Inspiring Women Fall 2018

two links to do so. https://www.facebook.com/UNWebTV/videos/1880830805262461/
https://twitter.com/UNWebTV/status/973611526627106816
or
António Guterres was introduced by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the current Executive
Director of UN Women, who was very impressive. When asked why we still don’t have a
woman in the position of the UN Secretary-General, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka answered
something to the effect: Well, at least we have a feminist in this position now.
The answers SG Guterres gave to questions put to him at the Townhall Meeting were
fantastic. If you don’t find the time to watch the whole session, I recommend watching his
answer to this question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFSOE2wUx6k
WIDOWHOOD: Another challenge I was made aware of for the first time in my life was
widowhood. I had never really given this issue much thought before, other than seeing it as
a personal tragedy for the woman. I learned that there is so much more related to it for so
many women all over the world. You can hear more here: https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vUM5C2f_b5M. In another session I heard a young woman, Sephiny Smart, speak
up for widows, giving a passionate three-minute impromptu speech on this topic. It was
quite impressive to see how eloquently she delivered her thoughts and encouraged the
audience to recognize widowhood as something we need to keep an eye on – way
beyond the personal grief involved.
ROLE OF MEDIA IN GENDER EQUALITY: The Baha'i International Community hosted a side
event entitled “The Role of Media in Advancing Gender Equality.” It was a mostly, but not
entirely, happy and funny event where three panellists spoke about the media and gender
equality, referring to their own field of the media.
First, Mary Darling, CEO and co-owner of WestWind Pictures, spoke about the Canadian
television comedy Little Mosque on the
Prairie. The series focuses on the Muslim
community in the fictional prairie town
of Mercy, Saskatchewan. The main
locations are the local mosque,
presided over by imam Amaar Rashid
and located in the rented parish hall of
the town's Anglican church, and
Fatima's Café, a downtown diner run
by Fatima Dinssa.
The second speaker made a deep
impression on me by speaking about
her personal journey. I think it is worth
quoting here what she said: “When we
speak about gender, women and
media, we are speaking about stories,
we are speaking about language and
we are speaking about the great
responsibility of reflecting truth through
the medium of media. We become
who we are in part through and
because of the stories we are told
about ourselves, as girls, as women
and as human beings… At this 62nd
Commission on the Status of Women, it
is timely to look at the role media plays
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