The European Union’s Involvement at the United Nations 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

by Alexandra Lively

Ambassadors, Ministers, and Heads of Government have gathered at the United Nations 56^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN Headquarters in New York to discuss this year’s priority theme: The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have sent delegates to the Session that lasts from February 27 – March 9, 2012, to issue statements, have general discussion, and join interactive events.

Opening Session of the United Nations 56^th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Being so close, yet feeling so far away, it seems as though the Ambassadors, Ministers, and Heads of Government are somehow inaccessible. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

During the opening ceremony, the demands for systematic and comprehensive strategies, strong actions and accountability were consistently reiterated as Rural Women are key in providing change. Full use of treaties and rules must be utilized in order to protect all of their Human Rights. Rural Women are vital to economic prosperity, sustainability, development, agriculture, among other significant global impacts. For this reason, Rural Women will be a focus at the Rio +20 Conference in June. Rural Women need equal access, participatory roles in national and local government, and protection of their human rights. When women are engaged and competitive, they can lobby for their needs and rights to be heard and respected. This is exactly what the Conference offered them: a voice and a seat at the table.

As part of my Graduate research I have been primarily attending panel events dealing with polity and international declarations in order to gain information on how human trafficking and gender equality affects the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). 

The first panel given by Turkey, “Stop Violence against Women by Implementing International Standards,” addressed The Istanbul Convention and how hard they have been working on “The Draft Law on the Protection of Women and the Family Members Against Violence.” A multi-dimensional, multi-structural approach must target gender discrimination and all politicians must combine resources, as this is a Universal problem. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), is setting forth these new “set of teeth” to create a concrete set of binding provisions.

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Jean-Claude Mignon, agreed with the initiative. The panel addressed the importance of keeping in mind that words matter because of the values they reveal. Therefore, the Convention broadens the spectrum in terms of specific definitions like stalking, psychological violence, and invoking any justification for any act of violence. The panel stressed that Non-European States need to apply these Treaties and join hands with the UN to extend these standards. The panel invited all states to become party to the Convention and join forces in constructing a world without violence and discrimination against women.

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Jean-Claude Mignon, with his translator answering a few of my questions.

The next panel I attended was held by the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations on “Engaging Young Women and Men in Advancing Gender Equality.” The panel included the Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, Ioannis Vrailas, the Minister for Gender Equality in Denmark, Mr. Manu Sareen, the Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People in Ireland, Ms. Kathleen Lynch, T.D., State Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Equality in Portugal, Ms. Teresa Morais, and the Belgian Representative of the European Women’s Lobby Board, Ms. Viviane Teitelbaum.

The main focus was breaking gender stereotypes in young children, even down to the types of toys they are “supposed” to play with. When these stereotypes are removed from children’s perceptions, this is a step toward advancing gender equality. For instance, Minister Sareen stated that even in Denmark, one of the most gender equal countries in the world, the majority of people still think that men are the head of the household and that men are better managers than women. Minister Lynch stressed that we must have a gender sensitive educational system in terms of the actual education, administration, and policy. These gender stereotypes and traditional roles hinder the ability to construct an equal, democratic and efficient society.

Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations, Ioannis Vrailas.

In addition to panels, receptions are being held with the most inspiring and knowledgeable people gathering to share information and to listen to one another. Most recently, an NGO CSW Reception was held at the Turkish Center in the United Nations Plaza, where Ms. Mirna Cunningham Kain was awarded the Woman of Distinction Award.

Soon-Young Yoon, Chair of the NGO/CSW/NY, presented Ms. Cunningham Kain with her award for her outstanding dedication to rural women and indigenous peoples’ issues.

In a previous blog, “Discourse Surrounding the Final Declaration of the 64^th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference,” I mention the issues with semantics when dealing with Draft Declarations at the UN. Indigenous people used to be placed under “etc.” or “other.” I was able to speak with Ms. Cunningham Kain and thank her for work as well as have a very interesting discussion on how much representation and definitions matter. She accepted the award in honor of all the indigenous people who have suffered and tragically died where peace was not established, and for those indigenous people who continue their fight today.

