FALL 2022 NEWSLETTERIASSW Team Continues Work in HybridMode
The IASSW Team of Representatives toUnited Nations (UN) headquarters in New
York has continued its work throughout thepandemic. In late spring 2022, the UN began
to open to some in-person meetings. Our fullteam was able to secure their passes bymid-summer. Many NGO committees
continue to hold virtual meetings, whileothers have moved to hybrid mode. Ourrepresentatives are: Lynne Healy, Main
Representative (University of Connecticut,retired); Martha Bragin, Hunter College;
Rebecca Davis, Rutgers University; Shirley
Gatenio-Gabel, Fordham University; Sharon
Milligan, Case Western Reserve University;
Marciana Popescu, Fordham University;
Rebecca Thomas, University of Connecticut.
This year we are also pleased to have agraduate student intern, Eunices Pineda, aspart of the team.
Introducing IASSW Intern- Eunices
PinedaIASSW is pleased tohave Eunices Pineda as agraduate student internwith the IASSW Teamof Representatives at theUnited Nations for theacademic year 2022-23.
Eunices graduated fromthe University ofConnecticut in 2020
with a Bachelor of Science in Allied Health
Sciences with a concentration in Public
Health and Health Promotion. She iscurrently a third-year graduate student in thePublic Health program and the Master ofSocial Work program at the University ofConnecticut. As a social work student, she isconcentrating on Community Organizing.
She started her professional experience as acase manager in the Fatherhood Engagement
Program in 2021 which allowed her to workwith a diverse group of fathers, including
Spanish-speaking fathers. Inspired by theseinteractions, Eunices decided to pursue acareer in community organizing to make animpact in her community, using a systems
change approach. As an IASSW intern, she
is interested in building upon her leadershipskills and using her knowledge in serving
underrepresented communities. Making
Spanish-speaking services more accessible
to Spanish-speaking individuals is just oneof Eunices’ many goals for her career.
The Working Group on Girls- 11 Days of
Action 2022
The Working
Group on Girls(WGG) promotesa Social Media
campaign called
11 Days of
Action to build
momentum prior
to theInternational Day of the Girl. The WGG isan NGO group at the United Nations that
promotes the rights of girls. This year, thecampaign took place from Saturday, October
1st to Monday, October 10th. The theme forthis year’s event was “IDG+10: Minding theGirls’ Rights Gap–Active, Accountable
Participants of IDG”. Each day the Working
Group on Girls and their sponsors focused

on a specific area affecting girls, promoting
the human rights of the girl child, and theefforts to advance inclusion and the status ofgirls. The areas of focus for this year
included Pandemic Recovery, Racial Equity,
Girls’ Mental Health, Gender Based
Violence, Menstrual Health, Quality
Education for Girls, Climate Justice,
Migrant and Refugee girls, Girl’s
Leadership, Indigenous Girls, and Girls’
Advocate Honor Roll Recognition. IASSW
took part in the 11 days of action as asponsor for Day 3 “Girls’ Mental Health”.
Dr. Rebecca Davis and Intern Eunices
Pineda worked together in collaboration
with WGG, UNANIMA, Saint Ursula
Academy, and Academy of Mount St.
Ursula, creating social media content andsharing resources for girls. Intern Eunices
Pineda designed social media posts on how
girls can build self-confidence; these wereon the event’s Instagram page. This
campaign took place on several social media
platforms including Instagram, Facebook,and YouTube, calling for global
conversation and participation of individuals
all over the world!
For more information about the 11 Days ofAction 2022 campaign and the work they
are doing for #GirlsRightsNow please visit:https://dayofthegirlsummit.org/11-days-of-action-2022/
Celebrating The International Day of The
Girl at The UN Headquarters
This year marked the10th anniversary of theInternational Day of theGirl. In recognition ofthe International Day ofthe Girl, October 11, The
Working Group on Girls(WGG) in partnershipwith the Member States
Canada, Peru, andTurkey facilitated the coordination of the“Girls Speak Out” event in collaboration
with Girl Advocates. The advocates led thespeak out event and presented stories ofmany girls around the world. The theme forthis year’s event was “IDG+10: Minding theGirls’ Rights Gap–Active, Accountable
Participants of IDG”. The event approached
the existing and growing gaps in girl’s rightsfrom different points: the negative effects of
the Covid-19 pandemic on girls, childmarriage, gender inequality, and theviolence against girls worldwide. The
Permanent Representative of Canada,Ambassador Bob Rae, explained that thewomen’s movement around the world has
made enormous differences in the rights,
freedoms and the future of young womenand girls. It is important to include young
girls and women in grassroots and equality
movements to continue making thesedifferences around the world. Heemphasized that society needs to continue
making investments in women and girls’
futures to guarantee equality for all insociety.
Maka Chikowero, a moderator in the eventand founder of the MTC Educated Girl
Foundation, shared the voices of hundredsof girls from rural communities inZimbabwe who aspire to access educationand end child marriage. There are more than
62 million girls who do not have access toschool while millions more continue to fightto stay in school. Ms. Chikowero
underscored the fact that girls in Zimbabwe
do not have access to education unless theirfamilies are willing to support and pay
tuition for them to attend school. She stated,“Covid-19 and Cyclone Idai made it hard to
track down and keep these girls in school
and out of child marriages”. Globally, 12
million girls a year are involved in childmarriages. Child marriage leads to a lifetime of suffering in girls and lack ofopportunities. Ms. Chikowero ended her talkby sharing a question from the girls in her

