PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Greetings to all members.

Marjorie Murray Room

On Saturday 21 January a group of five people interrupted holidays and other occupations to move and consolidate the contents of two rooms into one. It was an exceptional day and we were pleased with the result. I wish to thank Treasurer, Tricia Blombery and her partner Stuart, our CIR Bev Pavey, and my husband Peter, for the teamwork that accomplished a smooth move. Thanks also go to Office Secretary, Sue Ewin, for her work prior to the move.

We have been able to keep all the valuable furniture recommended by Dorothy Betty, sell items not needed and lend some to our neighbour, National Council of Women. Some items still for sale are one coffee table $50, a desk (L 1520mm W 920mm H 740mm) $200, and 12 stackable chairs $5 each. A 20-litre urn is available for whoever could make use of it. For information contact Treasurer, Tricia Blombery.

Lease

We have renegotiated the lease for three years for 31 sq mtrs plus the use of meeting rooms on Level 1 of the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (SMSA) at no extra cost.

Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts

Branches may wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to:

1. Use the meeting rooms on level 1 – if so let me know and I’ll arrange it.
2. The SMSA is open to co-sponsor an event if it coincides with their aims which are similar to the aims of AFUW-NSW. Co-sponsoring means they will advertise the event through their newsletter and no charge is made for use of the meeting room / auditorium.

Billeting

Billeting is available with some Sydney members for any members outside the metropolitan area who wish to attend an AFUW function in Sydney. We wish to encourage as much interaction as possible between all branches so please avail yourselves of this facility. We would make you welcome.

Getting to know you

We are gradually taking steps to do this. Already I have enjoyed visits and conversations with members of some branches and look forward to visiting all the branches before the year is out.

New website and logo

We display here our new logo for the first time. It embraces the IFUW tradition of the “lamp of learning and enlightenment” in our local setting. There are some very interesting treatments of the lamp in the emblems of various NFAs. I do encourage you to check out the new website and logo at www.afuwnsw.org.au. I also look forward to receiving information from branches who are showing a blank page on the site.

Publicise our successes

This is an important initiative. I plan to publish on the web a list of all the awards offered within NSW. Could secretaries of branches send me specific details for each award you offer? Due date: 31 March 2006.

What do we care about?

Overwhelmingly the answer is EDUCATION. This is our focus and area of concern. However what aspect of Education can we choose as a project? Around the nation some are concerned with indigenous education, others refugees and others women in prison. Does anyone have a suggestion for NSW?

New NCW Award

Currently under discussion in Central Committee is a plan to offer a $1,000 AFUW-NSW Award at the National Council of Women Australia Day Lunch in 2007 to a female student. It would be excellent publicity for us to be represented at this well-organised event which is attended by over 300 women many of whom are members of much larger organisations.

After the superb lunch in January, support for this initiative is strong with donations already in hand and pledged. I do hope as a member you agree to the proposal. Please let me know your views whether for or against and whether you think it would be a good idea to have the funds from a specific event, say The Sophia Holland Lecture and Lunch, allocated to this award. Also if people are unable to attend whether you think members would send a donation in lieu.

AFUW Conference

Do plan to come to the Conference from 20 to 24 April. It promises to be a worthwhile experience with an opportunity for members throughout Australia to meet in Canberra. It is inspiring to hear what the other states are involved in and no doubt it will be even more inspiring to hear directly from the International President Griselda Kenyon about what IFUW is doing. More specific details elsewhere in this newsletter.

Functions

A big thank-you to the organisers of our Christmas Party last year. Members of North Shore branch took responsibility for the event which was well attended. Attendees enjoyed the hospitality extended by The Women’s College Principal, Mrs Yvonne Rate, and were entertained by Guest Speaker, Diané Brown’s exciting and eventful life-story.

Sophia Holland Lecture & Lunch

Make a note in your diary for this event: 27 May 2006. Details elsewhere. We are pleased to have secured our 2005 Tempe Mann Awardee, Susan Coulson, to deliver the lecture. Susan completed her PhD last year and is gaining an international reputation with her specialty in helping people with facial nerve paralysis. Do come out in force to support Susan.

I hope 2006 will bring you joy and good fortune and may we continue to grow AFUW-NSW into the organisation of which we are all proud.

Ivy Edwards

AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE AFUW 33RD TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE 2006

Registration Form

You are invited to resurrect the conference registration form from the last issue of Graduate Women, to fill it in and then send it off to Canberra. The conference promises to be an event well worth participating in.

Not only does the programme seem interesting but also the opportunity to meet with members from all around Australia is one to take advantage of. By talking to members from other states we can learn what they are doing and how they go about meeting the aims of AFUW and come up with new ideas for NSW.

The organising committee are still working on the programme but here is the outline to date:

Reception at Government House

Thursday 20 April begins with an orientation session for members attending a Triennial Conference for the first time, followed by the AGM and then a reception at Government House for all registrants, hosted by the Governor-General, Major-General Michael Jeffries and Mrs Marlena Jeffries.

Business Sessions

The Conference is then divided into Business Sessions and Public Sessions.

Friday 21 April and Monday 24 April are devoted to business during which you will learn about the running of AFUW on a national level. This will include reports, Constitutional Amendments, Policy Resolutions, update of Policy and Attitudes Document.

