here. - IHAN

Volume 29, Spring Issue
International Health Awareness Network
Empowering Through
Health and Education
Upcoming Events
9 March
2013
CSW Side Event
Fordham U, Institute for
Women & Girls, IHAN
Fordham University NYC
Pope Auditorium
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
11 March
2013
CSW Side Event
IHAN & GMCoP
Church Center to the UN
Boss Room, 8th Floor
2:30 – 4:00 pm
13 March
2013
CSW Side Event
NGO Health Committee &
IHAN
Church Center to the UN
8th Floor
2:30 – 4:00 pm
IHAN’s Message:
For Violence to Stop and Freedom to Flourish…
Give Women a Chance.
By Dr. Vijaya Melnick
V iolenc e aga inst w omen is an issu e t hat ca nno t
w ait …No c ou ntry , no cultu re, no w oma n y ou ng or
old is immu ne t o this sc ou rge…And w e k now th at
w hen w e w ork t o eradi cat e violen ce ag ainst w omen,
w e emp ow er ou r great est resourc e for d evelopmen t.”
---Ban-Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, 2008.
Violence against women is the most intolerable human rights violation
perpetuated in the world. It holds nations hostage to prevailing poverty, poor
health, dismal economies, and an uneducated and poorly prepared
population. These are the enemies of prosperity and development. We
cannot expect to have world peace, security and stability without purging the
dark forces of violence against women.
What’s Inside:
1.
2.
3.
4.
IHAN’s Message
Collaboration with Mensen Academy
IHAN at CSW 56
IHAN at Rio +20
5.
6.
7.
Culture of Peace
DPI/NGO Youth Orientation Programme
Nesting Peace – Global Alliance for Ministries and
Infrastructures for Peace (GAMIP)
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For Violence to Stop and Freedom to Flourish… Give Women a Chance Continued
Article 1 of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of violence against women (1993) defines violence against women as “Any
act of gender-based violence that result in, or likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats
of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for example, were instituted to help nations achieve prosperity and
development. In the year 2000, all 192 UN member states and 23 international organizations agreed to achieve these goals by
the year 2015. The eight MDGs are intertwined in such a way that each is critical to all others. However, we must acknowledge
that fundamental to all goals is the goal of achieving equality and empowerment of women. Violence against women is the
most severe act that prevents us from achieving that goal.
Indeed, this in turn undermines a nation’s development and advancement.
The 2005 World Health Organization document ‘Addressing violence against women and achieving the Millennium Development
Goals’ clearly underscores the connection between the MDGs and the prevention of violence against women. It shows how the
MDG targets will not be realized if violence against women, one of the most flagrant expressions of gender inequality and
emancipation of women, is not recognized and addressed.
In many parts of the world the assault on women begins before they are born, in the guise of sex-selective abortion often
achieved by coercing prospective mothers through social pressure. In many instances, the attacks against her person and
freedom haunt every stage of her life—into infancy, adolescence, adult hood and old age. This must end, if societies and
nations are to prosper, advance and develop.
Until we make certain that each person has the opportunity to develop her or his, full potential and creativity and we ensure
that women’s values of nurturance and solidarity will characterize human relationships, we cannot achieve the goal of a stable,
peaceful and productive world order. The Key here is establishing societal and legal norms valuing the integrity and worth
of each person and the role of governments in protecting their personal safety.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen puts it succinctly “The changing agency of women is one of the mediators of economic and
social change, and its determination as well as consequences closely relates to many of the central features of the
development process…Nothing arguably, is as important today in the political economy of development as an adequate
recognition of political, economic, and social participation and leadership of women. This is indeed a crucial aspect of
development as freedom.”
Currently, women are greatly disadvantaged in matters of education, nutrition, health care, land ownership, paid employment,
access to banking and credit, and professional and political participation. These issues are key to being able to live an
independent life. They are also critical to developing a sense of self-worth, a belief in one’s ability to secure desired changes and
the right to control one’s life. The Beijing Conference on Women (1995) recognized and reaffirmed that reproductive health is
an indispensable part of women’s empowerment. It proclaimed, “Empowerment of women and gender equality are
prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security.”
What we know is, there are scores of International and National agreements and constitutional assertions that clearly
acknowledge the importance of women’s equality in all spheres of endeavors. What is lacking is the implementation of these
promulgations and rules. For this reason, each of the eight MDGs has failed to accomplish what it has set forth to be achieved
within the time line.
Many factors contribute to violence against women including lack of access to education. This limits their role in society and
makes them more vulnerable. Of the 960 million adults who are illiterate, two-thirds are women. Sixty percent of the 130
million children between the ages of 5 and 11 who do not go to school are girls. The latest Demographic and Health Surveys,
for more than 40 developing countries, show that the mortality rate of five-year-old children, is lower in households where the
mothers have some primary schooling. Women’s education reduces malnutrition by more than 40%.
