Happy International Women's Day!!!

So in lieu of today, this just happened.

Perusing the internet last week searching for events on International Women's Day I came across the United Nations Human Rights' page. A "high-profile event on the occasion of International Women's Day" was going to be held that's invited guests included "delegates of the Human Rights Council, United Nations staff, media and academics". External participants could attend with invitation and accreditation. So, obviously I e-mailed them asking if I could attend.

As you can see, I received an invitation. My friend was able to attend as well which was really great. Entering the Palais de Nations was super intense as we received badges with our names printed on them, went through metal detectors two separate times, passed through fancy doors...yeah the whole shabang. So official.

The program took place in Room XX (pictured below). Mmmm surreptitious, no? In reality, the room is not some secret meeting place where entry is granted through biometrics and secret passageways but is the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room. Still pretty cool. The ceiling alone was magnificent and has an interesting story attached to it if you care to read it here.

But, despite the fact, that's not the reason I was there.

Hosted by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay, the theme, if you will, of this years International Women's Day program was "Capitalizing Women's Potential in Times of Crisis." The program began with a video of Alice Walker addressing the audience and reading her powerful poem, "Remember." An panel discussion ensued in which the following was addressed; "the impact of the global financial, food and climate crisis on women and the role of women in promoting peace and human rights." Panelists included the co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World , the Head of Foreign Relations for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the Executive Director of Greenpeace International and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Culture of Peace in 1997. A relatively diverse panel they all provided inspiration and positive actions for the future of women of the world, particularly in leadership positions.

Digression. Please watch this video, thank you.

I was elated to be able to, essentially, be a part of such an important discussion and was even more excited that these issues were being discussed at such a high systematic level. Needless to say, particularly as a Women's and Gender Studies major, I was loving every minute and itching to put my academic knowledge to the test of all this real-world discussion. Recognizing that women's rights ARE human rights is an important step that I was thankful was being addressed. One of the panelists (who we actually got to talk to at a reception after the panel-she was amazing) was a young woman who was heavily involved in the 2011 democratic protests in Bahrain. She highlighted how the role of women in the Arab Spring uprising has brought a "new" image of women to the forefront as active agents that are able to make change that stretches beyond the home although, as has happened in history many times before, they were left out of the policy making of new constitutional changes. Women's important and essential contributions need to be recognized.

The "first to suffer when basic human rights are threatened" (from the UN pamphlet I got at the program) women are disproportionately affected by natural disasters/climate change, poverty and hunger compared to men. Essentially, women bear the biggest burden of mainly man-made problems. Yet, every day women prove their capacity and ability to endure, sustain and create. Panelist Stephen Lewis eloquently stated his dislike for the term "women's empowerment" as it suggested that we needed to give this tool to women. Give something they clearly prove they already have. He reasoned how it's not about capacity development but capacity releasing. Women, as half of the world's population, need to be recognized and active in decision making. Only then will we be able to create better policies and in turn better societies.

The power of gender needs to be taken seriously. It's not just a "woman's" issue. It's a human issue. It only makes sense that when women gain greater equality and consequently the benefits of that set in, then men will benefit as well. Women are perfectly capable. It's time to celebrate and appreciate their work, let their voices be heard and have their ideas become reality.

As it's a bit late and my writing skills are quickly disappearing along with the amount of sleep I'll be getting tonight, I shall leave you with a progressive and more empirical piece. Voilà.

An informal Swiss grocery-store analysis and other things of importance in my life at the moment

Salut!

Where to begin…well technically I just finished my first week-even though I’ve been here for a month! It feels like I’ve only been here for a few days although I feel pretty settled. I finally received the hard copy of my resident permit as well as my demi-tarif (a card that allows you to travel anywhere in Switzerland for half the price- amazing!) which makes me feel more legitimate. I’ve been to the 5 major grocery stores, one of which is located in France.

Yes, I crossed the border to buy chicken.