President IFUW, Griselda Kenyon

Griselda will address the meeting on the Friday afternoon following which we will meet the Candidates for 34rd Triennium.

7.45 – 9.00 pm Discussion Session The Future of AFUW

This period has been organised so that all AFUW members, not just Council members and delegates, may have an opportunity to put forward their ideas concerning AFUW. In NSW a number of issues have been raised during the past triennium and this is our chance to air them in the wider forum..

Public Sessions

Saturday 22 April and Sunday 23 April are the designated days open to the public. So feel free to invite partners and friends to attend.

Guest speakers will address varied aspects, both military and domestic, in keeping with the Conference Theme, The Role of Australian Women in Peacekeeping. Professor David Horner, Australian Defence History at ANU, is the lead speaker. After lunch, Commissioner Audrey Fagan, Chief Commissioner ACT Policing, AFP, takes her place at the lectern with Cadets from the Australian Defence Force Academy following her after afternoon tea.

Speakers have still to be confirmed for Sunday when the programme will commence after lunch.

The Conference Dinner

The dinner includes a special tour of the Australian War Memorial, pre-dinner drinks, dinner at the War Memorial with Dr Rosalind Hearder from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU as Guest Speaker.

Home Hospitality

Sunday evening we are to be treated to dinner and entertainment at the home of Dr Jocelyn Eskdale at no cost to attendees. Partners are welcome.

The Conference venue is the charming University House, ANU, from which transport will be arranged to outside conference venues.

STIMULATING GUEST SPEAKERS AT THE CONFERENCE

DR ROSALIND HEARDER BA (UNSW), PhD (Melbourne), from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU, will present the address at the Conference Dinner.

In 2003, Dr Hearder completed her History PhD at the University of Melbourne, on the roles and experiences of Australian medical personnel in Japanese captivity during World War II. She has taught at the University of Melbourne in various history subjects including the Cold War, South Africa and Australian military history, and has written two websites for the Australian War Memorial on Australians in France in 1918 and the Korean War. Dr Hearder has published articles in the field of Australian military history, and has a particular interest in the area of Australian military medicine. She is currently working as a member of an Australian National University-Australian War Memorial team on the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping and Post-Cold War Operations.

Dr Hearder was the recipient of the inaugural C.E.W. Bean Award for Military History awarded to the best honours or postgraduate thesis submitted in any Australian university focusing on Australian's experience of war. The Prize was established in 2004 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Army History Unit and its aim is to foster and encourage the study of military history and heritage at a tertiary level. It is an annual award, in honour of the first prominent Australian military historian, C.E.W. Bean, the official war correspondent to the AIF, who joined the troops on Gallipoli and at the Western Front and was appointed to write the official history after the war. Her thesis has since been published in book form.

The judges’ citation for the award reads as follows:

The plight of Australian prisoners of war is one of the great tragedies of World War Two. A third of the men captured by the Japanese died in POW camps; most of those who returned to Australia owed their survival to the dedication, skill and self-sacrifice of their Medical Officers.

Dr Rosalind Hearder has told the story of Australian doctors at war. We hear their voices through the many and diverse primary sources she has uncovered, including a vast store of diaries, letters and reminisces seldom consulted by historians. Her narrative also makes deft use of oral history and successfully surveys a vast secondary literature in a number of different disciplines.

Dr Hearder alerts us to the many hardships and difficulties medical officers faced in the camps. Her thesis offers a complex and searching analysis of the relationship between captor and captive, officers and men, and the Australian and British medical staff. It concludes with a compelling account of repatriation to Australia, and the physical and psychological legacy of those long dark years of captivity.

“Careers in Captivity: Australian Prisoner –of –War Medical Officers” is a tribute to men of great courage and even greater compassion. It is a worthy recipient of the inaugural CEW Bean prize.

DR DAVID HORNER, DipMilStud (RMC), MA (Hons) (UNSW), PhD (ANU) will be the lead speaker for the Public Meeting on the Saturday.

He is currently an Official Historian and Professor of Australian Defence History in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, and is Visiting Scholar for 2006 to the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library at Curtin University. Visiting Scholars spend some time at the JCPML, making use of the research collection. Scholars may present the results of their research via public lectures, print publications such as books and journal articles, web publications or other means.

Professor Horner's research interests include Australian defence history, particularly strategy, command, intelligence and operations and current defence issues. His current major research project is also the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping and Post-Cold War Operations.

He served for 25 years in the Australian Regular Army, including active service in South Vietnam; joined Strategic Defence Studies Centre in 1990; Editor of the Army History Series (1994 to present); Head of the Australian Army's Land Warfare Studies Centre (1998 to 2002); adviser to TV programs.

Professor Horner has authored many books, including High Command, Australia and Allied Strategy, 1939-1945, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, in association with the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1982 , Inside the War Cabinet: Directing Australia's War Effort, 1939-1945, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1996 and Strategic Command: General Sir John Wilton and Australia's Asian Wars, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2005.. He also co-authored with Desmond Ball Breaking the Codes: Australia’s KGB Network about espionage activities of the KGB in Australia.

ACT CHIEF POLICE OFFICER - AUDREY FAGAN APM was appointed to the role of ACT’s Chief Police Officer on July 4, 2005 following a successful policing career spanning more than 20 years at local, national and international levels, as well as experience working at senior levels of government.