Education of the mother is a marker for better health not just for herself, but the family as a whole. When women have equal
access to education, and have the chance to participate fully in professional and economic decision- making, they become a
critical force to overcome poverty. UN Development Program (UNDP) observed that women with equal rights are better
educated, healthier, and have greater access to land, jobs and financial resources. Their increased earning power raises
household incomes. When women enjoy equality and decision-making authority in the household families, children and future
generations stand to benefit. Child marriages, maternal mortality, and the prevalence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, are
significantly reduced. It is often power imbalance that fosters violence. Equality and freedom allows a healthy restoration
of balance and harmony in families.
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Former IHAN Intern Founds
Mensen Academy in
Dominican Republic
By Maria Mensen
In 2003, Maria Castro, a
journalism student became
IHAN’s first intern and one of
IHAN’s President Sorosh
Roshan’s pupil. The impact and
influence IHAN and Dr. Sorosh
had on Maria were so
significant, that five years later,
when Maria married and moved
to the mountains of the North
Coast of Dominican Republic,
she decided to continue her
work empowering children and
communities through education.
Her educational efforts started in
2009 in her kitchen. Teaching
literacy courses and languages to
unprivileged children and young
people was Maria and her sister
Matilde’s focus at the time.
The student body grew so fast,
that soon, they had to move
their classes from the kitchen to
the gardens and an old gazebo
in the back of her house.
Today, the school is known as
Mensen Academy, it has
achieved an NGO status in
Dominican Republic, and they
offer a wide variety of courses,
such as languages, literacy, arts,
sciences, music, agriculture,
yoga, nutrition, athletic
programs and others, to turn the
small surrounding communities
into literate, and self-sufficient
communities interested in the
arts.
In January of 2012, IHAN
President, Sorosh Roshan
visited the Academy and was
able to meet some of the
children that attend Mensen
Academy regularly. She visited
some of the nearest
communities and was able to see
that the gift of education in this
region of the country is most
needed and appreciated.
IHAN’s first collaboration with
Mensen Academy Foundation
was noted during the first
Mensen Academy fundraising
event in New York on July 20,
2012. IHAN President Sorosh
Roshan introduced Maria to the
small crowd and encouraged her
to continue such efforts. The
newly found foundation was
hoping to raise funds to build an
appropriate facilities for the
students.
It is Maria’s hope that IHAN
continues to support and inspire
Mensen Academy Foundation
to provide high quality
education to these communities,
and that they can somehow
work together organizing annual
professional training workshops
or health visits to these
communities that desperately
need it.
For more information on
Mensen Academy and how you
can help them, visit
www.mensenacademy.org or
contact Maria directly at
mariamensen@gmail.com or
mmensen@mensenacademy.org
The Mensen
Academy Students at
their swimming class.
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IHAN at CSW 56
By Natalia Saavedra
Commission on the Status of Women: Empowerment of Rural Women
Monday, 27 February to Friday, 9 March 2012
During the 56th Annual Commission
on the Status of Women Conference,
IHAN was able to participate in three
side events all dealing, in one way or
another, with the priority theme, “the
empowerment of rural women and
their role in poverty and hunger
eradication, development, and current
challenges.”
The first event took place at Fordham
University on March 3, 2012 and was
titled, “Empowering Rural Women of
All Ages Through Urban and Rural
Partnerships.” The speakers included
Dr. Catherine Alicia Georges,
chairperson of the Department of
Nursing at Lehman College, Dr. Qin
Gao, a GSS associate professor of
social work, and Dr. Marciana
Popescu, associate professor of social
work. Every speaker’s presentation
reiterated the fact that women and girls
who live in rural areas experience
desperate situations due to chronic
poverty, discrimination and violence.
The second event was held in
collaboration with the Mission of Sri
Lanka and took place at the United
Nations North Lawn Building on
March 5, 2012. The event was titled,
“Rural Women Think Green and Act
Green.” The speakers included
Ambassador H.E. Dr. Palitha Kohona,
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka
to the United Nations, Professor Dawn
Digrius from the Stevens Institute of
Technology and Dr. Vijaya Melnick,
Professor Emeritus of Biological &
Environmental Sciences. During this
event, Ambassador Kohona gave
insight to the current challenges that
rural women face due to climate
change. In addition, Dr. Digrius’
work in the Coastal Lowland Ecuador
was able to provide examples of how
to make sustainable changes to
improve the environment. Her work
in Ecuador demonstrated how
changes could be made by anyone,
young or old. During this event there
was
IHAN Board Members and Friends at Fordham University
also a contribution made to an
orphanage in Sri Lanka to support ten
children in the amount of one
thousand dollars.
