"....this may be the last time our voice is heard here..."
The UN has become a citadel of nations, ruled over by five nuclear potentates with veto power in the Security Council. Periodically the fortress is besieged by civil society organizations knocking on the door for entry, raising their banners for peace and justice. This is most observable at the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women during the first two weeks of March. Women flood the Church Center across the street from the UN, overflowing into the Armenian Convention Center down Second Avenue, sharing issues, strategies and concerns. Members of each women’s NGO share a limited number of passes to the UN building itself.
This year, in a different UN body, on International Women’s Day, something unprecedented happened. It was a David and Goliath moment. It’s been a long time coming. The respected UN affiliated organization, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), took a stand in an environment that has become painfully at odds.
