In some parts of the world it’s as rare as gold — and getting a hold of some, nearly impossible. To one of Colombia’s largest indigenous groups, Wayuu, that gold is fresh water. Soon their water will be siphoned from Wayuu lands through new pipes to a nearby town, where the population is not indigenous. As struggles for ethnic rights, such as access to water, are recreated across the country, the community deals with an additional strain on their resources — climate change. Due to a changing climate, water has become even scarcer, leaving the community without a wet season for up to two years at times. This documentary tracks one extraordinary woman fighting for her community’s very survival.
@UN_Women greets its 100,000th Twitter follower
Congratulations to the English-language Twitter handle for UN Women! March 31st marks the day they reached 100,000 Twitter followers, only fifteen months after the launch of UN Women. To learn more, click here.
Follow @UN_Women (and @UNWomen_MetroNY, too).
Sustainable Development Goals & the Post-2015 Agenda
On March 21st, UN Women, Brazil, Switzerland, and the Women’s Major Group represented by the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (DAWN), Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF), and the Women’s Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) met to discuss development goals and what their agenda would look like after 2015. UN Women Director of Policy, Saraswathi Menon spoke about the goals through the lens of gender equality. She said:
“When women have equal access to resources and opportunities to participate in decision making processes they become drivers of sustainable development by taking environmental, economic and social action.”
You can find her complete remarks here.
Media Gallery for 2011-2012
A quick look at our programming year so far – we’ve had some wonderful moments! Enjoy this slideshow of our some of our year’s highlights, as well as more photos from each of our events in our Media Gallery section.
Event Spotlight: “An Evening with Abigail Disney”
On Jan 10th, our chapter hosted a private salon with filmmaker Abigail Disney. There, she discussed her groundbreak PBS ducomentary series, Women, War & Peace and her friend Leymah Gbowee’s Nobel Peace Prize. Click here to read our full event recap.
Today is Congressional Call-In Day!
On today, March 20, the US National Committee for UN Women is asking us to call, email, tweet our Members of Congress to increase U.S. funding for UN Women to $10 million. The President’s FY2013 budget requests $7.9 million for UN Women, just a small increase from FY2012′s $7.5 million. Join us as we encourage them to fund UN Women at $10 million. Click here for Congressional contact information and talking points
Recent Event Spotlight: Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate
On Tuesday, March 13, Bank of America and the Metro NY Chapter hosted An Evening with 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee. Seeing her speak, it suddenly became very clear how her presence and words could inspire an entire country to come together, non-violently ending a 14 year Liberia’s civil war in 2003. She was poised and passionate, and captivated the auditorium with her every word. Her concluding request was that women stop being so “politely angry”.It’s Women’s History Month!
It’s Women’s History Month – celebrate women’s accomplishments by going to an event in the city, sharing empowering stories about women (facebook, #womenshistory, #whm), and by encouraging those around you who are women’s history in the making!
Calling for 2012 Board of Directors Nominations
We are currently calling for nominations for the Metro NY Chapter’s Board of Directors. For more details, click here. Application submission deadline is March 10, 2012.
The World Bank and Fotopedia Announce “Women of the World” App
The World Bank and Fotopedia have released an app called “Women of the World”. The free app showcases women from over 75 countries through the lens of photographer Olivier Martel. To learn more about the app features and World Bank’s current #thinkEQUAL campaign, click here.