Fund for urban youth now available

UN-Habitat has just launched a fund for urban based youth-led organisations in developing countries working to improve the living conditions of their communities.

The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development will provide grants between USD 5,000 and 25, 000 to organisations led by young people, 15 – 32 years old.

The fund is committed to support innovative youth-led projects in areas such as employment, education, environment, health and safety.

This is a really great opportunity for young women living in cities and towns.  A lot of times, development is concentrated on young women and girls living in rural areas. Although this work is paramount, young women ad  girls in urban areas — especially poor urban areas, is also important.

At CSW we talked about aliviating the burden of care on young women and for any of you implementing actions out of CSW — this is a fund you can apply to for support.

The deadline for the first round of applications is June 1, 2009.  Good luck!

For more information visit www.unhabitat.org/opfund

Finally – the final agreed conclusions

The final session of CSW was riveting. The negotiations and lobbying was intense right to the last minute. The session would break every ten minutes and representatives from member states would hurdle in groups on the floor of Conference Room 2 making their case for language to be added or removed.

But by 6:00 pm, when the session was to end, member states were at an impasse. The Moderator announced that there would be no final document as consensus had not been reached. A collective gasp of dismay sounded in the balcony, where NGO observers sat, but a few people clapped in delight and exchanged high-fives. The group that cheered sat not far from me and I leaned over to the woman closest to me and asked her why they were celebrating. “We are not happy with the document,” she explained, “it refers to reproductive rights…”

But representatives from member states were determined to produce a document and begun to rally behind the document that had been so hotly debated in the last few days. Representative after representatives spoke—reiterating the importance this document had for women and society. They spoke about the importance of care and the impact HIV has on women, the effects of gender inequality on unpaid work and how, in a time of global financial crisis, this document played an important role in ensuring women’s unpaid work begins to find a place in national discourse and eventually in national policy.

Shortly before 8:00 pm consensus was finally reached and the final agreed conclusions of the 53rd session of CSW was adopted to much applause.

Good news is that the three main recommendations the Youth Caucus made are included in some form in the doc: ensure education for women and girls, prevent violence against women, and use media to reduce negative gender stereotypes. The only specific mention of young women is for young mothers – a good thing! Though it would have been better to have more mention of young women in the doc. Young men are mention in regards to their role in preventing HIV.

Mention of ‘Youth organisations’ didn’t make it. Nonetheless. I think we had a good impact and we did get visibility at this CSW.

Join the googlegroup Young Voices at CSW to keep in touch and find ways to promote the outcomes of CSW in our organisations, networks and movements.

Kaburo

The anti-Youth Org Caucus poster

Did you see this? It was circulated at CSW Friday March 6. The poster has no contact information so we are unable to respond to the group. It is a bit frustrating when people do not air their views during the caucus but choose to do campaigns like this instead. The Youth Org Caucus should be a safe space for young people to share their views and concerns.

If you have comments, we are happy to hear from you. Email or post your comments/suggestions/feedback: youngvoicescsw [at] gmail [dot] com.

Well, for those who do not oppose the youth caucus, we will meet in the cafeteria at 3pm on march 10 to review progress on influencing agreed conclusions.

Final recommendations for Agreed Conclusions

Hi everyone, here are the final recommendations for Agreed Conclusions. Please print, review and pass around. Any questions – do get in touch with us.

Miriam shares her experience of addressing the UN

It was a great privilege for me to be given an opportunity to present the youth organization caucus’ statement at the 53rd Session on the commission of the status of women. This experience was an eye opener for me as it also enabled me to have a feel of the proceeding of the deliberations on the sessions.

I felt I had a responsibility to fulfil to the young people and youth organizations whom I was representing and reflecting back on our girl guides motto and promise. I was prepared and ready to fulfil my duty.

Initially I thought I would just read through the paper as it was presented to me, but then it was explained to me that I needed to explain the thought of the youth in free speech rather than read them and so I had to summarise while waiting to be called upon to speak and be ready to pass forward what our caucus wanted adopted in three minutes.

As the session began I felt a bit tensed but as the panellist gave their presentations, my interest was captured because what they presented was in line with what the youth organisation caucus had proposed. This enabled me to have a deeper understanding from the panellists presentations thus made it more effective for me to articulate what I wanted to present.

As it was heading to half past five and they had not yet given a chance to the youth caucus to present their statement, I felt a little discouraged but as the saying goes, save the best for last, we were finally given a chance and I am convinced that I was able to put forward the statement to the best of my ability.

I am more encouraged that the forum is bringing into perspective in the hearts and minds of all that there is a strong need to involve men and boys in care giving and I would not add much but conclude by saying, it is me for us to act because the change we are talking about is possible if we believe in our hearts even as young people.

Miriam Otieno, Kenya, Youth Organization Caucus

Draft Recommendations for Agreed Conclusions

Here are the suggestions made so far on strengthening the languages of the agreed conclusions – both in terms of language and issues for young women. This document will be worked on further at the Youth Org Caucus on Wednesday March 4 at 1pm, Conf Room B. If you can’t be there, post suggestions on the blog or email us at youngvoicescsw [at] gmail [dot] com.

Young women speak out at UN

Today was a very successful day for young delegates at CSW. The Youth Organization Caucus met for the first time. The room was packed to capacity and the energy was really great. Kaburo and Bernadette facilitated the meeting and introduced a draft oral statement to the young delegates and representatives of youth organisations. The hour long session was very productive, great suggestions to enhance the statement were made. It was clear from the interventions that young people are concerned about negatives stereotypes and had great suggestions on how to improve the way young women and girls relate to men and boys.

Although not everyone agreed on some of the more contentious issues – consensus was reached. I spoke to some young delegates after the session and they all agreed the there was a high level of respect within the caucus. People listened to each other and offered constructive suggestions. It was really great to have such smart and dedicated women and men work together.

With just ten minutes to amend the statement with the suggestions from the caucus, a core \’writing team\’ strengthened the statement and submitted to the organizers.

The statement was accepted and the commission invited the Youth Caucus to speak at the afternoon session. Shortly before 6:00pm, Miriam Otieno, a Girl Guide from Kenya, presented the concerns and suggestions of the caucus to member states of the UN. Miriam did a great job at highlighting the three key observations and suggestions from the caucus: governments must adopt comprehensive education as a tool for promoting gender equality, governments must not only protect young women and girls from violence and abuse but also work towards preventing violence, and finally, the media, including the internet and social networking sites, must be used to fight gender stereotypes.

Oral Statement: Caregiving has huge costs for young women and girls

Read Oral-statement presented by Youth Organization Caucus to the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women on March 3, 2009.

Youth Caucus today!

Really excited about the Youth Caucus today. Bunch of young people already spotting green and you can see them talking and participating at side events and the UN. A team has been working on some recommendations for the agreed conclusions and these will be worked on more at the caucus. Three of the main areas of strengthening are 1. Education. There is no mention of the impact of caregiving on a young woman’s education. Studies show that girls and young women are twice as likely to be pulled out of school to care for sick relatives. Lack of education or inconsistent attendance only drives young women further into poverty. Comprehensive education, including non-formal training, is crucial to to ensure young women and girls build skills and are prepared for a successful adn full life. 2. Media is powerful tool and can be used to change perspectives on gender stereotypes.

If you have more ideas – bring the to the caucus this morning. Conference room B, 11:30am.

Draft Agreed Conclusions now available

The Draft Agreed conclusions are now available. Study them carefully, share with your colleagues and networks, and bring your ideas and suggestions for lobbying to the Caucus on March 3.

If you already have ideas you want to share you can post them in the comments section.