organization: “How do we assure
accountability in exciting commitments? Weneed education, protection and security”.
The Permanent Representative of Turkey,
Ambassador Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu,responded to the call for access to education
and accountability for girl rights. He
explained the importance of including girlrights as part of the discussion in any aspect
in society. He emphasized the importance torespect the Convention on the Rights of theChild and the nonnegotiable rights ofchildren. He encouraged the use of thesegirls’ stories as a way to mobilize resources
and partnerships to create a more equitableworld for girls. He finished by encouraging
girl empowerment and providing tools sogirls can take their rightful place in society.
The panelists concluded by stressing theimportance of creating collaborative
initiatives to end gender inequality, genderviolence and provide more opportunities togirls.

evolved into a cross-sectoral movement
calling for a structural change in Iran.
“We are witnessing an interesting moment inhistory. We are witnessing many womenfrom many corners of the world playing avisible and central role in the uprising,demanding better conditions for ourselves as
women and for our communities, societies,and nations” says Azadeh Khalili, SeniorVice President for Strategic Partnerships at
The New York Women’s Foundation. The
New York Women’s Foundation and theIranian American Women’s Foundation
along with UN Women sponsored an Iranian
women's panel presented by the NGO CSWs
(Commission on the Status of Women) inthe regions. One of the panelists read thethoughts of an anonymous Iranian woman
who had participated in the protests. She
shared this woman’s story and the strugglesof trying to make a change in Iran including
getting beaten up in the street and police
intervention. The panel analyzed the current
events in Iran and how the women’s
movement is impacting social change not
only in Iran but the world.
If you would like to listen to this panel,please watch the recording:

The NGO CSW/ NY: Women, Life,
Freedom: Global Implications of theWomen-Led Uprising in IranWhat is happening in Iran? On September
16th, 2022 Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman,died under government custody. She wastaken into police custody due to committing
the crime of wearing her hijab incorrectly
and pants that were too tight. Millions ofwomen went to the street and started to callthe Iranian government for reforms in theirrestrictive policies against women. The
Iranian regime has limited the coverage ofthe protest and arrested over 40 journalists
in the first week of November. These
protests led by women’s resistance havehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk33q7
cqfOo
COP27: 2022 United Nations Climate
Change Conference
The 27th Conference of the Parties to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (COP27) took place fromNovember 6th to November 20th in Sharmel-Sheikh, Egypt. The conference covered
important topics related to climate change
including climate finance, decarbonisation,
climate change adaptation, agriculture, andmore. The International Labor Organization(ILO) held a side event, focusing on a JustTransition. At the end of the Conference, aloss and damage fund was established in aneffort to combat climate change. The
conference hosted more than 100 Heads ofState and Governments and over 35,000
participants.
For more information on COP27 visit:https://cop27.eg/#/
UPCOMING EVENTS SECTIONThe UN Commission for Social
Development will meet in February 2023.
This annual event also includes a Civil
Society Forum organized by the NGO
Committee for Social Development. IASSW
almost always co-sponsors a side event at
the Commission and expects to do so thisyear. The theme this year is “Creating fulland productive employment and decent
work for all as a way of overcoming
inequalities to accelerate the recovery fromthe COVID-19 pandemic and the full
implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development.”
For more information, see:https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/
united-nations-commission-for-social-devel
opment-csocd-social-policy-and-developme
nt-division/csocd61.html
The Water Conference will meet inMarch 2023

Review of the Implementation of theObjectives of the International Decade forAction, “Water for SustainableDevelopment”, 2018–2028. The key
objective is to support the internationallyagreed water-related goals and targets,
including those contained in Goal 6 of the2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
There will be 6 plenary meetings and 5interactive dialogues.
For more information on the Water
Conference please visit:https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2023
Commission on the Status of Women(CSW) will be in March 2023
This year, CSW67 will take place fromSunday, March 5th through Friday, March
17th. The meeting will take place in a hybrid
format for the first time. It is expected tohave both in-person and virtual events
throughout the NGO Forum. The priority
theme for this year is “Innovation andtechnological change, and education in thedigital age for achieving gender equality andempowerment of all women and girls.” Thereview theme is Challenges andopportunities in achieving gender equalityand empowering rural women and girls.
There will be several events that NGO/
CSW67 will host in preparation for theNGO CSW Forum.
For more information on the CSW andregistration please visit:https://ngocsw.org/ngocsw67/?mc_cid=3ec6
379012&mc_eid=b74d2b782

This year, the UN-Water Conference willtake place from Wednesday, March 22th toFriday, March 24th. The conference isexpected to be in person at the UN
Headquarters in New York. The theme forthis year is The Midterm Comprehensive

IASSW Members are reminded that allmajor United Nations events are available
on UNTV. Most events are archived and canbe used as teaching resources.