victim advocacy

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

This annual campaign – supported by the United Nations through the Secretary General’s UNiTE – began on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and ends on the International Human Rights Day, 16 December.

The 2022 UN theme is “UNiTE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.

Read the full concept note here.

The NGO Committee on Ageing of New York – through its Subcommittee on Older Women – participate in 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The NGO Committee on Ageing promotes Education along with Activism and includes ALL women and girls to emphasizes the invisibility of older women in this campaign and to raise awareness of their presence among survivors of gender-based violence.

In partnership with AARP and in collaboration with the Fordham University Institute for Women and Girls, the New York NGO Committee on Ageing Subcommittee on Older Women will disseminate brief informational messages – with links – throughout this campaign, raising the visibility of older women who also experience gender-based violence.

Please check the NGO CoA website and follow on Twitter @UNandAgeing.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing/Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

Women, Life, Freedom: Global Implications of the Women-Led Uprising in Iran

The women’s uprising in Iran has captivated the world. The death of Massa Amini in government custody in September sparked protests all over Iran. What started out as a spontaneous women’s resistance has grown and evolved into a sustained cross-sectoral movement calling not only for reform of repressive policies in relation to women, but for structural changes in society.

Join us for an event addressing the situation in Iran and its global implications. We will have a panel discussion consisting of Iranian women who will offer an analysis of the uprising in Iran, followed by another panel of women active in the women’s movements across different regions who will discuss the global implications of this women-led uprising. The event will showcase how feminists from around the world are working together to build global solidarity in their advocacy for structural change. A dedicated conversation will be held with UN Women senior leadership as part of the event to discuss and present key feminist asks from the NGO CSWs in the Regions and other global women’s movements. Finally, we will discuss concrete steps for building global solidarity for feminist advocacy purposes.

This event is presented by the NGO CSWs in the Regions and sponsored by The New York Women’s Foundation and Iranian American Women’s Foundation, in partnership with UN Women.

Register here!

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

2022 Vienna Discussion Forum: Women on the Move

The Permanent Missions of Finland, Norway, and Sweden in Vienna, together with UNODC and UNIDO, invite you to the 2022 Vienna Discussion Forum: “Women on the Move – Surviving Forced Displacement and Building a New Life

The VDF is a hybrid meeting, taking place in MS Teams or in person in the Vienna International Centre, Conference room 4 (7th floor C-Building). Register here!

Agenda:

Opening Remarks

· Ghada Waly, Executive Director, UNODC 

· Fatou Haidara, Managing Director, Directorate of Global Partnerships & External Relations, UNIDO

· Johanna Sumuvuori, State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland

· Nadia Murad, Nadia’s Initiative, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador and survivor of human trafficking

Panel Discussion

· Ilias Chatzis, Chief, Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, UNODC

· Ciyong Zou, Managing Director, Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development, UNIDO

· Anna Ekstedt, Ambassador-at-large for Combating Trafficking in Persons, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

· Sarah A Tobin, Research Director, Christian Michelsen Institute

Closing Remarks

· Felipe González Morales, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants

Background:

The 2022 Vienna Discussion Forum (VDF) will discuss the importance of ensuring that measures to address migration and displacement are gender-responsive and take a human rights-centred approach. This includes understanding the gendered displacement patterns caused by human insecurity and conflict situations, providing effective support for both women and men in their transit to their final destination, safeguarding them from human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as supporting them once they have arrived in their final destination through economic empowerment.

Through drawing on the mandates of UNODC and UNIDO, the discussion will identify how the organisations can support the international community in developing gender-responsive policies, programmes and measures to address migration and displacement.

The Vienna Discussion Forum is an annual event to discuss gender equality and the empowerment of women in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. Details on the 2021 Forum can be found here and here. Details on the 2020 Forum can be found here and here. Details on the inaugural 2019 Forum can be found here and here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons, please visit ngocstip.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Updates on the Human Rights Crisis in the Philippines under Marcos, Jr.

What does a second Marcos regime mean for human rights and social justice in the Philippines? Join us as we hear the latest updates on human rights through testimony of church leaders in the Philippines and advocates in the U.S.

Our Philippines-based speaker will share their firsthand experiences enduring surveillance and trumped-up charges, as well as to the general condition of the Filipino people under oppression and the role of progressive movements on the ground. A community member of a local grassroots organization will also share experiences of the curtailment of freedom of speech and the far reaches of the Philippine government’s repression on dissenters abroad.

RSVP at tinyurl.com/PHSideEvent. For more information, contact nychrp@gmail.com.

Please note we’ll be in the 10th Floor Meeting Room of the Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.org or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

NGO CSW67 Forum

The sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 6 to 17 March 2023.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to contribute to the session.

