Center for Women's Global Leadership

The Center for Women’s Global Leadership [ [http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail/133/0133091.html United Nations Photo: Center for Women's Global Leadership Director Addresses Special Event Marking International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women ] ] [ [http://www.realizingrights.org/?option=content&task=view&id=73 Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative ] ] [ [http://www.tcwse.org/resources.html TCWSE - Resources ] ] [ [http://ag.arizona.edu/extension/leadership/links.html Extension Community Leadership ] ] [ [http://www.gogirl.net/politix/ GoGirl Radio - Politix ] ] was founded in 1989 by Charlotte Bunch, the current Executive Director. Located on Douglass College at Rutgers University, CWGL is a unit of the Institute for Women's Leadership at Rutgers [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu CWGL Web page] ] [ [http://iwl.rutgers.edu Institute for Women’s Leadership] ] .

About

The Global Center works to develop and facilitate women’s leadership not only for women’s human rights, but also international social justice [ [http://www.ncrw.org/digest/rutgers2.htm National Council for Research on Women] ] [ [http://www.law.wits.ac.za/humanrts/160.94.193.60/catalog/unifem.html UNIFEM/ Center for Women's Global Leadership ] ] . While CWGL works from a human rights perspective, the Center emphasizes:
*Violence against women
*Sexual and reproductive health
*socio-economic well-being

Integrating gender and women's human rights into the work of local, national, regional and international institutions [ [http://www.un.org Welcome to the UN. It's your world ] ] , CWGL’s programs inform and mobilize advocates for women's human rights around specific events and builds linkages among them to enhance their capacity to influence policy making [http://hub.witness.org/en/node/5387 The Hub] ] .

Working in collaboration with women leaders and NGOs around the world—whether at UN meetings such as the Commission on the Status of Women, international mobilization campaigns such as the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence [ [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html 16 Days] ] [ [http://everyhumanhasrights.org/the-center-for-global-womens-leadership-rutgers-university Every Human Has Rights, The Elders campaign] ] , or through global education endeavors—CWGL has helped secure international policy commitments that clearly state "women rights are human rights."

With these policy benchmarks in place, the Center has turned its energy toward implementation of this concept and holding policy making bodies accountable to their promises to the world's women. Core activities in this program area include UN Monitoring and Advocacy and the coordination of International Mobilization Campaigns [ [http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw Commission on the Status of Women] ] [ [http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/conf/seforms/dspUNcalendar.asp Calendar of events at CSW, CWGL’s participation] ] [ [http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/12591b1bfbce72205743c4c1a8443977.htm AlertNet article about CWGL] ] .

CWGL at the United Nations

At the United Nations, CWGL plays a major role at various UN meetings addressing the implementation of commitments from Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing, in particular at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the UN Commission on Human Rights, and at the reviews of these UN World Conferences [ [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/policy/policy.html Policy and Advocacy Program ] ] .

There are several critical meetings at the United Nations that serve as important opportunities for women's human rights advocates, including CWGL, to asses successes and failures in implementing commitments to women [ [http://www.wicej.addr.com/tools.html Tools for Women’s Advocacy #1, UN Conferences at Work] ] [ [http://www.wicej.addr.com/tools2.html Tools for Women’s Advocacy #2] ] . (Many NGOs advocate at the UN for such causes [ [http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/ngo/index.html NGO Participation] ] .)In this capacity, the Global Center plays a multifaceted role, including:
*Facilitation of planning sessions in which women’s human rights defenders and advocates can both monitor and contribute to meetings effectively
*Convenes a women’s human rights caucus [ [http://www.un-ngls.org/documents/text/roundup/23csw42.txt NGLS Roundup] ] and other gatherings [ [http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/conf/seforms/dspUNcalendar2.html Calendar of NGO caucuses at 52nd annual CSW] ] [ [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/policy/unadvocacy/CSW%2008%20Linkage%20Statement.pdf Statement from the UN 52nd Annual CSW Linkage Caucus] ]
*organizes monitoring [ [http://dawn.thot.net/world_conf_women.html DAWN Ontario] ] [ [http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-gcap-letter.html Women’s Human Rights Net-AWID] ] [ [http://www.peacewomen.org/un/September_Summit/Outcomes_Gender_Monitor.html PeaceWomen] ] [ [http://www.unep.org/greenroom/WEDOreleases.asp Green Room] ] and other advocacy trainings
*sends out alerts and reports both before and after such meetings [ [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/policy/unadvocacy/GEAR%20Campaign%20Statement%20&%20Key%20Messages%2008%20eng.pdfGEAR Statement] ]

International Mobilization Campaigns

‘’’16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’’’ [ [http://www.unifem.org/news_events/event_detail.php?EventID=151 UNIFEM] ] [ [http://www.peacewomen.org/campaigns/global/nomoreviolence.html Peacewomen] ] [ [http://www.wougnet.org/News/GetInvolved.html 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence: Creating a Culture that Says No to Violence Against Women ] ] [ [http://www.icw.org/node/54 International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS] ] [ [http://everyhumanhasrights.org/the-center-for-global-womens-leadership-rutgers-university The Center for Global Women's Leadership, Rutgers University | Every Human Has Rights ] ] [ [http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html 16 Days Campaign ] ] The 16 Days Campaign was launched by CWGL in 1991 as an annual campaign that demands for the elimination of all forms of violence against women. This rallying cry lasts between November 25th and December 10th, and over 2,000 organizations participate in the event from over 154 countries.

The dates of the campaign align with significant dates, including:
*November 25th – International Day Against Violence Against Women
*December 1st- World AIDS Day
*December 6th – Marks the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre
*December 10th – International Human Rights Day and the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

‘’’Global Campaigns for Women's Human Rights’’’CWGL interacts with a community of women’s human rights defenders [ [http://www.defendingwomen-defendingrights.org Welcome to Defending Women Defending Rights website ] ] [ [http://www.amnestyusa.org/stop-violence-against-women-svaw/women-human-rights-defenders/page.do?id=1108333&n1=3&n2=39&n3=1101] ] [ [http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/stop-violence-against-women/issues/empowerment-women/women-hrds Women human rights defenders | Amnesty International ] ] [ [http://www.advocacynet.org/resource/938 Advocacy Project - Advocates Launch Campaign to Protect Women Human Rights Defenders in Serbia, June 21, 2007 ] ] [ [http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-whrdefenders-0512.htm] ] in order to place pressure onto local, national, and international decision-making bodies. Global Campaigns usually emphasize that ‘’women’s rights as human rights’’ and are supported by thousands of individuals and organizations from around the world.

Activities include a series of Global Tribunals [ [http://www.wmm.lfchosting.com/filmcatalog/pages/c172.shtml Women Make Movies] ] [ ‘’Demanding Accountability : The Global Campaign and Vienna Tribunal for Women's Human Rights’’, by Charlotte Bunch, Niamh Reilly [ [ [http://citizen.nfb.ca/node/683&dossier_nid=1127] [http://www.tulane.edu/~wc/collections/internationalWEB.html] ] [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_n6_v55/ai_17529290 Women make gains globally | Humanist | Find Articles at BNET ] ] [’’Women and Rights’’, by Caroline Sweetman [, petitions, and “take action kits.” Additionally, the Center also holds public forums in which to conduct assessments of the women’s human rights movement. One such event was the “International Strategic Directions Consultation” that took place in November of 2003 as part of the Vienna + 10 Updates.

References