Ms. Mirna Cunningham Kain: The 2012 NGO CSW Woman of Distinction Awardee

Soon-Young Yoon, Chair of the NGO/CSW/NY, pointing to my “Michigan Hand Map” showing me where she used to live in Michigan.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations, His Excellency Ertuğrul Apakan, attended the Reception as well, and I had the honor of discussing his commendable achievements for gender equality in Turkey. Counselor Ömür Budak works for Ambassador Apakan and also studied European Union Studies while attending College. We had a very interesting discussion on the advancements both Ambassador Apakan and the Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policies in Turkey, Dr. Aşkın Asan, have had in fighting for gender equality and combatting violence against women in Turkey.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations: His Excellency Ertuğrul Apakan

His Excellency Ertuğrul Apakan and Counselor Ömür Budak.

I look forward to the upcoming panel discussions and compiling a full report on how gender equality and human trafficking affect the CFSP in the European Union. For personal growth, I am determined to listen to the struggles of rural women who came to share their story. I am determined to gain knowledge pertaining to the issues of gender, race, and class, and its implications for food and water shortages, sovereignty, conflict and peace. 

Alexandra Lively is a first-year MA student in European Union Studies and an EU Center FLAS fellow. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Advertising at UIUC, with a double minor in Business and Communications. She graduated with High Honors and as an Edmund J. James Scholar. Her research interests include telecommunications, consumerism and trade within the EU.

The European Union’s Involvement at the United Nations 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

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Across the Cornfields - Greek Films Edition

Still from “The Guide”(2011), directed by Zacharias Mavroeidis,
which will be shown at 3 p.m. March 3 at the first Greek Film
Festival at the University of Illinois. 

Marina Terkourafi, Director of the program in Modern Greek Studies and EUC-affiliated faculty member, discusses the upcoming Greek Film Festival in the latest issue of Inside Illinois. The festival will take place March 2-3 at the Art Theater in Champaign and is co-sponsored by the European Union Center. The full interview is posted below and is available here.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The best-known Greek-themed movie in recent memory had the words “big” and “fat” in the title, a $5 million filming budget and was shot in North America. These days, despite an economic crisis that has made the country a regular staple of the news, the film industry in Greece is experiencing such a surprising revitalization that Greek movies made on Spartan budgets are winning prizes and critical acclaim at international festivals.

The Modern Greek Studies program at the University of Illinois will showcase a selection of these new movies in a Greek Film Festival March 2 and 3 (Friday and Saturday) at the Art Theater in downtown Champaign. Marina Terkourafi, the program director and a linguistics professor, calls this event the “first” Greek film fest, because she hopes it will become an annual event.

 “There has been an outburst of artistic activity in Greece,” she said, “because people feel the need to express themselves when they’re not heard by the politicians.”

About four years ago, as a means of protesting outdated movie-making regulations, Greek filmmakers organized a boycott of the competitive portion of the nation’s annual film festival. Calling themselves Filmmakers in the Mist (alluding to near-extinct gorillas), the 200 or so members of this group resorted to “guerrilla” filmmaking – creating movies out of barebones budgets.

“What is happening is that people perform in their own clothes, they are filmed in their own houses, the actors are not paid,” Terkourafi said. “They work with the director because they are friends. And these are award-winning actors.”

However, their frustration with the Greek government and the lack of luxurious trailers and craft services doesn’t have a starring role on screen. The movies feature universal themes – intergenerational relationships, what it’s like to be young, leaving home, life in the big city, exploring sexual identity. With the help of a Chicago-based group called The FilmHellenes, Terkourafi chose the seven films that will appeal to general audiences to be shown at the Art Theater.

The festival will open with “The Guardian’s Son,” made in 2006, about a young television reporter who visits his family’s ancestral village and is drawn into staging a “return of the dead” prank in an effort to save a local landmark from demolition. “It’s not sentimental and it’s not cynical. It’s quite upbeat and has some humor in it,” Terkourafi said. Directed by Dimitris Koutsiabasakos, the film won a special jury award from the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival in 2006. It will be shown at 7 p.m. March 2 (Friday).

The festival will close with “Attenberg,” a provocative tale of an awkward, naïve 23-year-old woman coping with her father’s impending death while attempting to learn how to navigate adulthood, guided by one friend and the wildlife documentaries of David Attenborough. This film, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari and released in 2010, has won awards from festivals in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Italy and Romania. It will be shown at 9 p.m. March 3 (Saturday).

