Mon, 19/07/2010

Thursday morning saw us listening to the Constructive Dialogue between the Russian Government and the CEDAW Committee. They had a very large delegation with representatives from a number of departments and were led by the Deputy Minister for Health and Development. The Committee questioned the delegation on what sort of impact the lack of an Equality Act had on women's day-to-day equality. We found this question interesting because Australia's anti-discrimination legislation also does not provide a guarantee for equality.

With our focus turning to the preparation of lobbying materials, we left our NGO colleagues from Russia in "the room" and met together as a delegation to identify our top issues. CEDAW Concluding Observations have become more focused in recent years, with lengthy paragraphs raising a number of concerns on particular topics. We have identified sixteen issues - giving the Committee members plenty of choice! They usually raise between 12 and 14 issues.

More recently they have also been identifying two issues for a 12-24 month followup report. Our delegation has selected the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in policy advocacy and development and violence against women. These two issues came up very strongly in the consultation process and we feel that a followup report within two years could be a useful domestic advocacy tool.

The Committee met in closed session on Friday which made our lobbying more challenging. With three of our team attending the International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific CEDAW training the remaining four worked on finalising the lobbying materials. We made good progress on our NGO Statement, to be delivered on Monday afternoon, and the agenda for the NGO Briefing Lunch, scheduled for Monday also. In the afternoon, two of our delegation turned into photocopying gems and three of us went out to visit the YWCA of Brooklyn.

It was fantastic to meet with the YWCA of Brooklyn team. They have an amazing whole block building that provides affordable housing to over 250 women, some of whom have lived with the YWCA for over 50 years. Over the past four years they have been redeveloping the building, and have just opened a two-floor community activism centre that will see like-minded groups renting the office and meeting spaces. For example, the Brooklyn version of Melbourne's Rock and Roll High School will be empowering the next generation of rock chicks. The YWCA of Brooklyn also provides free meeting space to any local community association that does not charge membership fees. Higher up the building is a community art space. And hidden on the side of the building is the most amazing old-school theatre. The YWCA of Brooklyn has struck a long-term rental agreement with an avant garde music company, who are also in the process of restoring the theatre. The YWCA of Brooklyn is also part of the local food movement, buying shares in the agricultural production of a Mexican woman who farms in upstate New York. Neighbours come to the YWCA on a weekly basis to pick up their fresh fruit and vegies, and are also now helping residents from the YWCA to access shares of the production. The YWCA of Brooklyn also has a strong health promotion program, including (interestingly) a version of YWCA Encore. The staff team and board have a strong and clear commitment to the multicultural community of Brooklyn, bringing to life the dual mission of the YWCAs in the USA to eliminate racism and empower women.

As we draw to the close of the weekend here in New York, we had a productive meeting with the Australian Government Delegation and the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner. We then spent a spirited ninety minutes finalising our NGO statements, ready to deliver tomorrow.