The third event took place on March
7, 2012 at the Church Center to the
United Nations and was titled,
“Ensuring the Culture of Peace with
the Empowerment of Women.” The
speakers included Ambassador
Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary
General and High Representative of the
UN, Suzanne Stutman, English
Professor at Penn State Dr. Vijaya
Melnick, and youth respondents from
City College, Vanessa Muro and Lila
Benaissa. Ambassador Chowdhury
spoke about the Culture of Peace and
the importance of women in helping
bring
about this
movement. The respondents
discussed what peace means to youth
and how important it is for this
culture to be created.
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IHAN at Rio+20
By Dawn Digrius, PhD
RIO+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
June 2012
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – One
of the first activities I participated in
as a newly-minted Board Member
of IHAN was to co-organize with
Dr. Suzanne Stutman a side event
sponsored by IHAN for the recently
held United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development, or
Rio+20. Held on 17 June 2012, our
event entitled “Without Water
There is No Life- Educational
Component,” brought together
educators, leaders of peace
movements, and young activists to
speak about the role of education in
the promotion of sustainable living
and sustainable development. Our
Moderator was Board Member Dr.
Fred Stutman. Participants on our
panel included IHAN First VicePresident Dr. Suzanne Stutman,
Dr. Dawn Digrius, Nadira NajibPhD Student, Stevens Institute of
Technology, Jean Paul Affana
Affana- Coordinator, Rio+20
Global Youth Music Contest, and
Dr. Tao-Tze Hong- President,
Federation of World Peace and
Love.
The event was well attended and
many individuals from around the
globe were moved by the message
we provided; that it is imperative
that education be at the foundation
of improving health, well-being,
and standards of living world-wide.
While I spoke about the need to
support and promote Education for
Sustainable Development, Dr.
Stutman, published poet and
essayist, read her essay and several
poems reflecting on the issues of
water and health. Jean Paul Affana
Affana stressed the need for
promoting sustainability among
young people for the sake of our
future, and Nadira Najib spoke of
her experiences in graduate school
and her work in Morocco on
sustainable water management. Dr.
Hong closed the session by
promoting the idea that we should
ensure that world peace be a
primary goal. At the end of our
session, Dr. Stutman and I were
invited to ring the Bell of Peace,
which was an honor that moved me
tremendously!
After the side event, we met with
NGO members, ministers of
Dr. Digrius ringing the Bell of Peace at Rio +20.
government, and concerned citizens
from places such as Israel,
Morocco, Algeria, Ethiopia, and
Burkina Faso to discuss ways in
which programs such as this can be
introduced and maintained in
developing countries.
I also attended many sessions on
improving health, agriculture, and
water management through the lens
of sustainable development. Two
sessions in particular stood out: one
on a project in Central America
that promotes microfinance to
support small-scale economic
development among indigenous
populations and particularly
women, while the second was on
water harvesting of degraded lands
to ensure potable and agricultural
water for all. Overall, the
conference was a wonderful
learning experience and IHAN was
well represented at Rio+20.
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United for a Culture of Peace Through Interfaith
Harmony ~ 14 February 2013 ~ UN Headquarters
By Darnell Simon
Dr. Roshan and
Darnell Simon, our
newest member,
holding the
Panamanian flag that
he held during the
flag ceremony.
United for a Culture of Peace
through interfaith Harmony
shared a vision of world peace
through interfaith relations. The
program began harmoniously
with the ensemble by Sri
Chinmoy singing the Peace
Meditation at the United
Nation. In the meditation Sri
Chinmoy declared that “ a
moment of truth” can and shall
make the world beautiful.
spanning from Bahá’í and
Buddhist to Sikh and
Zoroastrian. The presentation of
the flags of each of the 193 UN
Member states concluded the
event equally harmoniously as it
began and accentuated the
progress the world has made
through peace.
Mr. Vuk Jeremić followed this
song with a brief discussion
about the religious diversity of
his family and how it related to
the realized goals of the United
Nation. He said, the harmony
of his family and the successes
of the UN have been mainly due
to a shared respect of all
religion. In his family, as well as
in the UN, “freedom of religion
is the standard”, a standard
necessary for continual
harmony. In spite of this truth,
President Jeremić remained
cognizant of the world still being
“categorized by too much
contention, intolerance and
warfare.” And so, he
encouraged The UN to work
with world religious leaders who
advocate peaceful resolutions to
conflicts.
Sri Chinmoy
The event was a combination of
discussions, prayers, and flag
presentations. Speaker after
speaker reiterated the benefits of
religious tolerance and its
influence on conflict resolution.
The symphonies of peace
prayers illuminated the
nonviolent qualities of faiths
“A moment of Peace can and shall
Save the World.”
