unitednations
WEAC-Retired member Cristina Diaz-Arntzen of Waukesha
(second from right) was invited by NEA President Reg Weaver to attend
the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United
Nations, February 28 through March 3, 2005.
As a member of the Education International delegation, Diaz-Arntzen
attended the Beijing+10 Platform for Action hearings, observing 23 countries
testify on their achievements and their challenges. She observed as
the United States tried to amend the Beijing+10 Platform for Action,
pushing for removal of abortion rights and no new international human
rights added to the Beijing+10 Platform for Action. Egypt and Qatar
were the only countries to support the United States' amendments. The
original agreement contained no mention of “abortion rights,”
only that where it is legal it should be safe, Diaz-Arntzen said. The
United States finally dropped the amendment, after finding itself going
against the tide of world opinion, she said.
"Those of us in the Education International delegation met with
ambassador Ellen R. Sauerbrey to discuss the NEA’s opposition to
the proposed amendment," she said.
Diaz-Arntzen said she also had the opportunity to hear about problems
that Colombian trade unionists face in their country. In the last 15
years 3,000 union sympathizers, journalists and teachers have been massacred
in Colombia, which is the most dangerous country for trade unionists.
Diaz-Arntzen was an active participant as an interpreter for the caucuses
from Argentina, Colombia and Spain.
Pictured above are (left to right): Rosemary Rile, chair of the NEA-WIC
Committee; Tia Scigulinsky, NEA Board member from Rode Island and member
of the WIC Committee; Ellen R. Sauerbrey, US ambassador and representative
to the UN Commission on the Status of Women; Jill Christianson, NEA
Education International staff member; Cristina Diaz-Arntzen, WEAC-Retired;
and Janet Parshall, host of a faith-based talk show.
- Submitted by Cristina Diaz-Arntzen
Posted March 30, 2005
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