She holds a Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University, a Graduate Certificate Applied Management from the Australian Institute of Police Management, a Graduate Diploma in Executive Leadership from the Australian Institute of Police Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ms Fagan is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, Chair of the Commonwealth Women in Law Enforcement Strategy, a Member of the Australian Human Resource Institute and a Member of the National Community Crime Prevention Advisory Group. She has received numerous awards, including the Australian Police Medal in 2004 and the Australian Institute of Police Management Scholarship Award in 2001.

Ms Fagan began her policing career with the AFP in Canberra in 1981, working initially in protective services and then in ACT community policing. She went on to take up senior appointments in the AFP's national and international operations, including a posting to Christmas Island, international liaison, internal investigations and police recruit training. In the mid 1990s she accepted an advisory position as a law enforcement liaison officer to government working with three Federal Ministers, advising on issues of policing and law enforcement including the development of the National Illicit Drug Strategy.

In December 1998, Ms Fagan returned to the AFP to take up a position as Executive Staff Officer in the Office of the Commissioner, becoming AFP Director Commercial Support, and then General Manager Protective Security, where she had responsibility for overseeing close personal protection to high office holders, the national witness security program, protective security intelligence services and special events planning. Key achievements in this role included CHOGM security planning and AFP protective security responses post September 11. She was then appointed to the position of Executive Director Protection, where she oversaw the integration of the Australian Protective Service into the AFP.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

IFUW ACTIVITIES

You will have seen the Newsflash which outlines the changes which have taken place in the office in Geneva; moving to a new home, on the other side of the bridge from where we are now, near the centre of town. The IFUW Board is very grateful indeed to the staff for all the enormous amount of work that this has involved, and also for the work that they have done since the Conference in Perth to carry out the instructions for change that were decided then. …..

I was in Geneva in early December, and went to the office. Almost everything was in crates and boxes and there were piles of things to throw away as always with any move. The staff have worked very hard. The new office is smaller and cheaper, but it is in a nice part of town and can be made into an attractive place to work. I am pleased to be able to tell you that Leigh Bradford Ratteree has accepted the job of IFUW Secretary General when Murielle (Joye) retires. Leigh has worked for us for many years and understands fully the complicated future that we face. We all have faith in her and it will be much easier for everyone to have someone in charge who understands the very individual nature of our organisation. We are very grateful to her for taking us on. …….

I am sure that many of you remember Mary Purcell, former President of IFUW and more recently, head of the Group of IFUW representatives at the UN in New York. She has now decided that she must retire from that position. Mary's time at the UN covers a long span of great events in world and UN history and that of many Heads of State and Presidents, both of the United States and of IFUW! Her enthusiasm and knowledge has established IFUW as a known NGO at the UN and informed us of what has been going on. We wish her a happy retirement ….and give her our thanks.

I was in Washington in November and lunched with the Executive Director of AAUW and had a useful conversation. They have a committee of three looking at the problem of affiliation and dues but with no results as yet. They are apparently consulting with a group of the members. …..

I wish you all a happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year.

Retiring , Director General for IFUW, Murielle Joye, writes that the international staff wishes to continue to provide a quality service despite these drastic cuts. This will need full support, understanding and enthusiasm of everyone.

NB The new address of IFUW will be 10, rue du LAC, 1207 Geneva, Switzerland.

THE BINA ROY PARTNERS IN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

This is one of the IFUW programmes that we in NSW have supported in the past which in no small way assists the development of our organization in developing countries. It is timely to remind you of its ideals and activities. In the words of IFUW it “encourages international solidarity and partnerships between federations and associations. Its primary goal is to support projects empowering women and girls through education and leadership development.” The Fund is named in memory of Dr Bina Roy, IFUW President 1971 – 1974, first Asian woman to be president, a remarkable teacher and educational advisor who served on many national and international committees. She foresaw that Partners in Development would be a positive force in the future direction of IFUW.

Donor contributions help pay the IFUW membership fees of national affiliates in more than 30 countries. This enables these groups to keep and invest an equivalent sum on local projects. The programme works for the advancement of women and girls while enabling groups of women graduates throughout the world to be part of IFUW - making IFUW a truly global organization. It currently supports projects in 32 developing countries and countries in transition. IFUW members throughout the world can participate

1. By submitting a project proposal: National affiliates may submit a project for funding.
2. By making a general contribution: National affiliates, branches and individual members may become donor partners by sending a general contribution to the IFUW BRPID programme. General contributions are allocated to the projects where financial support is most needed.
3. By making a specific contribution: National affiliates, branches and individual members may designate their donation for a specific project or number of projects. Details for the supported countries are on the web-site. Specific donations should preferably be a minimum of 150 Swiss Francs or approx $150 Australian.

The BRPID Programme contributes to making IFUW a truly global organization as it enables national affiliates with limited funds to be a member of the International Federation while carrying out projects working to improve the status of women and girls in their own countries. BRPID contributions received are used to pay two thirds of the IFUW membership fees of affiliates running approved projects. These affiliates, in turn, are able to use the amount that they would have had to send to IFUW on their own projects. The support from the BRPID Programme does not cover the total amount of the IFUW membership fees owed. NFAs receiving support are required to pay one third of their fees themselves.
 

