Over the weekend, Ben and I went to St. Pierre Cathedral. It’s in the Old Town of Geneva, and has a great view from the top. Getting to the top was not easy though….about 500 steps up a steep, tight, claustrophobia-inducing, winding staircase! We made it up though, and it was well worth it!
This week in the office, I wrote my first article on a topic of my choosing. It was posted on the ERI website! The article is called “Tackling the Culture of Silence” and it’s short and sweet. It was one of the many challenges I took note of sitting in on the Committee on the Rights of the Child last week. To read more about it, check it out!
http://www.edmundriceinternational.org/?p=3322
We had a group of UK students, or Youth Ambassadors, fly in from England to sit in on the UPR session on Sierra Leone this week with us. Ben and I were responsible for showing them around the UN, even though I barely know anything! Although while we were giving a tour, we came across a German group in the Council Chamber, and I overheard the last bit of it, so I was able to translate to our group! The chamber, one of the main meeting rooms where famous international negotiations have taken place, is full of murals, done by Spanish artist Jose Maria Sert. The murals are meant to depict the progress of humankind over the centuries, whether it be war, revolution, technological advancement, or medicine. What I overheard the German tour discuss was the ceiling mural. It’s a large painting that shows five strong men joining hands. It is meant to represent the five continents, holding hands, in cooperation. When they say five continents they refer to The Americas as one and exclude Antarctica.
The session on Sierra Leone was very interesting. The main concerns were the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as a practice involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is a cultural practice in a variety of different countries in Africa and in the Middle East. It is a practice consistent with the idea of assuring femininity and modesty of women, and making sure they remain clean before marriage. FGM is often motivated by the belief that it will decrease a woman’s sexual libido and help them resist dishonest sexual acts. There is a high prevalence of this in Sierra Leone, and the international community is concerned not only with the physical consequences of the practice, but also the mental and social consequences. The WHO states that over 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut, and many countries are urging for the practice to be outlawed. The reason why it hasn’t been outlawed yet even by the year 2016, is because it is recognized as a cultural practice, which turns it into a controversial topic. I studied FGM in University a little bit and the problem with even making it an optional practice, which some of the African countries say they do, girls are still put under severe social pressure to do it and endure social ostracism if they chose not to. It is a tough topic for sure, but from what I could tell in the meeting with Sierra Leone, many countries urged them to end it. Hopefully the recommendations will be implemented soon.
Something I found interesting was at the end of the UPR session, the representative of each country lined up to shake hands with and greet the delegation of Sierra Leone. It seemed like a very diplomatic tradition, so I took a quick picture of it!
Last, but not least, I went to my first meeting with the Geneva Intern Association (GIA). Every thursday, GIA meets for drinks, and I figured it was time to meet some people. I met a very nice girl from Montreal, and a bunch of people from all over the world. It was definitely nerve-wracking to go, but I’m glad I did! It is good to meet people in the city who are in the same boat as me and can give me tips on life in Geneva!
I have a couple things planned for this weekend, but I will leave that until next weeks post!
Auf Wiedersehen!
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” – Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
Geneva 