Three representatives from SIUC traveled to a foriegn country this past September to attend a conference to discuss pressing issues, such as domestic violence and birth control, that concern women from around the world.

Thursday, Beth Firestein, Naseem Ahmed, and Elisabeth Reichert gave their personal commentary on attending the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in a panel discussion at the Student Center.

Firestein, a women’s services representative, said the conference was not only an opportunity for women to discuss pressing issues involving their gender but also to come together and respond to those needs.

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I met a lot of free thinking people even though they did not live in a free thinking society, she said.

Elisabeth Reichert, a professor from the school of social work, said listening to other women from around the world is a meaningful process to bring about global change.

Putting resolutions on paper and pressuring delegates to lobby them is all part of the process to bring about change, she said.

Firestein said she got to experience the emotions of both a spectator and presenter. Firestein had to help present a discussion about the sources and types of trauma effecting women from an American perspective.

We presented the successes and losses we have experienced in the women’s movement inside the U.S. to the others, she said. We left it up to the cultures to make use of them as they want to.

Naseem Ahmed, a specialist in international development, said this year’s conference improved upon the conference she attended in 1985 in Nairobi.

Over the past ten years, women have networked and focused away from a general theme and have developed more specific issues, she said.

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Ahmed said she was also impressed with the younger generation of women holding conferences, but issues of accountability need more attention.

The U.N. documents are missing a financial framework to make programs work, she said. Programs are needed to debate over platforms for action for new and additional financial resources.