IFUW AND UNESCO

In 2006, The United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) celebrates its 60th anniversary. IFUW has been closely associated with UNESCO and its predecessors almost since its own inception in 1919. This is not surprising, given the similarity between IFUW’s objectives of promoting international cooperation and peace through education, in particular for women and girls, and those of UNESCO, with its focus on science, education and culture.

In her report, Marianne Bernheim, Coordinator of the team of IFUW Representatives to UNESCO, describes the joint history of UNESCO and IFUW, from the involvement of IFUW co-founder Virginia Gildersleeve as the only woman to participate in the drafting and signing of the United Nations Charter on 26 June 1946, down to the present day and IFUW’s role in celebrations for UNESCO’s anniversary. IFUW was one of the first NGOs to be invited to adopt a consultative role in 1948, and was granted “Formal consultation relations” status in 1996.

Another expression of the close relationship between the two bodies has been IFUW’s involvement with various UN ‘days’, ‘years’ and decades’, most significantly IFUW’s continuing support for International Women’s Day (March 8th, begun in 1977), but including also the International Year of the Family (1994) and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, inaugurated in March 2005.

The role of women and girls and their education are crucial to many of UNESCO’s aims and projects, and therefore the relationship is a vital one for both organisations. For the full report, visit:

http://www.ifuw.org/advocacy/reports/2006-IFUW-UNESCO-60years.doc.

GIRLS STILL DENIED EDUCATION

Vice President, Shirley Manion, who travelled to London to visit family at Christmas, passed through Dubai, where she purchased the local “Gulf Today”, 4 January 2006. She sent to Merle and me for our respective AFUW interests, the following article; the author was Wahidullah Amani.

WAZHMA is in the seventh grade at Zarghona Ana High School in Kandahar. This makes her an exception in this conservative southern province and Taliban stronghold, where, according to some estimates, less than one girl in 10 receives even a primary education. "There are 60 or 70 houses in my neighborhood," said the solemn 16-year-old. "But there is only one other girl who goes to school. Many of my friends want to go but their fathers won't let them. Our neighbors make fun of us, of my family, and say that we are not good peo¬ple because I'm going to school. I don't listen to them."

According to the Afghan constitution, education is a universal right and obligation. Parents are required to send both boys and girls to school up to the 12th grade. But in practice the law is almost universally flouted, and the government appears powerless to do anything about it. "Yes, it is true that the constitution guarantees the right to education," said Hayatullah Rafiqi, head of the department of education for Kandahar province. "But we cannot send soldiers to people's houses to demand that fathers send their daughters to school. If we tried, nobody would send their children to school, because the government would be pushing them. It would be counterproductive."

Under the Taliban, girls were banned from education, and girls' schools were closed. Since the regime's demise more than four years ago, the government has put money and effort into getting girls back into the classroom. Indeed, female school attendance is hailed as one of the new administration's major accomplishments.

Rafiqi insists that Kandahar is doing well in this regard: According to his figures, 70 percent of school-age girls in the "provincial capital are attending school. Across the province, Rafiqi said, 40 percent are doing so. "A lot more people are ready to let their daughters go to school than in the period before the Taliban," said Rafiqi.

"The department of education has programs on television promoting female education, to convince parents that school is not a bad place. We have a lot of refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran, they saw educated women there, and are ready to let their daughters study." But his numbers just do not add up, insist education workers. "The government gives these numbers to show their success," said Rangina Hamidi, head of Afghans for Civil Society, a non-government organisation. "But it is just not true."

Hamidi estimates that no more than 10 percent of girls in the provincial capital are in school, and that the numbers are far lower in rural areas. Even Rafiqi acknowledges that only 24,000 of the 130,000 students in Kandahar's schools are girls. There are only 12 girls’ schools in the entire province, compared with 328 for boys.

Mahmad Omar, 35, has a small business selling gas. He has seven children, three boys and four girls. One son works with him, the other two are in school. But all his daughters are at home. "School is not for girls," he said. "I don't let them go. Girls should be at home. If they go to school, people will see them on the street, and that would be very shameful for me." Omar is convinced that education runs contrary to Islamic tradition. "After they go to school, girls think that they can go anywhere, that they do not have to wear the hijab (head covering), and that they don't have to hide their faces. Islam does not accept that."

Asefa, 18, is one of the lucky few that are in school. But she has to run the gauntlet of condemning looks every day. "Men in the street laugh at me, and call me names," she said. "They say, 'Why are you going to school? You're a girl and you don't need this.' But I begged my family for months to let me go, and they finally did."

Many other friends have dropped out of school, unable to face the stares and the jeers, she said. Even those who favor female education are nervous about the security situation. Kandahar is unstable and, some say, getting worse, with a rise in suicide bombings and armed clashes between insurgents and the security forces. The Taliban may be gaining ground thanks to a rising tide of religious discontent with the foreign troop presence.

"I like school," said Amanullah, 52. "I have five children, two girls and three boys. The boys are going to school, but the girls are not. "I'm uncertain about their security— I can't allow something to happen to them in the streets or in school. I know that educated people are good and I want to educate my children, but not now. My daughters beg me every day to let them go to school. I say, “If the situation improves, I promise I will let you go.'"

