nationally.   As you can see, we have a Chair with the sign “WHY is this Chair Empty” to symbolize all those who tried to come to the CSW, but could not because they were denied Visas to enter.  We ask that you work with us to ensure this does not happen again.

 We also want to ask you about how the UN can better assist in the Protection of Women Human Rights Defenders(WHRDs) … women facing many threats, violence & death as a result of their activism for women’s and other human rights.

Many women have sent statements and papers to you about our hopes for what you will do as SG toward a more Feminist United Nations with women’s rights at its core.

 Today, Saphira Rameshfar and Susan O’Malley of the NGO CSW NY committee would like to present a letter to you, signed by more than 900 NGOs and individuals from 85 countries, pledging to work with you to support the UN and to strengthen its commitment & actions toward gender equality and women’s empowerment. 

We thank you for your time with us today. 

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Commons Photo Credit: Source

General Comment

Many provisions are fine, but the framework is very narrow. Where are the SDGs and sustainable economic concepts? It does not argue strongly enough that women’s economic empowerment also contributes to achieving other targets. Neither does it make strong enough linkages with other sectors, notably education, health, political and cultural rights.

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Can corporations and the private sector, which have become powerful agents of international development in recent years, become a force of empowerment for women? Can we make them work for women in a climate of free market economies? What is the wider impact of the philanthropy of these development agents, on women’s communities, on women’s rights agenda?

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development agreed to by member states in the post 2015 Development Summit that took place in New York in September 2015  acknowledges throughout that achieving women’s empowerment, gender equality and human rights are prerequisites for sustainable development.

Unfortunately, despite its vision to transform our world, the post 2015 Development Agenda is doing little to address vast inequalities and discrimination embedded in decision making structures and financial systems. It does not deliver a new model for development based on the wellbeing of all instead of profitability, on solidarity instead of competition, on transparency and accountability instead of inequality.

It has also served to increase dramatically the power of the private sector and of multinational corporations as agents in the international development field.

Why is it so? Because we are living in an era of globalization. What does globalization mean? A new process of economic integration which is fuelled by neoliberal ideals claiming that an unregulated market economy maximizes economic efficiency and growth.

Critics of globalization point out that it has created the widest gap between the very rich and the very poor in history. Apart from inequality, globalization means attacks on welfare, weakening of trade unions, tax breaks for the rich and corporations, privatization and deregulation. IAW is interested in the effects of globalization on women who make up a disproportionate percentage of the global poor.

The feminist antidote for women’s poverty and subjection in this new form of capitalism is microcredit. The program of small bank loans to poor women in the global south. Corporations, the private sector, international organizations promote these kinds of policies. However, while women running small businesses in the global south have no choice but to pay local taxes, corporations in many countries enjoy generous tax breaks.

For corporations, the private sector and development stakeholders, women’s empowerment through the use of microcredit and other interventions will lift not only women but their children and families out of poverty and into to the middle class. So individual empowerment has been substituted for the collective empowerment that only comes with state led development as the key to eliminating poverty in the third world.

We are deeply concerned about the private sector’s growing influence in the international gender and development field and its impact on reshaping girls’ empowerment agendas in pro-market and not human rights terms. In other words, we do not accept that girls’ agendas do not address issues such as labour rights or their rights to social services.

Governments around the world must set a clear vision for connecting the increasing role of the private sector and business in development with accountability and agreed standards for business practices aligned with human rights, thus creating an enabling environment for women’s empowerment. Women’s NGOs should also try to hold the private sector and corporations accountable for the respect of women’s human rights.

The question to be answered is how to hold the corporate sector to account and empower women and girls on human rights. We have to discuss innovative opportunities for advocacy and partnership to advance women’s economic and social rights in a global climate of free market economies and to make corporations work for the empowerment of women and girls in a meaningful way.

IWNews Vol 111 No 1 2016 dual pages

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The most important commitments adopted by the Commission are the following:  

Essentiality of Gender equality and women’s empowerment on SDGs and Beijing Platform for Action as foundational basis:
The AC recognize the essentiality of gender equality and women’s empowerment and progress on all SDGs and targets. The BDPfA and the outcome documents of its reviews and the outcomes of relevant major UN conferences have laid a solid foundation for SD.

Women’s human rights affirmations and major role of civil society and feminist and youth led organizations:
The AC strongly prioritize the human rights of women and girls in the achievement of GEWE and SD implementations of the 2030 Agenda. CEDAW and CRC provide an international legal framework and comprehensive set of measures for their realization.

The AC recognize the major contributions made by civil society including feminist groups, women’s, community based and youth led organizations.

Role of a socially responsible and accountable private sector:
The AC call on a socially responsible and accountable private sector to support the full, effective and accelerated implementation of BDPfA and 2030 Agenda. 

Men and boys as allies. Changing social norms and enyouthing of CSW and the women’s movement:
Recognition of men and boys as allies in the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women as well as in the full, effective and accelerated implementation of BDPfA and gender responsive implementation of 2030 Agenda. The change of social norms was emphasized. There was an effort of enyouthing of CSW and of ensuring a gender just and youth accountable implementation of the entire 2030 Agenda. This was reflected in the references to girls throughout the text and by identifying youth led organizations as key actors and stakeholders for an open, inclusive and transparent engagement.

The implementation road map of the gender compact in the SDGs:
The AC set out a road map for the why, what and how of the implementation of all key SDGs for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The emphasis is that all SDGs have to be implemented in a gender responsive way. While there is no mention of SDG 5 significant commitments are made and actions outlined on all 6 SDG targets and 3 means of implementation.

Elimination of violence against women and girls:
The AC call upon all stakeholders to adopt, review and ensure the accelerated and effective implementation of laws that criminalize violence against women and girls as well as comprehensive, multidisciplinary and gender – sensitive, preventive, protective and prosecutorial measures and services. 

Valuing and recognizing unpaid care:
The AC call upon MS and other relevant stakeholders to value, recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work, by promoting shared responsibility by women and men and provision of essential services and social protection.

Women’s equal participation and leadership:
The AC recognize the relevance of women’s effective and meaningful participation and need for equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in public and private sectors and in all areas of sustainable development.

Universal access to sexual and reproductive rights and health:
A robust, comprehensive and progressive commitment was secured on universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights on the basis of the text of the Agreed Conclusions of CSW58.

Holistic women’s economic empowerment agenda:
The AC recognize and set out a holistic approach that women’s equal economic rights, economic empowerment and independence are essential to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

Interconnectedness of gender equality and women’s empowerment with other SD goals:
The AC come out strongly in making the interconnectedness between gender equality, women’s empowerment and poverty eradication, the right to education, water and sanitation, climate change, SCR1325, humanitarian and women’s mobility, food security.

The enabling environment:
The AC gave a boost to national gender mechanisms for gender equality by committing to strengthening their authority, capacity and funding and promoting their visibility and support for them.

Transformative financing of gender equality and sustainable development:
The Commission committed to significantly increased investment to close the gender resource gap by mobilizing funds from all sources, domestic and international.

Gender responsive data, indicators, monitoring, follow up and review:
The Commission stressed the need for a gender responsive data collection approach in national follow up and review taking into account where applicable the agreed global indicators framework and strengthen national statistical capacity.

Family and Gender Equality:
The Commission stressed the need for elaborating and implementing family policies aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment and at enhancing the full participation of women in society.

Presidents Newsletter June 2016 

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