Attending the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women

YWCA Mankato Marketing and Development Coordinator Sophie Hoiseth was selected by YWCA USA to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York City in March 2024. Read about Sophie’s experience here:

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Marketing and Development Coordinator Sophie Hoiseth outside of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

I wrote some of this while sitting in UNHQ in NYC, conference room #4, a large space that seats over 500. The room was bustling with the energy of many languages, prints, styles, cultural beliefs, and customs, merging and clashing together in an exciting and invigorating way, what many at the commission call "civil society."

At the side sessions and parallel NGO sessions I attended, I heard stories from every corner of the planet. How humbled I felt to see how the work of my local YWCA association in Minnesota fits into the global movement of changemakers, upstanders, and activists pushing our communities towards justice and liberation. How fortunate I was to share rooms and hurried conversations before and after sessions with incredible individuals, all of whom had complex thoughts and reactions to the intense volume of information bombarding our brains.

I was particularly moved by the ever-present themes of solidarity in the face of colonialism and fascism, pondering how I can bring these strong sentiments and the resources these organizations are sharing to advance a gendered perspective of economics in my own home.

Curiously, amidst these important and heavy topics, I couldn’t help but notice how many people in each room are taking pictures of themselves. I was surely not immune, having taken selfies and photos of my own UNCSW68 badge. Where does this urge come from? What am I, what were we trying to capture?

In my 9th-grade Global Politics class, my teacher, Ms. Beck, had the following question written on her whiteboard for most of the school year: "Is the UN effective?" Spoiler alert: the answer was no. Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was accepted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, we as a human race have fallen short in delivering these shared agreements of basic dignity. Additionally, a sentiment was frequently shared in the UN that our promises developed by the Sustainable Development Goals, to be achieved by 2030 just 6 years away, appear to be well out of reach for the global community. With this knowledge imparted to me 10 years ago, why was I so eager to apply and so ecstatic to be a delegate for YWCA USA this year?

I think these questions share an answer. The UN isn’t effective; I was excited to be a delegate, and we want to take pictures of our achievements of gaining access to these halls because, in an attempt to make meaning and understand desire and suffering, I think maybe we cling to institutions to provide us a sense of place and status among the largely unknowable aspects of the human experience.

YWCA USA Delegation

After the newness of the gorgeous presence of the United Nations wore off, I was confronted by the very real stories and experiences of women who experience the harshest and cruelest of situations. One activist from Afghanistan mentioned that she has experienced total erasure under the Taliban rule of the last two years. Another woman from Palestine spoke to the grief and anger caused by Israeli occupation. In each room, we acknowledged that women living in unjust conflict experience the heaviest of burdens.

This is where the stickiest of questions emerge. How can humans do this to each other? Why do bad things happen to people who do not deserve it? Why do greed and hate prevail? These questions are not answered, mentioned, or discussed at the microphones of the United Nations. Perhaps in a psychology or religious classroom, we might look towards these questions of human nature. I am surprised at how quickly and fervently they jump at me when at the United Nations, arguably the apex of global human governance.

After a session for NGO participants to hear about the upcoming Summit of the Future, a spokesperson for the General Secretary of the UN shared that if the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising concerns about AI have taught us anything, it is that humans are more complexly connected now than we have ever been. It is worth attempting to work together in a system of global governance to tackle the complex nature of humanity. While I am sure I don’t know much, one thing I do know is that I am so grateful for the opportunity because, as clichéd as it sounds, none of us can do it alone. Initially, I thought being employed at my local YWCA associate provides me access to a local team of women who are passionate about racial and gender justice. After UNCSW68, I now know I am part of a global team of YWCA advocates and champions who are transforming communities and systems.

Attending the UNCSW68 has fundamentally changed the way I look at the YWCA mission and has started a train of thoughts towards how I can connect the local programming to the global movement. I am eager to learn more as part of Global YWCA and by continuing to foster connections with the people I met.

I’m grateful for my mentors and teachers who have fostered my passion for women’s rights and social justice (with special thanks to my mom, who was the faculty advisor for Girl Up Qatar in high school, and my boss Ceceli for encouraging me to apply for this experience). I’m especially grateful to the people I met and the stories they shared with me. It was truly a gift, and as you can see, it has given me so much to think about!

Written by Sophie Hoiseth