A Letter from UNESCO Paris: Soojin Min (Boston University)

Soojin Min in Paris during her UNESCO HQ internship

Dear Prof. McSweeney,

Hello! This is Soojin. How are you?

It was such a great pleasure to meet you at UNESCO!

As I mentioned, I would like to share my summer internship story with you.

I completed my internship at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, at the Section for Basic Education, Literacy and Non-Formal Education in the Division for Basic Education this past summer. Assigned to a literacy team, where six other people were working, I assisted with projects related to literacy prizes and conferences. I mainly worked on the UNESCO Database on Literacy Projects and Programmes, which was a pilot project. Based on UNESCO's criteria, information and details of literacy programs run by NGOs and governments were collected for knowledge sharing. 

Professor Brenda Gael McSweeney and Soojin Min, Paris

I also worked on press release documents for the International Literacy Day(ILD). Every year, on September 8th, the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize & the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy are awarded to a total of four entities that have made a difference in fighting illiteracy. Additionally two entities are honorably mentioned. The King Sejong Prize is sponsored by the Korean government and the Confucius Prize is sponsored by the Chinese government. Complying with the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) thematic calendar, the theme for this year is “Literacy and Women’s Empowerment”. The award ceremony will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on September 8, 2010. This year's recipients demonstrate the power of achieving women's literacy through their amazing programs.

During my internship, I realized that the role of international organizations in integrating and supporting education projects is something that should not be underestimated.  I also learned that the best possible way to promote gender equality is through education, and I therefore believe literacy education should be the very first step towards it. 

UNESCO Headquarters lobby: promoting Gender Equality

I'm attaching my pictures at UNESCO, in front of its famous statue of Giacommeti and a picture of the UNESCO lobby and another one with you at the Comptoir. And this is the link to UNESCO's literacy prizes:

http://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/literacy-prizes/

Have a wonderful semester!

Best wishes,

Soojin

Education Specialists focusing on the Girl Child/Spécialistes de l'éducation axée sur les filles

Pictured below are Maria Malevri, Programme Specialist in Basic Education, Literacy, and Non-Formal Education of the Division for the Promotion of Basic Education, UNESCO, Paris (at left); with André Lokisso, President of AIED (Assistance to the Integration of Demilitarized Children). Maria was on mission in Burkina Faso in March 2010 on pressing issues of literacy and basic education. André's NGO is now also focusing on street children and other children in difficulty. Both experts give great attention to the particular challenges facing girls. Watch this space for more information!

 Sur la photo on voit Maria Malevri (à gauche), Spécialiste du programme en matière d'enseignement fondamental, l'alphabétisation et l'éducation non formelle de la Division pour la promotion de l'éducation de base, UNESCO, Paris; avec André Lokisso, Président de l'AIED (Aide à l'Intégration des Enfants Démilitarisés). Maria était en mission au Burkina Faso en Mars 2010 à propos des questions urgentes d'alphabétisation et d'éducation de base. En outre, l'ONG d'André met désormais l'accent sur les enfants des rues et autres enfants en difficulté. Les deux experts accordent une grande attention aux défis particuliers que doivent affronter les jeunes filles. Visitez de nouveau cet espace pour plus d'informations!

(Translation by/traduit par Aminata Kiello) 

Women’s Autobiographies in Islamic Societies: The Ultimate Unveiling?

With funding secured by Dr. Siobhan Lambert-Hurley an international research network was founded in January 2010 to foster an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to women’s autobiography in Islamic societies. The group first met in Austin, Texas and assessed the source materials used by members of the group in order to consider terminology and definitions. In December 2010 the network will meet in New Delhi to discuss ‘context and construction.’ Quite simply the network will discuss who writes, why, how and for whom? The third phase will take the network to Abu Dhabi in 2011 where the topic of discussion will be the content of autobiographical narratives.

By Dr. Roberta Micallef, Women's Studies Program and Modern Foreign Languages Department, Boston University.

'Women of Vision' Published by UNESCO, Paris!

Stories of 'Women of Vision' in a Boston neighborhood, written up by members of the Women's History Group of the Brighton Allston Historical Society (BAHS), have just been published on the UNESCO website!

Some highlights:

"The Coquette" at left was the pioneer novel of Hannah Foster - the first American-born woman to write and publish a novel - and was one of the best-selling books of the eighteenth century.

"Fanny Fern", a widely read and influential American journalist of the nineteenth century, reached over a half-million readers weekly through her columns at the height of her career.