That promise may not be realized soon. In the past year, 150 schools have closed throughout the province, said an education worker with a local non-gov¬ernment agency who asked not to be identified. One school principal has been killed and teachers have been threatened. In several districts "night letters" - covertly distributed pamphlets - have been distributed warning parents not to send their daughters to school and threatening violence to those who do not heed the warning. At least seven schools have been set on fire.

In one district, Maruf, all the schools have been closed for the last nine months after a campaign of intimidation. In others, such as Dand, Maiwand and Panjuai, they are open only intermittently, depending on the security situation. Much of the strife is attributed to the Taliban. But, maintains Hamidi, the anti-education tradition predates the fundamentalist group.

"When my family were refugees in Quetta (Pakistan) 20 years ago, we received the same kind of warnings," said Hamidi, who grew up and was educated in the United States. "My father had to take us out of school. There was no Taliban then." The only solution is for the government to get more serious about education, say observers. A concerted effort by officials, education professionals and religious scholars is needed if female education in Kandahar is to make any headway. But these same observers say the government does not have the resolve to go against tradition and prejudice. "The government does not care about education," said one worker with a non¬governmental agency who declined to be identified. They could open the schools if they wanted to."

THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

“The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) was created in 1946 by the United Nations in response to international outcry over grave human rights violations following World Wars I and II. As the world’s first and only international human rights monitoring body, the CHR became the primary venue for responding to human rights violations around the world. Then US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt played a pivotal role in the formation of the Commission and was elected as its first Chairperson. She also played a vital role in writing substantial portions of what now stands as the most important proclamation of human rights—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Currently, the CHR is composed of 53 UN Member States that are elected for three-year terms. It meets for six weeks every year to consider cases of human rights violations from around the globe. Once it reviews a case, the CHR renders a decision in the form of a resolution and calls on the violating state and the international community at large to take decisive steps to address the abuses that have taken place.

Throughout the decades, the Commission has brought the world’s attention to the issue of human rights and attempted to rectify abuses committed against individuals of all regions and countries.

Yet with the 21st century come new challenges and obstacles, and the international community must make sure that increased threats to human life, liberty, and security is met with an equally strong and capable human rights monitoring body. To this end, world leaders must draw on the Commission’s mandate while simultaneously improving key procedural aspects to combat human rights violations more effectively.”

One of the challenges faced by the Commission is how members are elected. Currently, membership guarantees that all regions are represented. However, this has lead to the exclusion of some countries while allowing over-inclusion of others. Furthermore, it has allowed countries such as Liberia, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia and Sudan to cover up human rights abuses in their countries rather than advance better practices. In addition, the Commission on Human Rights presently meets six weeks every year. Thus, it is difficult to give crises that arise outside those weeks sufficient attention.

In an effort to continue the work of the Commission and keep the protection of human rights at the forefront, a major report, the High Level Panel Report on Threats, Challenges and Change, called for an enhanced human rights body in December 2004. In March 2005, Secretary General Kofi Annan released his report In Larger Freedom in which he proposed shifting from the Commission on Human Rights to a Human Rights Council. From September 14-16, the United Nations hosted the largest gathering of world leaders in history. More than 150 heads of state agreed to strengthen human rights at the United Nations and resolved to create a Human Rights Council. Although this is an important step, countries could not agree on the exact makeup, criteria, or a firm timetable for the creation of the new Council. Negotiators agreed to continue discussions over the course of the year to overcome disagreements.”

The Co-Chair has put forward a statement of eleven fundamental principles followed by sixteen specifics.

PP4 Reaffirming also that while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, all States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, have the duty to promote and protect all human tights and fundamental freedoms,

PP5 Emphasizing the responsibilities of all States. in conformity with the Charter, to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language or religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,

PP6 Acknowledging that peace and security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system and the foundations for collective security and well¬being and recognizing that development peace and security and human rights are interlinked and mutually reinforcing,

PP7 Recognizing the work undertaken by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the need to preserve and build on its achievements and to redress its shortcomings

PPIO Acknowledging that non-governmental organizations play an important role, at the national, regional and international level, in the promotion and protection of human rights, ………

The General Assembly decides to establish a Human Rights Council, based in Geneva in replacement of the Commission on Human Rights, as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly.

OP2 Decides that the Council will be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind, in a fair and equal manner.

OP3 Decides that the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon, and promote effective coordination and the mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system.

OP5 Decides further that the Council will, inter alia,

1. promote human rights education and learning as well as advisory services, technical assistance and capacity-building, to be provided in consultation and with the consent of Member States,
2. serve as a forum for dialogue on thematic issues on all human rights,
3. make recommendations to the General Assembly for the further development of international law in the field of human rights,
4. promote … the follow-up of the goals and commitments related to the promotion and protection of human rights emanating from United Nations conferences and summits,

OP7 Decides that the Human Rights Council shall consist of 45 Member States which shall be elected directly and individually by secret ballots by the General Assembly by two-thirds / simple majority (still to be determined) of the members present and voting.

The membership shall be based on equitable geographic distribution and seats shall be distributed as follows among regional groups: 12 members from Africa, 13 from Asia, 5 from Eastern Europe, 8 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 7 from Western Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The members of the Council will serve for a period of three years and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

O8 Decides that the membership in the Council shall be open to all Member States of the United Nations. When electing members of the Council, Member States shall take into consideration the candidates’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and the voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto.

