Medical Mission Sisters at the UN

MMS & UN News Letter April 2020

Dear Readers

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) Member States have adopted by consensus a Resolution (A/RES/74/270) on COVID-19 that calls for “international cooperation” and “multilateralism”. It calls for “intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat the pandemic, including by exchanging information, scientific knowledge and best practices”. It stresses “the need for full respect for human rights” and states that “there is no place for any form of discrimination, racism and xenophobia in the response to the pandemic”.UNGA Engagements and operations have moved to cyberspace, with ambassadors and diplomats working from their missions or from home. UNWeb portal for COVID 19 https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus We the NGOs are busy with Zoom calls connecting with one another and taking our advocacy forward. Please see the first JCoR  (Justice Coalition of Religious)  newsletter.There were a number of  meetings organized by JCoR  before the Pandemic- 2 …

CSW 64 : COVID 19 has created havoc around the world (and still  is) including at the United Nations. This month, the 64th session of the  Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) was planned from March 9-20, 2020 in New York, with over ten thousand women activists, country representatives, and others planning to attend what is known to be the largest UN gathering on the rights of women worldwide. However due to ongoing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it was shortened to one day- 9 March with the remainder of the session postponed to a later date.

At CSW64, MMS too planned  as usual parallel events  alongside representatives of governments, to take stock of the progress of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and call for greater accountability and implementation with maximum available resources for key commitments. All Stalled.

The political declaration adopted for CSW 64 …

Dear Readers,

The highlight of the month is the 58^thsession of the Commission on Social Development and its first ever priority theme at the UN: “Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness.” Resolution adopted at CSocD58: https://undocs.org/E/CN.5/2020/L.5

Feb 9: CSocD58 Orientation for new NGO Participants

The orientation introduced the history, goals, priority groups, structure and modalities of NGO participation of the Commission on Social Development. Joanna Padgett Herz, the chair of the 2020 Civil Society Forum, spoke briefly on her research into answering the question: “How has homelessness been spoken about in the UN throughout history.” We also unpacked the meaning of social protection and discussed the Civil Society Declaration. 

Link to Lea’s notes: http://bit.ly/CSocD58 

Feb 14: Civil Society Forum 

The Civil Society Forum provided a platform for lived experience to be heard, from Ireland, Uruguay and the US. They shared with us what …

Dear Readers,

The year 2020 is an important milestone for the United Nations in many ways, it is also the International year of Plant Health and the year of Nurse and Midwife. The highlights are: 

• 75 years of the adoption of the UN Charter or UN+75, 
• 25 Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women’s Beijing + 25 
• 25 Anniversary of the World conference on Social Development- Copenhagen +25 
• Decade of Action on the SDGs  SDGs+5
• Paris Climate Agreement +5 

UN2020: The UN2020 initiative is dedicated to using the 75th anniversary of the UN in 2020 as an opportunity to take stock and strengthen the UN system in partnership with civil society, governments, and the UN in support of a people-centered multilateralism. To get involved, please follow the link: https://www.un.org/en/un75

Global Conversations:One of the activates around UN+75 is the online global conversation on protecting civic space: SG calls …

Dear Readers,

The highlights of December news from the United Nations are as follows:

Dec 5: The United Nations Career Workshop provided prospective employees, students and interns with the necessary information on the different roles one could fulfill and the benefits of being a UN staff. The workshop consisted of an interactive panel discussion on matters of writing a CV, a cover letter, and the in-person interview process. Lea and Vaiju our interns attended it .  

ILO 190: A briefing on the ILO(International Labor Organization)  Convention 190 on violence and harassment in the workplace and Recommendation 206 shared with the NGO committees and encourage ratification . This binding treaty will include the first international standards on violence and harassment in the workplace if ratified. According to the government delegate of Romania Adrian Vierita, “no one should have to choose between their right to work and their right to live free …

Dear Readers,                                                                                                                                                                  Orange the World: 2019 theme for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov 25) is  ‘Generation Equality Stands Against Rape”. As before, this year’s International Day marked  the launch of 16 days of activism, concluding on 10 December, which is International Human Rights Day.

During the official commemoration of the  International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 26-year-old  Anja Jusic from Bosnia, President of the Forgotten Children of War Association, spoke about her advocacy to end the stigma of survivors of sexual violence in conflict and their children.  She was born out  of rape during the Bosnia war and  said “ “I used to ask myself,  “Who my father is, what is my genetics”.  Her story moved everyone in the hall and gave her a standing ovation . Studies shows that there were 20,000 children born out of rape during the 100 days of genocide in Rwanda alone. Rape …