Blanca Nubia (Good Shepherd Sister) welcomes Pope Francis to Cartagena

“And so, about four years ago, I began a new program for girls. We called it Talitha Kum, words from the Aramaic Gospel phrase Jesus used to bid a girl to rise up. It honors the dignity of each person. According to the mission of our congregation, I had made a decision to go to the tourist city of Cartagena de Indias, the colonial name when Cartagena was a port for export of silver to Spain and import of slaves from Africa. It is famous for being a walled city — and, indeed, many invisible walls hide lives of poverty, unemployment, gangs and early pregnancies in squalid neighborhoods. Good Shepherd has a center dedicated to the prevention of sex tourism, which is, sadly, the specific object of many tourists.

At Talitha Kum the children “rise up” every day. We welcome children (ages 9-17) to a program that includes school, human and spiritual accompaniment, and enrichment of family and civic environments. We are always proud when, as recently happened, a 17-year-old girl finished high school and now continues her study. ”    Read the full article   Global Sisters Report – Papal Encounter in Cartagena, Colombia

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Good Resources to follow up on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s)

The UN Women and UNEG (United Nations Evaluation Group) have developed a guideline in 5 languages to evaluate the SDGs with a gender lens. Link to English, Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish

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Another excellent resource linking the SDG’s with various human rights mechanism has been published by the Danish Institute For Human Rights.  It too, is is multiple languages and has an interactive dimension – you can choose a goal or target and see the linkages to human rights.

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Human Rights Guilde

Link Here The Human Rights Guide to the Sustainable Development Goals

Responding to Violence Against Women in Kenya

Sr Donatus Lili who is the NGO Regional Representative for Good Shepherd in Africa has been attending the 68th Session of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women)  held in Geneva from October 23, 2017 to  November 17, 2017.   Among the counties presenting this year where Good Shepherd is present were Burkina Faso, Guatemala, Kenya, Paraguay and Singapore.  The various reports and documents are uploaded HERE   Donatus has prepared a report on behalf of Good Shepherd in Kenya on Fistula.  Read the very interesting and informative REPORT prepared by Donatus.

IRWAWWhile in Geneva Donatus had the opportunity to be engaged in the training session sponsored by IWRAW Asia Pacific the only regional/international NGO working with the CEDAW Convention as a main tool for change in the Asia Pacific. We see a critical role for ourselves in filling the gap between the promise of women’s rights and their actual realization.  This group do incredible work prior to each meeting of the CEDAW Committee.

Donatus 3Madam GBEDEMAH Hillary, the rapporteur for Kenya to CEDAW (standing) during a briefing on Wednesday November 1, 2017 prior to the review.                                                         

It was not possible for Donatus to make an oral statement but she did present a copy of her proposed statement to the rapporteur.  NGO (CONGREGATION) written statement to 68th CEDAW Session

The review for Kenya was held on Thursday November 2, 2017  All the documents can be accessed HERE and the UN Webcast Morning Session and the Afternoon Session

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Donatus (center) with  Ambassador Dr. Stephen Ndungu ‘Karau  and on the left Mr. Andrew M. Kihurani, Deputy Ambassador,  Permanent Mission of Kenya to the UN, Geneva.  (Photo taken at the the UN, GENEVA)

It’s November – Get ready to add your voice and your action to end all violence against girls and women 2017!

The 16 days campaign to end violence against girls and women is at hand.  It begins on November 25th and ends on December 10th.

According to UNICEF’s latest report, “A Familiar Face,” 9 million girls were victims of forced sex last year. Only 1% reached out for help. Help us stop the sexual exploitation of girls who can’t speak out.  Read the report   Use your social media by  clicking HERE  #HerToo  #MeToo #NowYouKnow.

Orange the World

Taken from the website of UN Women the link to the full document is 16 Days 2017 Action Plan Final

Because it is thanksgiving weekend in the USA the following areKey Activities

The 16 days of activism against gender based violence is in multiple languages and maybe more helpful in creating awareness Choose your language  However the tool kit is only in English.

UN Women have a report Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces.  “A series of stories illustrate what authorities, grass-roots women, women’s organizations and other community partners can do as part of a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces. Many of their initiatives have successfully enhanced safety, including through a focus on the most impoverished urban areas.

English   Spanish   It is not available in French.