A Paul Revere Pottery catalog is pictured here, showing the 80 Nottinghill Road English-style stucco workshop in Brighton, Massachusetts, USA, in the early twentieth century. In the foreground is Lily Shapiro, an original participant in the "Saturday Evening Girls Club," decorating a soon-to-be famous Paul Revere bowl.

Photos courtesy of the Brighton-Allston Historical Society.

According to UNESCO, Paris:

"The goal of these twin publications, 'Women's History Initiatives' and 'Women of Vision: Brighton Allston Women's Heritage Trail Guide,' is to showcase the significant and compelling contributions that women have made to this New England community over the past three centuries.

These volumes capture the complementary actions of historians and researchers who focus on women's achievements, and of local activists committed to preserving these remarkable women's legacies to inspire future generations. BAHS Women's History Group members researched and hosted advocacy events over a period of six years.

The first publication documents this journey, while the second is a guide to 16 notable women and women's organizations that have enriched the life and history of this corner of Boston and beyond.

Material at the links below gives a vivid picture of the evolution of these Women's History Initiatives over time.

This body of work has also served as a catalyst for similar initiatives underway around the globe, in Burkina Faso in West Africa, and in India."

-- From the UNESCO website.

UNESCO's Division for Higher Education also plans to share the Women of Vision initiatives via its Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet). This global network groups more than 8500 educational bodies in 179 countries, ranging from pre-schools through to teacher training institutions.

Click below for direct links to the Women of Vision publications, as well as other related links on Women of Vision in Burkina Faso, the Women of Vision exhibition website, the Brighton Allston Heritage Museum blog, and the Brighton Allston Historical Society website:

The Launch of the CRCI's "Conserving Sikh Heritage" Calendar!

Gursharan Kaur, CRCI Director Gurmeet Rai, and Sikh leaders at the heritage calendar launch.

Portrayed here is the launch of the Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative's "Conserving Sikh Heritage" 2010 Calendar, which took place both in California, USA and in Punjab, India! These photos of the India launch show the director and founder of CRCI, Gurmeet Sangha Rai, presenting the calendar to Gursharan Kaur, wife of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Mrs. Singh is also known in the Sikh community of Delhi for her kirtan singing. You can see more photos from the CRCI calendar launch on our Flickr site here.

Gursharan Kaur and the 2010 "Conserving Sikh Heritage" calendar. 

 

From Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney, currently of Boston and Brandeis Universities and former head of the United Nations in India: "Conservation architect Gurmeet S. Rai is the founder and director of the unique Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative  that preserves and enhances India's cultural heritage. CRCI effectively bridges from helping forge international and national cultural heritage policy to grassroots action, notably in Punjab and other states in India... Gurmeet and the CRCI are the recipients of numerous local and global awards, and are partners in our UNESCO Chair/University Twinning Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development."

The preparation and publication of this rich heritage calendar is most timely, given that 2010 has been declared the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, for which UNESCO has a lead role.

For more information on the CRCI, you can visit their great website here.

Photos courtesy CRCI.

Announcing UNESCO's first-ever female Director General, Irina Bokova!

Photo: UNESCO

We are pleased to share UNESCO's announcement of the appointment of Irina Bokova, a former Bulgarian politician and ambassador to France and Monaco, as the Director-General of UNESCO. Director-General Bokova is the first woman and the first representative of an Eastern European country to occupy this position since the founding of the Organization in 1945. DG Bokova comes to the post with over three decades of experience in the international arena. Previously, she served as Secretary of State for European Integration, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was elected a Member of Parliament in Bulgaria. She had been a Permanent Delegate of her country to UNESCO since 2005.

As the "Women's Empowerment" UNITWIN, Irina's appointment is of special excitement to us. Since one of UNESCO's two organizational priorities through until 2013 is Gender Equality, we anticipate a redoubling of the important work the Organization is carrying out in this arena!

A warm welcome and hearty congratulations to DG Bokova, from the Women's Studies Program at Boston University and from our University and NGO partners in India and Burkina Faso!

A Letter from BU Grad Yael Shapira from Southern India

Dear Prof. McSweeney,

I just wanted to send a quick update from India, since I have recently been thinking about you quite often in the context of my work.

Two weeks ago I began an internship with the NGO Aide et Action (it deals with education, especially of people in the rural areas). The specific project I'm working on at this point is evaluating the implementation of inclusive education programs for children with disabilities. I just came back from a week out in the villages, in Andhra Pradesh, where I went to government schools and interviewed students, teachers, mandal leaders, and self-help groups of people with disabilities. The point was to find out if the students are actually being included in the mainstream education and if they are still facing any discrimination. My findings were really fascinating.

With a self-help group for disabled people.