The format of the NGO CSW67 Forum will be hybrid (both virtual and in-person). Check NGO CSW/NY’s website periodically for more information about the NGO CSW67 Forum and UN CSW67.

CSW67 Priority Theme:

Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls

CSW67 Review Theme:

Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls

For more information about the UN CSW67 session, visit UN Women’s website.

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com.

Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies

Dear UN NGO Committee on FoRB and interested colleagues,

This month, our friends at Muslims for Progressives Values will be hosting an in-person event on Apostasy and Blasphemy in Washington, DC. Here’s the event summary:

The practice of criminalizing the religious beliefs of others through apostasy and blasphemy legislation violates the fundamental teachings of Islam as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to freedom of religion, belief, and thought to all individuals.

Clearly, this issue is transnational as we’ve witnessed in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie. While he is one of the more prominent victims, there are many more unnamed victims. The two-hour forum will begin with an introduction to social, historical and religious contexts of apostasy and blasphemy laws in Muslim Societies. It will be followed by an interactive workshop with tools to delink these harsh laws from Islam, inculcating a culture of human rights, and overcoming hateful social media campaigns directed at human rights advocates.

Here’s the event page with the concept note, outline of the program and speakers. To register, please click here.

Event Location: Rayburn 2060, Capitol Hill, Washington DC

Please visit our Freedom of Religion and Belief page for a comprehensive overview of our work in this field.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

On the occasion of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief (established by the United Nations General Assembly), the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief in New York will be hosting an online event highlighting the continued need for action and advocacy aimed at preventing, condemning, and seeking accountability for violence against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief.

Time: 2:15pm – 3:30pm EDT

Location: Zoom (link to be sent out to registrants the day of the event)

To register, please email INFO@UNFORB.ORG for the link by Friday, 19 August 2022.

Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the UN Bani Dugal and UN NGO Committee on FoRB President Kelsey Zorzi and will provide overviews of several recent freedom of religion or belief initiatives, including the Washington D.C.-based Summit on International Religious Freedom and the London-based Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, and related future avenues for advocacy.

Dr. Thang Nguyen, founder and President of Boat People SOS (BPSOS) will provide an overview of the violence carried out against religious minorities in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia and will detail the Vietnamese government’s efforts to hide and punish advocacy efforts aimed at shedding light on this violence or commemorating this International Day.

Participants are invited during the Q+A portion of the meeting to commemorate victims of religiously-based violence and share information about recent violent persecution of religion or belief minorities around the world.

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations – for more info, please visit unforb.org. Likewise, for more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Denuclearization and Peace on the Korean Peninsula

Co-organizers Solidarity of Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) and People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) invite you to this important IN-PERSON discussion on Denuclearization and Peace on the Korean Peninsula! We’ll be in Conference Room B, UNHQNY.

General Focus: Analysis on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula as well as suggestions for building peace and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula & Northeast Asia

Speakers:

Hayoung Bak (Youth Team of SPARK) – Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula: Is it still possible? YES, as long as the Biden Administration ends its hostile policies against North Korea
Sooyoung Hwang (Manager of Center for Peace and Disarmament, PSPD): Current situation on the Korean Peninsula and why we have to end the Korean War (Video presentation)
Kawasaki Akira (Executive Committee Member, Peace Boat & International Steering Group Member, ICAN)
Ambassador Enkhsaikhan Jargalsaikhan (Chairman of Blue Banner)

Questions/Contact: Hayoung Bak, b.hayoungi@gmail.com, 818-633-6481

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngodisarm.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com.

Nuclear Prayer Day – Hiroshima / Nagasaki Interfaith Peace Gathering

Namaste,

Please join us! For Nuclear Prayer Day – Hiroshima / Nagasaki Interfaith Peace Gathering on Friday, August 5, 2022, from 2:00 pm onwards, both virtually and in-person at Tillman Chapel, Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

Zoom Meeting ID: 898 4657 1811

Link: us02web.zoom.us/j/89846571811

Livestream: facebook.com/unitedreligionsinitiative

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngodisarm.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Committee on the Rights of the Child 91st Session

Join in the 91st Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child via in-person or remote participation at Palais Wilson in Geneva from 29 August to 23 September 2022!

Registration: Please use the given browsers to register here: Google Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Opera

All public meetings of the Committee will be available through webcast live on the website: https://webtv.un.org/meetings-events.

Please note that the Conference Rooms at Palais Wilson, Ground Floor and First Floor, are open to the public, during the session. As more information becomes available, it will be posted to the event site here: indico.un.org/event/1001255/overview.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the co-chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Major Group, please visit ngomg.org.

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