When electing members of the Council, Members shall also take into account whether there are any situations that constitute systematic and gross violations of human rights or any agreed measures currently in place at the United Nations against a candidate for human rights violations.

OPI0 The Council shall meet regularly throughout the year and schedule not fewer than three sessions per year, including a main session, for a total duration of no less than ten weeks and shall hold special sessions when needed at the request of a Member of the Council with the support of one-third of the membership at the Council.

OP16 Decides that the Council shall review its work and functioning five years after its establishment and report to the General Assembly.

February 23, 2006 -- General Assembly President, Jan Eliasson, released a draft resolution creating a new Human Rights Council to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission. Diplomats involved in the negotiation said the final structure was a great improvement. You will note that the session from 14 March will still be the Commission on Human Rights; the election of the first members of the Council will take place on 9 May 2006 and that the first meeting of the Council will be convened on 16 June 2006.

On the same day, Louise Arbour of Canada, current High Commissioner for Human Rights since July 2004, immediately issued a statement urging support for the Human Rights Council.

“The proposal provides a unique opportunity to start putting in place a reinvigorated system for the promotion and protection of fundamental freedoms around the world and deserves the support of member States. Failure to adopt the proposal threatens to set back the human rights cause immeasurably. The text submitted ….has the features to allow the future Council to deal more objectively, and credibly, with human rights violations worldwide. It sets standards for new member countries, who will be asked to make an explicit commitment to promote and protect human rights. It also provides for the suspension of members who commit gross and systematic abuses.

Unlike the Commission, the Council will be required to review on a periodic basis the human rights records of all countries, beginning with its members. No country will be beyond scrutiny, and no longer will countries be able to use membership of the UN’ s premier human rights body to shield themselves or allies from criticism or censure for rights breaches.

The Council will also meet for longer periods throughout the year and be able to respond quickly to developing human rights crises. Potential violators would be on notice that the world was watching permanently, not just for six weeks in the spring, when the Commission traditionally comes together.

Let us be clear the proposal now before the General Assembly is the result of compromise. It cannot be an ideal blueprint. And there is no reason to believe that more negotiating time will yield a better result. But even an institution that is perfect on paper cannot succeed if the international community does not make the necessary change in the culture of defending human rights. It was in large part its failure to make this change - its inability to reinvent itself after laying down the framework for the international human rights system - that hobbled the Commission. The case of Rwanda is sadly instructive. There the Commission’s procedures worked, yet the investigator’s warnings went unheeded. The political will and commitment of the international community will be as important to making the new Council work as any changes in structure or working methods.”

Secretary General, Kofi Annan, says the UN's credibility is at stake. The creation of the council is seen as a key component of UN reform. He warned that, if we are not careful and we make the wrong moves that unravel the agreement on the Council, we could be placed in a situation where we are left with a Human Rights Commission that we all claim is discredited.

The opinion of non-UN organizations is guardedly optimistic as they issued press statements in the wake of these developments. The statement of Amnesty International is typical of the more measured of them.

Amnesty International calls on all governments to adopt without delay the draft resolution on the Human Rights Council presented today by the President of the General Assembly as the first concrete step in meeting the 2005 World Summit’s commitment to strengthen the United Nations' Human Rights machinery.

"This is an historic opportunity that governments must not squander for selfish political interests. It is time for those that have imposed so many tawdry compromises to allow the General Assembly to establish the Human Rights Council", said Yvonne Terlingen, Amnesty International's UN representative. Still, this is only a first step. Governments must now show the political will to make the Council an effective human rights body," she said. "The Council to be established by the resolution will be weaker than hoped, because of many governments' failures to follow through on their stated commitment to human rights. While the President’s text provides a sound basis on which to create a better body than the Commission on Human Rights, it must not be diluted further.”

Dr Elizabeth Mary Liggins (1920-2005)

REPORTS FROM BRANCHES

ARMIDALE

Dr Joan Relke began her fascinating talk, The Archetypal Female In Art, with a brief and admirably lucid introduction to Jungian philosophy: outlining the three levels of consciousness, the ego or fully conscious level, the subconscious and the collective unconscious. She pointed out that the conscious level is the one on which we operate in our daily lives and the subconscious level is sometimes available to us in dreams, but the unconscious level is not accessible. Jung postulated that this unconscious level must exist in order to explain why similar ideas concerning religion and myth exist in all cultures.

Dr Relke then went on to outline the importance of Jung’s archetypal figures in the subconscious, such as the father, the hero, the maiden and, above all, the mother, illustrating these with characters from the myths of Greece, Rome, India and China. She explored, briefly, Jung’s belief that female archetypes were a dominant influence in the lives of men and male archetypes in the lives of females, which explained the very dominant role held by female goddesses, such as Aphrodite and Demeter.

Their essential roles as desirable love/sex object and mother, respectively, are replicated in all patriarchal cultures. Men’s ambivalent attitudes to powerful women are demonstrated in the contrasting characteristics of these goddesses, for example in mother goddesses who are, on the one hand loving and caring and, on the other, vengeful and destructive, as is seen in the Hindu goddess Kali.

