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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, КВІТЕНЬ 201 2 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 15 W W i i s s h h i i n n g g o o u u r r m m e e m m b b e e r r s s h h i i p p a a n n d d a a l l l l O O u u r r L L i i f f e e r r e e a a d d e e r r s s a a J J o o y y o o u u s s E E a a s s t t e e r r ! ! M M a a y y y y o o u u b b e e b b l l e e s s s s e e d d w w i i t t h h s s p p i i r r i i t t u u a a l l j j o o y y a a n n d d h h a a p p p p i i n n e e s s s s d d u u r r i i n n g g t t h h i i s s E E a a s s t t e e r r S S e e a a s s o o n n ! ! In her speech at the opening of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Wo m- en on February 27th, 2012, Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director, stated that “to achieve equality, human rights, and the inclusive growth that we all want, we must unlock and u n- leash the pote ntial of the world’s women, inclu d- ing rural women.” At these opening cere monies, the upper gallery of the United Nations General Assembly Hall was filled with non - governmental organization representatives from around the world. They gathered, once again, with the hope that Ms. Bachelet’s vision might come one step closer to becoming reality. This was my first exp e- rience at the CSW opening, thanks to the invit a- tion from Ms. Nadia Shmigel, UN repre sentative of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organ izations (WFUWO). During the next two weeks, many discussions would take place, many thoughts and lofty goals would be shared, and new acquaintances would be made, yet a common thread would surface through all of these mee t- ings and conversations — one clearl y reflecting the opening statement of Michelle Bachelet. On March 1st, it was my pleasure to mo d- erate a distinguished panel of speakers (please see the description under 03/01/12 below as well as the articles by Dr. Iryna Klyuchkovska and Dr. Marta Kebalo , and Iryna Koshulap). The inform a- tion presented and shared offered various per s- pectives on the fate of the rural woman. It was quite disheartening to hear once again the sta ti s- tics reported in Dr. Klyuchkov ska’s research p a- per , which we had heard original ly in August 2011 in Lviv , during the WFUWO’s 2011 annual mee t- ing. The rural woman’s life is full of hardships that are basically the same whether she lives on the European or the African continent. What can possibly change this fate for the better? Can th ese discussions be transformed into posi tive results by the concerned and participating non - governmental organizations — without the total support of the countries’ governments? We were glad to hear Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev, Perm a- nent Representative of Ukr aine to the UN, state in his introductory remarks that “Ukraine is ready for active participation in broader discus sion, pa r- ticularly at the regional level, on the realities of rural women, obstacles to the realiza tion of their full potential, on the bes t practices and solutions to problems. We will do our best to make the i m- plementation of gender policies and programs more efficient, particularly for rural women.” Later that same day, the informal meeting at the Ukrainian UN Mission offered lively and more personal discussions, al lowing the partici - pants to address their questions to Olena Suslova, Ukraine’s candidate to CEDAW. Ms. Suslova’s 14 - page curriculum vitae is proof of her quali fica - tions, both educational and professional, for this position . Various themes were discussed in a very friendly and warm atmosphere, and one could only wish that the gathering did not have to end so quickly. It was evident that the participating women from Ukraine were very gratified that Ukrainian American women we re both interested and concerned about the circumstances, both po s itive and negative, in Ukraine. On the 7 th and at the invitation of Nadia Shmigel, UNWLA VP of Public Relations Lidia Bi lous and I attended a session for NGOs with Ivan Simonovic , Assistant Secretary - General of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for H u- man Rights. During the formal part of the session, Nadia Shmigel presented a very clear yet concise picture of the human rights situation in Ukraine, includin g the case of Yulia Tymoshenko as well as other possible violations. Afterwards, we a p- proached the Assistant Secretary - G eneral with a question. Was there anything we could do to e n- ligh ten the Commission for Human Rights on the situation of women in Ukraine ? As an example, we informed him of the latest statement made by Volodymyr Lytvyn, the Head of Ukraine’s Parli a- ment, wherein he stated that women are “lower beings” compared to men and implied that wo m- en should not expect to become any part of the national governing body! (For our readers’ infor -
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