Showing posts with label United Nations Security Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations Security Council. Show all posts

Monday, November 8, 2010

October Meeting News– UN Update

Our speaker was ZCGS member and UN committee chairperson, Terri Goldstein.
BACKGROUND: Zonta has Consultative Status with the United Nations (UN) as a
Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) sharing the same goals such as: women’s rights and
universal freedom, justice was a natural partnership and Zonta International joined in 1946.
Today the UN is universally acknowledged as the premier world body to advance the status
of women and girls, promoting women’s rights and gender equality. Zonta International (ZI)
has a United Nations Committee and maintains representatives in New York, Geneva,
Vienna and Paris.Zonta as an accredited NGO is affiliated with the UN in different ways:
Through The Department of Public Information ( DPI) Zonta obtains information and reports
back to Zontians all over the world to enhance our understanding and to build support for the
UNs work. Through CONSULTATIVE STATUS with the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) Our purpose: Concerned with economic issues and trade issues that involve
women and children. Zonta is one of the six principal bodies carrying out the UN’s work.
There are several categories of NGO affiliation with the ECOSOC and Zonta International
has the most extensive Consultative Status. – GENERAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS. The
ECOSOC is responsible for 2/3rds of all UN programs and ZI is very honored to have such
high status with this organization.  Under the ECOSOC umbrella is (CSW) THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN is the leading policy body
concerned with Women’s Rights and Equal Status of women and hosts an annual conference. CEDAW’s key platform
is the UN Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimation against women and the human rights council.
UNIFEM - The UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN
International service projects funded through ZI Foundation: SAY NO AGAINST VIOLENCE: Please GO TO WEBSITE
AND SIGN PETITION 1) $500.000 to SAFE CITIES for WOMEN PROJECT in GUATEMALA and SAN SALVADOR,
2) $430,000 Cooperation with Zonta International to STRATEGIES To END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN-
(ZISWAV) UN trust fund to end violence, 3) END BURN VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN CAMBODIA, NEPAL
AND UGANDA, 4) $200,000 - SECURITY and EMPOWERMENT for WOMEN and their FAMILIES in HAITI, 3.
UNICEF- United Nation’s Chidren’s Fund $500,000, to the PREVENTION OF MOTHER-TO-CHILD TRANSMISSION
OF HIV and GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN RAWANDA, 4. UNFPA- UNITED NATIONS
POPULATION FUND $500.000 TO THE ELIMINATION OF OBSTETRIC FISTULA And
The REDUCTION OF MATERNAL AND NEWBORN MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY IN
LIBERIA.
UPDATES: 1) The formulation of UN WOMEN will be operational as of Jan 1, 2) OCT 11
The new executive director and Under-Secretary General for the UN is MS. MICHELLE
BACHELET and the UN Secretary General is BAN KI MOON 3. INTERNATIONAL DAY
FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN NOV 25th.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Help women in war torn countries: sign the petition "say no to violence against women"

September 29, 2010

Dear Zontians,

Ten years ago, on October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1325, the first formal document from the Security Council that requires parties in conflict to respect women’s rights and to support their participation in peace processes. Many civil society organizations lobbied for the passage of the resolution. It calls for prosecuting crimes against women, extra protection for women and girls in conflict areas and involving more women in peace talks and reconstruction planning. Since then two more resolutions, 1820 and 1888, have also been adopted unanimously. Both of these resolutions emphasize and build on Resolution 1325.

Zonta International has supported these resolutions and now, ten years later, we find that women are still pawns of conflict. Sexual violence against women is in the headlines every day. According to UNIFEM, “In contemporary conflicts, as much as 90 percent of casualties are among civilians, most of whom are women and children. Women face devastating forms of sexual violence, which are sometimes deployed systematically to achieve military or political objectives.” We can help to stop this brutality by joining with UNIFEM in Women Count for Peace. This campaign is part of SAY NO UNITE, End Violence against Women.

All Zontians can add their names to a petition which asks governments to support 3 steps to implement Resolution 1325. The petition asks the individual governments to: Prosecute those who command and/or commit sexual violence and exclude them from armies and police forces after conflict; Ensure that women participate in peace negotiations and all post-conflict decision-making institutions; and Increase the number of women in troops, police forces and civilians within international peacekeeping efforts.

You can add your name by going to www.saynotoviolence.org/make-women-count-for-peace where you can sign the petition online or print out petition forms that may be mailed. The women in war torn countries need our help.

Yours in Zonta,

 
Mary Ann Tarantula
Zonta International United Nations Committee, Chairman