“Holding Up the Sky”: a report on a United Nations event
Jen Loui
Last month in New York City, the United Nations held its 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The event was the first in 3 years due to the pandemic restrictions, and judging by the crowds circulating throughout the UN, was extremely well attended. From our offices at Lucis Trust New York we watch hundreds of people a day come and go from the United Nations building, but on the opening day of this Commission the line to enter the building was the longest we had ever noticed. Inside the building, the sense of pride and hope was quite noticeable.
The conference began on a somber note, shared by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said “Progress won over decades is vanishing before our eyes” noting that in several countries women’s rights were being revoked, and in some, girls just traveling to school were risking the possibility of kidnapping or beating. But he reiterated that the United Nations stands with women and girls everywhere and stressed that education – followed by income and employment – had to be moved forward.
United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed shared the same sentiment - but in a slightly more poetic way. “Women hold up half the sky” she said, “but men still rule the digital world. It is time to change this outdated reality.”
One of the constant topics of this Commission was the inclusion of women in governance and operation of digital platforms, as well as the establishment of women-sensitive digital policies. And there was a repeated emphasis on a few key topics such as STEM skills for women and girls, the need for women and girls to know how to manage the risks of being on-line, and the need for updating the digital algorithms which run most of the worlds digital platforms and are based on male users.
In addition to the major Ministerial meetings, there were 176 side-events presented by governments and Civil Society representatives, including one on Women Leaders in Media which struck a chord in tune with the work of World Goodwill. The Media industry is a massive entity which plays a deep role in the lives of everyone who reads a newspaper, watches television or scrolls through their phone feed. The responsibility to uphold the integrity of the information we receive presents a mighty challenge. What kind of leaders would the women in this field present themselves as? What values they would hold as sacred?
The panel was moderated by Jane Tillman Irving, who was a reporter for many years and is a well-known New York City broadcast journalist, winning over 30 awards for broadcast excellence.
Unlike in many other UN meetings we have attended, she announced that it was time for us to turn off our phones. About two-thirds of the room complied, and this had a marked effect on the atmosphere in the room with most participants maintaining eye contact with the speakers. Irving’s message was brief and simple. “Women cannot be left behind when it comes to technology,” inviting the panel to expand on this.
Dr. Michelle Ferrier, president of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television and executive director of the Media Innovation Collaboratory, emphasised the importance of educating women and girls on the best methods of navigating the on-line world. While Women world-wide need access to the technology they must also learn to identify its darker side. Dr Ferrier spoke of TrollBusters, anon-line educational presentation, she founded to help women writers and journalists deal with the attacks and threats they receive on a regular basis[1].
Next up was Dr. Patrice Johnson, Chief Program Officer of Black Girls Code. “Where in the world,” she asked, “are people putting women first, in code? And, “Where, in that same world, are people putting Black girls first, in code?” Her program has been a game-changing, life altering presence in the lives of 100’s of black girls in 11 US locations including Chicago, New York, Seattle and LA. “This work is not simply technology”, she says, “it’s social justice.”
She was followed by Dijana Jelaca, professor in the film department at Brooklyn College, whose focus includes the role of media and technology in human rights. As a survivor of the war in Bosnia she spoke passionately of a longing – not just for justice and inclusivity in media, but for a population which understands the struggles of women and minority cultures enough to secure a sea-change in the over-arching goal and intent of media in all its various forms.
Mia Sha-Dand,founder of Women in AI Ethics, a global non-profit whose mission is to increase representation and inclusion of diverse ethical voices in the fast-growing Artificial intelligence (AI) sector, spoke next. AI –is about to take a permanent place in the make-up of society the world-over and we were reminded of the need to consider how we want this technology to represent US, as a whole. As we think about this question. she suggests, we may just find ourselves creating a richer and better world. More than a few of us were caught silent, and smiling (a moment of elegance at the United Nations) as she offered a few lines of a poem from Arundhati Roy:
“Another world is not only possible,
She is on her way.
… On a quiet day,
I can hear her breathing.”
By the time the final speaker, from the UN’s Social Media Section, had finished, the atmosphere in the large conference room had changed. We had been reminded of what we all had in common. We were, as a unified group, the correcting heartbeat of a world out of rhythm.
In that moment it wasn’t so much the ideas being shared that were taking center stage, it was the active listening – woman to woman – that filled the room and identified the real power of the gathering, and of the whole two-week conference. Women have earned, over time and through untold trial, the right to be seen, the right to be heard, the right to be equal in the eyes of all humanity. And what we have so dearly earned, we revere in each other’s presence.
So, what does this mean for the furthering of Goodwill in the world? Perhaps because of where women have been, they are uniquely suited to stand up straight and look the world’s problems right in the eye. Then, with a unified voice, find a path through, for the good of all.
This is possible. There wasn’t a person in that room who didn’t think so. There wasn’t a person in that room who didn’t know that it is already happening.