"Inclusive Education" is one of the methods of implementing the "education for all" law here in India. With regards to children with disabilities, it entails getting children out of their houses, work, or special education schools and including them into mainstream classrooms. It is an approach that requires the school to adapt to the child's needs, rather than an integration approach in which the child has to adapt to the rest of the class.

After going out into the villages and conducting many interviews, I found that the children with disabilities have indeed been identified and taken out of their homes to attend the mainstream schools. Awareness has been created by NGOs to rid of superstitions and discrimination. As a first step that is very important. However, these children are merely being integrated and their special needs are not being taken care of in order for them to get a real education and to achieve their rights.

With a classroom that has children with disabilities.

I also got to meet villagers living in a temporary tent community because their village and crops were destroyed in recent floods. It made me realize how important disaster relief work is, and I am pretty sure that I am going to focus on that in my future studies.

I want to let you know that I felt as if everything I learned in the Gender and International Development class came to life right in front of me. It was such an incredible experience to actually be out in the field and talking to people about their experiences instead of just reading about them in a textbook, and I was truly inspired by so many of the people. Your class really prepared me for dealing with so many of the issues I am coming across (such as child labor, girls in school, etc.) and I would really like to thank you for that.

All the best,

Yael

UNESCO's UNITWIN Program Introduces its New Logo!

Owing to the growth of the successful UNESCO Chairs/UNITWIN (University Twinning) program under the dynamic leadership of Dr. Sonia Bahri, the program has now been accorded its own logo!

Pictured below is Sonia with her team on the occasion of a recent meeting in Paris with Brenda Gael McSweeney, to strategize for the future of the UNESCO UNITWIN on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development, anchored at Boston University and with prestigious partners in India and Burkina Faso. The UNITWIN poster featuring the new logo is the backdrop!

From l to r: Ariana Stahmer, Hassmik Tortian, Brenda Gael McSweeney, Sonia Bahri, Inga Nichanian, and Milena Caceres Valderrama.

Momentous News from Visva-Bharati, West Bengal!

 Just in from eastern India:

"Dear Dr. McSweeney,
 

I received a copy of your mail to Kumkum {Bhattacharya - UNITWIN Coordinator Visva-Bharati} and am happy to know the activities, plans and programs of UNITWIN. I am happy to inform you that UGC {University Grants Commission} has granted us the status of a Women's Studies Centre for which we have been trying for the last ten years as a Cell.
 

I have joined as Director two months back and we have taken up different plans and projects under the umbrella. We plan to have a national conference on Women and Development around March 2010 and would try to get Martha Nussbaum. Prof. Amartya Sen would also be visiting in Dec. 2009 and I wish to discuss our plans with him. We had a wonderful inauguration function as Kumkum wrote to you with paying our respects to about 30 Women in Santiniketan who have made life long contributions in various capacities to Ashrama life of
Santiniketan.

For the present we have decided to limit our activities basically within Birbhum District. I already had a meeting last month with 20 NGO's working in Birbhum for empowerment of Women. We plan to work with them beside our own programs and research.
 

We wish to thank you very much for all the help and look for more and more interactions.
 

With warm personal regards and best,
 

Asha Mukherjee
Director, Women's Studies Centre
Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan"

Huge congratulations to Asha and our Visva-Bharti UNITWIN Partners!

Kumkum Bhattacharya's excitement:

"One momentous piece of news - Visva-Bharati has its own Women's Studies Centre inaugurated on October 25, 2009 by Professor Jasodhara Bagchi the founding director of the Women's Studies Centre, Jadavpur University and presently the Chairperson, Women's Commission, West Bengal and Professor Sumita Sen, present Director of the Jadavpur University's Women's Studies Centre." 

Indeed, thrilling news that we hope will be inspirational to other Women's Studies initiatives in India and beyond!  

Newest 'TWIN'!

We're thrilled to announce that West Africa has joined our Network, in the person of Mme Scholastique Kompaoré from Burkina Faso. 'Scho', currently President of the Marche Mondiale des Femmes (World March of Women - Burkina branch), is also on the Board of Directors of CUSO/VSO - Canada (Canadian University Service Overseas/Voluntary Service Overseas). She was a pioneer in the gender equality movement in Burkina, and National Coordinator of the 'UNESCO/UNDP/Government Pilot Project for Equal Access of Women and Girls to Education'. She also ran from Zimbabwe the Africa South of the Sahara UNDP/UN Volunteers Programme for Exchange of Conmmunity Field Workers for a decade.

Welcome, Scholastique!

See also our new "Equality Burkina" blog here!