Each film will be introduced by Vassiliki Tsitsopoulou, a visiting lecturer on Modern Greek studies. “This semester, we’ve been fortunate to be able to offer a course on contemporary Greek culture and film, which Dr. Tsitsopoulou is teaching,” Terkourafi said. “We had been hoping to organize a Greek film festival for some years now, and this time, the stars seem to have aligned.”
Other films in the festival:

“Plato’s Academy” (2009), a tragic comedy directed by Filippos Tsitos, is about a nationalistic shopkeeper who suddenly finds out an Albanian immigrant is his brother (9:15 p.m. March 2).

“The Silent School,” (2010), a documentary by Irini Sargioglou and Marina Leontari, takes viewers inside the old Orthodox world of the Theological School of Halki (2 p.m. March 3).

“The Guide” (2011), directed by Zacharias Mavroeidis, about a geeky college student tasked with taking exchange students on scenic tours, uses the loveliest parts of Athens and the Greek islands as backdrop to a story about stereotypes and sexual identity (3 p.m. March 3).

“Without Borders” (2010) is a road movie of sorts, about an elderly Greek man who travels to the United States in search of the 7-year-old girl he helped raise. It was directed by Nick Gaitatjis (5 p.m. March 3).

“Gold Dust” (2009), directed by Margarita Manda, is the story of three adult siblings grappling with the notion of selling their family home (7 p.m. March 3).

Terkourafi said the Greek community already has welcomed the festival in the form of corporate sponsorships, but she believes the lineup will appeal to anyone curious about life in modern-day Greece, as well as to anyone interested in good films.

“Because of the university, and because this is Roger Ebert’s town, people are used to high standards in film,” she said. “This kind of filmmaking that comes from the heart is really much closer to other kinds of artistic productions. In Greece, filmmaking is not something that people do for money. In Greece, cinema is a labor of love.”

All the films in the festival are in Greek with English subtitles. Tickets are $9 per movie, or $25 for a festival pass. Student passes are $20.

The Art Theater is at 126 W. Church St. in Champaign.

Across the Cornfields - Greek Films Edition

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Young Translators of European Languages Unite: DGT Goes West

by Anna Holmén

Dr. Elizabeth Lowe, Director of the Center for Translation Studies, addresses high school students and teachers at the Illinois Translation Competition capstone program, held on the campus of the University of Illinois, November 4, 2011.

Sometimes when you open your mailbox in the morning you find something that really cheers you up. That definitely was the case for the Juvenes Translatores team when we got a letter of invitation from the University of Illinois. ‘Request for assistance,’ it said. ‘Speaker from the Directorate-General for Translation [DGT] for the "Illinois Translation Competition" awards luncheon’.

The Illinois High School Translation Competition, to give it its full name, turned out to be a school contest modelled on DGT's Juvenes Translatores translation competition for secondary schools. The University of Illinois has a European Union Center, established in 1998, as well as a Center for Translation Studies, which started up only three years ago. So when they heard of Juvenes Translatores, our American colleagues decided to pick up the ball and run with it.

They say that everything is bigger and better in America, but for this first round of Juvenes Translatores the US version covered only high schools in the State of Illinois, with a maximum entry of 25, and the rules were less strict than ours. The texts they used were the ones written by DGT colleagues for JT 2010 on Erasmus. The teachers were free to organise the test any time in August or September, and it was the teachers too who picked the winners.

Just as in the original EU version, the pupils were free to choose the source language from any of the official EU languages, but the target language was only English. The young winners who were invited to Urbana-Champaign, which is where the University of Illinois is situated, translated from Spanish, French, German, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Polish and Italian.

I was the lucky one to make the trip across the pond and into the prairies to attend the award ceremony on 4 November 2011. The University of Illinois were generous enough to pay for all my expenses, and what they asked in return was for me to hold a presentation and in general act like a genuine translator from the European Commission.

For the presentation I decided to give the teachers and high-school students some fairly basic facts about the EU and its language regime. I followed it up with a few words about the founding fathers and the Coal and Steel Community, then the first four languages, all the subsequent accessions, and of course Regulation No 1/58 and the daily work of DGT.

I also had some useful exchanges with the staff of the Center for Translation Studies, who are planning to visit DGT with their pupils in May. Dr. Elizabeth Lowe, the director of the Center, is interested in attending a future European Master’s in Translation conference. What is clear is that DGT, as the largest public translation organisation in the world, is seen as a centre of excellence for translation by our friends in the west, as well as in other parts of the world.

