PRIDE Youth Ambassador for Peace, from Australia, determined to help at UN Conference with critical issues facing women & children, experiences her own tests with positive action!

We would like to congratulate and recognize the efforts of Dorsa Nazemi, a PRIDE Youth Ambassador from Australia . Her conduct, dedication, and positive action to serve the international community at the UN's 50th Commission on the Status of women, is exemplary to all youth longing to free the world from violence against women and children especially “the girl child”, which should include those orphaned baby girls and children without parents. If more youth would serve at different levels and in different places, it would not only establish the importance of the role of youth at the United Nations, but the results would help speed up the time frame mentioned in Dorsa's report.

PRIDE Youth Ambassador: Dorsa Nazemi (on right)
& delegate from Thailand at UN Conference

The Women Lawyers Western Australia (Inc.) (wlwa) decided to help support, as one of its social projects, Ms Dorsa Nazemi who is a final year honor student in international law and politics at Murdoch University and an Australian Youth Ambassador for PRIDE.

PRIDE is a charitable, volunteer organization and privileged to have special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and is a member of the official United Nations Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (CONGO), which actively promotes the rights of women and children. This official status permits PRIDE to be permanently represented at the United Nations Assembly in New York , Vienna and Geneva in various capacities.

Dorsa had attended the 3rd Symposium on Global Ethics sponsored by PRIDE and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in July 2005 in Beijing . After returning to Australia , she volunteered to represent PRIDE as a Youth Ambassador to attend the 50th Commission on the Status of the Woman being held at the UN in New York from 27 February 2006 onwards.

Dorsa's (partial) report: … “This year's CSW conference invited all present NGO representatives to participate in a group consultation. As an observer I noticed the range and difference of opinions in the discussions, and as the conference progressed it became quite clear that every NGO had its own specific agenda. I realized that there was not only a difference of opinion between groups, but also a struggle to understand each group's level of needs. For example, in one group I saw developed, industrialized, powerful countries claiming and advocating for more women in positions of executive power and decision making. However in another group I observed how the developing, third world nations were struggling for basic needs such as health, education, functioning roads and an end to civil war and mass killings.

I attended many meetings and attempted to review as many working papers as possible. The paper I was heavily involved in was the draft conclusion entitled “Enhanced participation of women in development: an enabling environment for achieving gender equality and advancement of women, taking into account, inter alia, the fields of education, health and work. …….Looking through the paper, I and two other youth ambassadors from Canada and RSA ( Republic of South Africa ) realized that in regards to the proposed health recommendations, there was no mention of HIV or AIDS. We made recommendations on this issue, on the issue of women as care providers, and on the clarification of different types of work leave for women….

I realized that the more I read the proposed articles, the less I saw any indication of a time frame or a target to be met. I suggested that the committee should push for time frames and targets to be met by a certain time, because many countries did not have ten years to wait for substantial action to be taken with regard to aid and development. Lastly, we realized that all documents were repeatedly mentioning violence against women, but leaving out the most important issue and that was violence against the “Girl Child”. We expressed our concerns and suggested that we must take the “Girl Child” into account so that NGOs and governments can work hand in hand to stop any form of domestic violence from an early age to prevent future consequences.

After much review, and many long consultation evenings, it was time for action. It was up to my group to push through all our adjustments to this paper with our own governments. I therefore set off to find who my representatives were, and with the help of a couple of Australians I was able to meet with the Australian delegation to the UN. While with them I sat down and explained the urgency of these changes and the importance of Australian support on these issues, as we are a multicultural community. After a few hours of heated discussion the delegation decided to accept the changes and report back to me after the council meeting. The Australian delegation did a great job of pushing many mandates and changes through, and I was happy to find out that many of my changes were successfully implemented.

The Australian Delegation

At the conclusion of this conference, I realized the changes could not be implemented unless both men and women work together. Also women need to try and understand the status of other women, and most important of all, experienced women must pass their wisdom to the younger generation.

Although I enjoyed my experience at the conference immensely, it is worth mentioning several problems I experienced which, although at times disheartening, nevertheless increased my resolve to have a successful trip. I traveled to New York on a strict budget and organized my accommodation through family friends. On the day of my arrival I found my way to my accommodation, only to discover that the apartment was empty, and I could not contact my host….she was under the impression that I would be leaving a week earlier than I had planned. I tried to remain calm and prepare for the conference, and eventually my luck turned. On the registration morning, I met an Australian woman who introduced me to several others, including a lady who immediately offered her home to me. I was so determined to get through this trip that I simply looked for the resources I needed until I found them. I believe that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen, and this is how I felt about my accommodation crisis.

Returning to my previous comments on my experience of the conference itself, it is my opinion from the experience I have gained, that Government agencies and NGO's should try to work together if real progress is to be made. Also, all paperwork should be drafted with a more realistic timeframe in mind which would actually see sufficient action occurring in response to recommendations.

I would like to sincerely thank each and every member of WLWA for giving me this opportunity to live my dream of serving humanity…. I am looking forward to working with you and reporting more exciting news at every possible opportunity.”

Dorsa Nazemi For information contact: www.pride@pridengo.org