Joan Relke, an accomplished professional sculptor, then moved on to show how Jung’s archetypes had influenced both her life and her art. Her dream of an underwater deity was so powerful that she was persuaded to give up a university course that she had worked hard to be enrolled in and her figurine of this figure, whom she later realised was the Inuit goddess Sedna, was quite exquisite, with her fish tail, fin, flowing hair and one hand waving free. This led on to a discussion of mermaids and female sea-monsters in which her audience vigorously participated. Other figures alluded to the Pythia at Delphi and the power of serpents associated with women such as the myth of Eve.

A most interesting theme was her opposition to Jung’s theory that archetypes of the opposite gender were most influential for men and women. She showed that female artists shared the male preoccupation with female archetypes, proving that it is the feminine that is the very essence of creativity.

CENTRAL COAST

We were fortunate to have Professor Tony Adams, Chairperson of the Global Commission for Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis, as guest speaker at the October meeting last year. The goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to ensure that no child will ever again know the crippling effects of poliomyelitis. This enormous undertaking seems so daunting in its scope, yet so inspiring with its vision and ability to overcome what would seem to be insurmountable obstacles.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus which invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but affects mainly children under three. Many of us remember the large polio epidemics that caused panic every summer during the 1940s and 50s in industrialized countries (Australia, USA and Western Europe). People with polio affecting the respiratory muscles were immobilized inside "iron lungs" - huge metal cylinders that operated like a pair of bellows to regulate their breathing and keep them alive.

In 1955 Dr Jonas Salk developed an inactivated (killed) polio vaccine, IPV. This was followed in 1961 by Dr Albert Sabin’s live attenuated (weakened) oral polio vaccine, OPV. As its name suggests, OPV is an orally applicable vaccine which does not have to be administered by a trained health worker; does not require sterile injection equipment and is relatively inexpensive. Soon after the introduction of these effective vaccines, polio was brought under control and practically eliminated as a public health problem in the industrialized countries. The problem however remained to be addressed in the developing countries.

In 1988, the World Health Assembly (WHA), the annual meeting of the ministers of health of all Member States of the World Health Organization, voted to launch a global goal to eradicate polio. When the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched, wild poliovirus was endemic in more than 125 countries on five continents, paralysing more than 1000 children every day. Today, polio is endemic in Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt.

The GPEI, spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF, is the largest public health initiative the world has ever known. Since 1988, some two billion children around the world have been immunized against polio thanks to the unprecedented cooperation of more than 200 countries and 20 million volunteers, backed by an international investment of US$3 billion.

Today, the disease has been eliminated from most of the world but, at the same time, the areas of transmission are more concentrated than ever - 98 percent of all global cases are found in India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The risk of wild poliovirus being imported into polio-free countries and areas still exists. In 2005, the number of polio cases due to importations is, for the first time, significantly higher than cases due to endemic transmission. Eleven previously polio-free countries reported polio cases in 2005 (Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Angola, Mali, Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea and Nepal). However the commitment to polio eradication is high thanks to powerful new tools like monovalent oral polio vaccines and to visible progress in the most difficult endemic areas.

The remaining challenges to a polio-free world are:

1. Primary challenge: Breaking the final chains of polio transmission in the endemic countries.
2. Acute challenge: Quickly stopping polio outbreaks in previously polio-free countries.
3. Cross-cutting challenges:
   *Maintaining funding and political commitment;
   *Addressing low routine immunization rates in polio-free countries;
   * Ensuring sufficient vaccine is available.

There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented through immunization. Polio vaccine, given multiple times, almost always protects a child for life. Many of the countries whose children remain under threat from this dreadful disease are experiencing unstable governments, civil wars and the violence associated with such events. It goes without saying that volunteers risk their lives to bring polio vaccines to children in these hostile environments - a sobering thought indeed.

CITY

A warm welcome will be extended to any AFUW member who finds themselves in the City at the time of any of our meetings. We have planned new and exciting venues for our meetings and talks but in response to demand we are also arranging some evening venues for those who find it difficult to access the city in the day.

At our meeting on 16 February we were pleased to welcome Jeanne-Louise Bieler from Switzerland. She belongs to the Geneva Branch where previously she has been President. The Branch is about 150 members and mainly younger women. She considered that the reason for this is that they have strong links with the one university in Geneva and have close contacts with women PhD students whom they support/mentor and provide opportunity for those they select to give talks on the presentation of their PhD topic.

Part of the presentation for PhD in Europe is a live presentation to their examiners. Their focus is on networking. As here, more than 50% women are undertaking university study so they don't give small grants to students. They provide one grant of 4000 Swiss francs. Nationally they have one of $15000 Swiss Francs and this is attractive to PhD students who actively apply for it. (One Swiss franc is roughly the same as one Australian dollar)

In May this year we will also be personally presenting scholarships of $250 to two Tertiary Preparation Certificate Students at both Meadowbank and Ultimo TAFE. It will be an opportunity to discuss the work and aims of the AFUW since we have found there is little known of our organisation in these areas. We intend to follow up the academic progress of our previous awardees.