The Peace Meditation at the
United Nation
For the program and all other
details:
http://unitedforacultureofpeac
e.info
If you missed this event, you can
view the webcast at:
http://webtv.un.org
For more information about the
Global Movement for the
Culture of Peace:
http://www.gmcop.org
The Global Movement aspires
to provide a creative, inspiring
and mutually supportive
meeting place for groups and
individuals, where all can work
together for the creation of a
fairer, healthier, more peaceful
global environment, in which
every human being and all life
forms can live, evolve and
prosper.
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DPI/NGO Youth Orientation Programme
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Church Center to the United Nations
On February 28th, the
Department of Public
Information (DPI) held its
second Youth Orientation
Programme. The event took
place at the Church Center for
the United Nations. This year,
there were more than 50 youth
representatives in attendance.
DPI celebrated the
approximately 300 new NGO
youth representatives affiliated
with DPI.
The programme began with an
introduction from Maria-Luisa
Chavez, the Chief of NGO
Relations of the Outreach
Division. The first panelists
were Maher Nasser, the
Director of the Outreach
Division and Ahmad
Alhendawi, the newly appointed
Secretary General’s Envoy on
Youth, who discussed his duties
and his action plan to increase
youth participation.
The youth representatives
learned about youth and the UN
from Elizabet Niland,the
Associate Social Affairs Officer
for the Department of Economic
and Social Affairs. They learned
about the role of DPI/NGO
youth representatives from our
intern, Natalia Saavedra.
During lunch, youth
representatives met and
networked with several
members of the Executive
Committee.
Next, the youth representatives
learned about security at the UN
from Matthew Sullivan, the
Inspector of Operations and
Tony Barzelatto, the Safety
Inspector.
Lastly, the youth representatives
were informed of new outreach
initiatives being carried out by
DPI. Some of the initiatives
included social media and the
UN calendar app.
Nesting Peace
Creating Infrastructures to Sustain Development
Six Summit of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Infrastructures for Peace (GAMIP)
Centre de Conférences de Varembé (CCV at CICG) and Palais des Nations
Geneva, Switzerland, September 16-20, 2013
Nesting Peace is the Sixth
Summit of the Global Alliance
for Ministries and
Infrastructures for Peace
(GAMIP), a worldwide
community of individuals in
civil society, business and
government who work toward a
Culture of Peace by promoting
the development of
infrastructures for peace at
various levels.
Infrastructures for peace are
social structures that support
and facilitate the manifold
processes of peace. These
include dialogue, reconciliation,
mediation, peace education,
restorative justice and many
others. They need to be carried
out with continuity, supported
socially, and engaged by all
stakeholders, starting at the local
level. This is made possible by
infrastructures for peace, which
function as the implementing
mechanisms or enabling
environments of peace. They
take the form of restorative
circle systems, local peace
communities, national
Ministries for Peace, peace
academies, peace museums,
among others.
The Summit will:
-Increase awareness and
understanding about
infrastructures for peace and
their essential role in sustainable
strategies of peace promotion;
-Plant the seeds of initiatives to
create infrastructures for peace
at the local, cantonal and federal
level in Switzerland.
For more information about this
conference and about the Global
Alliance:
http://www.gamip.org/sixthsummit-switzerland/
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IHAN
Volume 29, Spring Issue
IHAN Board of Directors
Sorosh Roshan, MD, MPH, President
Vijaya Melnick, PhD, Co-President
Suzanne Stutman, PhD, First Vice President
Fred Stutman, MD, Board Member
Fedra Florence Fateh Esq., Board Member
Mahnaz Sarachi, PhD, Executive Director
Professor Keiko Chevray, Representative to the UN
Smeeta Sharon, Director of Public Relations
Beverly Bartner, Chair of the Fundraising Committee
Honorable Yunsook Lee, Republic of South Korea
Suad Al-Dasouqi, MD, Amman, Jordan
Madame Zara Nuru, Tanzania,
Inci Mutleur, Turkey
Dawn Digrius, Board Member
Member Organizations
Peace Action International
The Ribbon International
The National Council of Women of USA
Medical Women International
International Council of Women
Global Movement for the Culture of Peace
NGO Health Committee
IHAN
3 Lincoln Center
New York, NY 10023
Email: info@ihan.org
www.ihan.org
IHAN Advisory Board
Dr. Jaco Hoffman, South Africa
Dr. Homa Mahmoudi, L.A., USA
Maggie Miqueo Esq., Dominican Republic
Dr. Simone Zerah, France
Dr. Manijeh Wishart, United Kingdom
IHAN Staff/Editors
Natalia Saavedra
Darnell Simon
Leanne Barrineau
Lila Benaissa
Ardi Abar
Orchid Abar
The International Health Awareness Network is a non-forprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and
welfare of women and children, particularly in the developing
countries.
Every year, we adopt a cause related to our mandateempowering through health and education- cooperating with
other NGOs, and concerned with citizens to make a small but
important difference.