Anna Holmén is coordinator of the annual ”Juvenes Translatores” competition, which is designed to reward the best young translators in the European Union. Juvenes Translatores is organized by Unit S.3. Multilingualism and Translation Studies, part of the Directorate-General for Translation for the European Commission.

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in DGT Monthly, the internal magazine of the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission.

Young Translators of European Languages Unite: DGT Goes West

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Croatia's Hard-Fought European Moment

by Richelle Bernazzoli

“Ne hvala (No thanks).” Photo taken by Maximilian Geise October 15, 2011 at Zagreb’s “Occupy” protest on Ban Josip Jelačić Square

2011 has been a big year for Croatia—the small, Adriatic country that has, in the course of twenty years, transitioned from a constituent socialist republic in the former Yugoslavia to a free market democracy, NATO member, and candidate for the European Union. Along the way, the country was devastated by the wars of Yugoslav succession, which occurred from 1991 to 1995 and were followed by a lengthy and difficult process of reconstruction, reconciliation, and prosecution of crimes committed during the hostilities. On December 9^th, 2011, however, the Republic of Croatia took a decisive step in a new direction by signing a treaty to become the 28^th member of the European Union in 2013. This was only five days after dramatic parliamentary elections decisively ousted the center-right Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ (which has been dogged by corruption investigations), in favor of the progressive coalition Kukuriku (“cock-a-doodle-doo”) led by the Social Democratic Party.

But if it sounds like twenty years is a relatively short amount of time for these processes of transition, conflict, recovery, and accession to bring Croatia to the EU’s doorstep, try telling that to someone here. You would likely be informed in no uncertain terms that this moment should actually have arrived several years ago—perhaps in 2004, when Slovenia entered the Union, and surely by 2007, when Romania and Bulgaria officially became members. A common theme that arises in my interviews with Croatian citizens is that of “deserving.” Croatia, many of my interlocutors tell me, “deserves” EU membership after decades of struggle and suffering. In this narrative, the Homeland War (as the Croatian war of the 1990s is commonly called amongst Croats) is the latest in a succession of perils faced by the Croatian nation in defense of European civilization—dating all the way back to when Croatia’s Vojna Krajina or ‘military frontier’ was the buffer between the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires.

But it is not only a rightist or nationalist contingent invoking the idea of Croatia as the ‘ramparts of Western Christianity’ that views recent history in this way. One of the progressive NGOs whom I have engaged in my project—a peace studies center focusing on non-discrimination and non-violence education—recently produced a volume of human security recommendations for the European Union based on Croatia’s war and post-war recovery experience. In other words, the same difficult aspects of Croatia’s history have been spun and deployed in various ways and by various interests in the European integration process.

While all of this points to broad support for EU membership across the political spectrum and among various contingents within Croatian society, this does not mean that the entry date is approaching uncontested. The recent elections and “Occupy” movement have brought significant anti-EU demonstration to the fore, as the photograph above demonstrates. The continuing news from Brussels, of course, is not comforting in an economy which has been extremely slow to pull out of the recession and which has posted double-digit unemployment numbers for several years. A number of outspoken critics of European integration assert that entry into the EU will exacerbate Croatia’s economic and financial woes. Yet most of my study participants seem resigned: for Croatia, they say, “nema alternativa (there is no alternative)” to a European future. To join the club may bring trouble—but the consequences would be far worse if we remain out in the cold.

As the January 22 referendum on EU membership approaches, the dialogue in Croatian society is sharpening. Many television channels continue to broadcast pro-EU commercials, and politicians continue to impress upon the public the imperative of a positive referendum. In more nuanced tones, the prominent NGO GONG is calling for Croatian society to view the referendum not as a “necessary evil,” as they claim the political elite has presented it, but rather a crucial opportunity for open and honest dialogue about society’s needs and interests. We will soon hear the public’s verdict on EU membership. Regardless of the result, my colleagues and friends here in Zagreb are sure of one thing: Croatia’s multi-faceted transition will continue well beyond any concrete date of entry into “the club.”

Richelle Bernazzoli is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a 2011- 2012 Fulbright fellow with the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her research investigates the links between security, identity, the state, and civil society in Croatia’s Euro-Atlantic integration process. She has previously held Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian from the European Union Center (EUC) and has worked as a graduate assistant for the EUC as well as for the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security.

Croatia's Hard-Fought European Moment

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