NORTH SHORE

Members and their friends enjoyed a very happy occasion at the Christmas Lunch held on December 5th at Dunmore Lang College, Macquarie University. Professor Ian Waterhouse, foundation Professor of Psychology and Head of the School of Behavioural Sciences at Macquarie University was the guest speaker. However, it was not his own field of study nor even anything relating to Macquarie University which was the subject of his talk but rather his father, the late Professor E.G. Waterhouse, his mother Janet, and what it was like to grow up with his three brothers in the atmosphere of their delightful home, Eryldene, in Gordon, in the first half of last century.

Our speaker was born eighty four years ago at Eryldene, the youngest of four boys and so was often referred to as Quartus. He remembers his parents as being very loving and caring. His father would take the boys for walks in the bush at weekends and bred in them a love of nature but music and art were also great influences in their family life.

His father was a brilliant language student, graduating from the University of Sydney in 1901 with a triple first in English, French and German. He taught modern languages at Newington College, The Kings School, Sydney Grammar School and then at Sydney Teachers’ College. In 1925 he travelled overseas in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. He met his future wife, the Scottish Janet Kelly, while she was perfecting her French in France. He visited her later in Kilmanock and they agreed to correspond. This led to their marriage which proved a very happy and lasting union.

Though education was probably considered to be his chief mission in life, Professor E.G. Waterhouse’s abiding interest was landscape gardening.

Not only is the beautiful garden at Eryldene testament to this but all who have wandered through the Vice-Chancellor’s Courtyard, at the University of Sydney, especially when the camellias and azaleas are in full bloom, can witness his hand in its design.

Before Eryldene was built, Professor E.G. had seen homes designed by Hardy Wilson, one of the leading architects in Sydney at that time. He liked what he saw and the story goes that he had a handsome door-knocker which he showed to Hardy Wilson saying “Build me a house around this”. The garden of Eryldene evolved around the house in a series of garden rooms. Plants had to go in just the right place, taking into account their height and width. Gradually the growing of camellias became an abiding passion. Some will have seen his books on this subject, “Camellia Quest” and “Camellia Trail”. His mother complemented this horticultural interest with her expertise in ikebana.

Professor Ian Waterhouse remembers the many interesting visitors to the home when he was young. Many were academic staff from the University of Sydney from a wide range of faculties. Another group were consular personnel from many countries. Then there were political, social and cultural figures such as Sir Philip and Lady Game, the Gloucesters, Norman and Lionel Lindsay, Margaret Preston and William Dobell. When the camellia flowering season was at its peak there was a constant flow of visitors.

Professor Waterhouse dwelt, perhaps a little wistfully, on numerous simple pleasures of family life at Eryldene. He transported us to innocent scenes of his childhood with which most of us can identify to a greater or lesser extent. He is justly proud of the home and garden created and left to posterity by his parents. In his final words to us he quoted John Keats “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever”.

SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS

It was wonderful to see so many people gathered at Cath Davies’ spacious home to hear Associate Professor Kristine French give a first rate account of the life of Janet Cosh, the intrepid local botanist, who catalogued the flora of the Southern Highlands between 1970 and 1989. The display of her research and drawings was inspiring! That so many braved the threatening rain clouds to enjoy the palms and azaleas, the spreading lawns and sunken gardens of "Karrara" was encouraging. Old friends and new acquaintances chatted over a delicious afternoon tea. The money raised from the Garden Party exceeded expectations.

This enabled us to donate $500 to assist East Timorese university student, Ina, in her law studies.

We had another opportunity to meet in convivial surroundings, for our Christmas Dinner at Gilbert's Restaurant in Mittagong. Gilbert's has a fine reputation for good cuisine, and our celebrity guest speaker, Rosemary Stanton, gave us a very entertaining address on enjoying a healthy Christmas, plus latest information about international health trends. We raised over $500 for our scholarship fund.

The New Year got off to a flying start, with a dinner at the award winning "Eschalot Restaurant" at Links House, Bowral. Our guest speaker, local federal parliamentarian, Joanna Gash, informed us about the current situation regarding the effective representation of women's issues in the government process. She works harder than most people in a job that she loves.

We are now looking forward to our March dinner meeting, with guest speaker Lillian Arthur. A personal story of her search for her son who was forcibly taken for adoption. Film Australia has made a documentary, to be shown on SBS, of Lillians' 30 year journey for justice and redress.

HUNTER VALLEY

For our February meeting we invited one of our newer members, Vicki Cowling, OAM, to be our guest speaker with the title “I am a rock, I am an island…” (Simon,1972).

Vicki has been an advocate for children of parents with mental illness and their families since 1993, through research, project development, professional education, conference presentations and publications including two books about children of parents with mental illness. Vicki is a social worker and registered psychologist, and has worked in partnership with consumers and careers for many years. She was awarded an overseas study tour in 2000, and in January 2005 was awarded the Order of Australia medal for her contribution to the community.

RIVER

Our members and friends enjoyed a Spring Luncheon at the Greenwich Sailing Club at which the biographer Jacqueline Kent was our speaker. She spoke first about the methods of writing a biography and then specifically about how she was able to collect material for her current work-in-progress on the internationally renowned pianist Hepzibah Menuhin. We look forward to the publication of Jacqueline’s book in about two year’s time.

Christmas again was a happy occasion with a Sunday party for members and friends, held at the home of Judy and Jim Fitzpatrick at Woolwich. We continue to have around 60 people at our functions (three per year) whilst our Book Group and Theatre Group continue to be very active.