A smooth 15 minute tram/bus ride away, with no border checkpoints, Carrefour provides Genevans with a wide variety of food and name brand products at a lesser price…particularly their meat….no, I was not joking about the chicken. Despite their cheap poultry, I have declared Migros the best (conveniently located about 4 minutes from my apartment although that didn’t factor too much in my decision ;])

On a more academic note, I have finally started my two French classes. I am taking an Oral French class that meets once a week for two and a half hours and a Writing and Grammar class that meets once a week as well for an hour and a half.

Uni Bastions- The beautiful building where I learn French

Both of these classes are entirely in French and are made up of students from all around the world. Hopefully my French will start to improve as I am finding not as many people speak English as I had thought. Yes, I know, how ethnocentric of me- I’m learning!

I also started a tandem; initially facilitated by the university, tandems offer students the opportunity to be paired with another student who would like to practice and improve their language of choice. I set up a request on the tandem website that said I would like to practice my French and in turn could offer English. I was readily matched with a girl who wanted to practice her English and could offer French. We met yesterday at this Swiss cafe and it went quite well. She’s from Geneva, and although her English is better than my French, we had a fruitful conversation. We’re planning on meeting once a week for an hour which should be nice.

I have also started my research project! I met my supervisor who is a Professor at the University of Geneva researching Gender and Emotion under CISA (Le Centre Interfacultaire en Sciences Affectives aka the Affective Sciences program). CISA is the program that I am researching under but not with the aforementioned professor (she mainly oversees my work in Geneva) but with a professor from the University of Neuchâtel. I met with the latter professor and other members of the faculty at the University of Neuchâtel which is about an hour train ride from Geneva the Thursday before last.

Neuchâtel! -->

It was a great experience as they all took my opinions seriously and treated me as more of a fellow researcher than as a student. Which reminds me to show you this …

My office -->

Back in Geneva I have been given an office in UniMail (one of the main University buildings) to share with another post-doc who is working in CISA as well. The whole setup is quite intimidating. I find that I have A LOT of freedom in terms of when and how I do my research. Essentially, I must complete around 24 hours a week of research. As of late I have been assigning myself “homework” and assignments to complete and try to keep a regimented 5 hour workday. I keep in touch with my professor in Neuchâtel through e-mail (we plan to use Skype soon as well) and update her on the work that I am doing.

What work am I doing, you may ask? Currently I am researching maternity, paternity and parental leave policies in various countries around the world. I have been researching various articles and studies, reading them, and figuring out how to incorporate them into our project. I am also reviewing data and questions from the World Values Survey (WVS) which we plan to use in our final analysis. Fortunately my work has kept my interest and I am learning a lot each day.

This whole process is quite different than what I’m used to at Clark. Aside from my two French classes, the lack of set class times, homework assignments, tests and essays is a bit jarring. It would almost seem that I am not in school although I can assure you that is definitely not the case. The work I do for my research project is essentially up to me and whether or not it gets done depends on me setting a schedule for myself and doing it. I’ve been enjoying this freedom and independence although sitting in an office by myself on a sunny day in Geneva reading about the lack of paternity policies in Germany isn’t too tempting when you have friends who want to go to a café and a work schedule that is up to you.

Which leads me to the ever important social life. I truly have been meeting some wonderful people. I am amazed at how many languages my friends can speak and am humbled and shocked at the mass influence American culture has on some parts of the world. I had a good 20 minute conversation with my friend from northern Spain about prom and her dream of attending one and felt ashamed that I did not know of an equivalent event of “importance” in her culture. Along those lines, my friends from Australia can carry on an intelligent, knowledgeable conversation about American politics while I haven’t the slightest idea what their political situation is (I have been learning though- the recent Bob Carr business is pretty interesting). I find myself overwhelmed at the sheer massiveness of the world and how much there is to learn. My one month here is already putting the world into greater perspective and I really am loving each day.

Alors, until next time... À tout à l’heure!