Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Happy World Thinking Day (for yesterday)


Yesterday was so busy that I dind't get a chance to publish an update (or rather I started one on my computer and then promptly fell asleep!).

The day started at 8am with a trip to the UN building to pick up the passes necessary to access main sessions. We then had time for a little more side event preparation before I went to take notes on the opening session of the CSW at 10am. Nothing earth-shattering wasw said, though a strong emphasis was placed on the need to tackle gender stereotypes and provide positive role models for girls - particularly in the areas of science and technology.

Quickly grabbing lunch from a lovely shop called the Amish Market, I headed to a side event run by Plan International. The panel of girls from 6 different countries gave presentations through video and then answered questions on how technology effects their lives. I asked the girls if they thought the positives outweighed the negative aspects of technology and the answers they gave stressed an importance of teaching girls how to use technology safely and creating an expectation of responsibility when using them. The ability to communicate at speed over long distnces and share impformation obviously has a tremendous impact on education and employment opportunities.

Then came our side event, run in partnership with Soroptomist International. It looked at case studies for formal and non-formal education run by the two associations across the entire lifecourse, and one key message from the event was to promote intergenerational dialogue so that organisations and individuals can learn from each other. They published updates during the session on their twitter and facebook accounts, and have since put blog entries on their website: http://www.soroptimistinternational.org/blog Shortly, our own blog of the event will be avaliable at http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/CSW.

After the session I continued to the UK Mission Reception where I had a chance to network with others coming from the UK and speak to members of the official UK Delegation as well as MIssion Staff members. I made a lot of contacts and the delegates were receptive to the ideas which WAGGGS wants to see included in the agreed conclusions at the end of the CSW.

Finally it was back to the hotel for a debrief and some food before bed! Today I have made a more leisurely start with my first event at 10am, but it again promises to be a pack day of events, information, and networking. Better get dressed.

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