Nearly 3,000 children in a devastated zone of Darfur, Sudan, will be able to return to school because of an effort originating 7,000 miles away, at UN Headquarters in New York.
The United Nations Delegations Women’s Club (UNDWC), a long-standing diplomatic association, held an international food fair and bazaar on 28 April 2005, which will fund the repair and rebuilding of ten brick schoolhouses in Arara, a village close to the border with Chad. The project, created especially for the Club by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), will also help in building capacity for school authorities and parent-teacher committees, mobilize community participation, and encourage the enrolment and retention of girl students.
Similar humanitarian projects, supported through the sale of food and items reflecting the cultures of different countries, have been a hallmark of UNDWC for many years. Women delegates and spouses of diplomats and representatives to the United Nations are eligible for membership in the Club, which seeks to promote and display cultural diversity while doing good in diverse corners of the world. “At the beginning of its existence, it was largely a social club in which the wives would inform each other about their respective cultures and help one another to contend with life in New York”, said Danara Kazykhanov, wife of Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Yerzhan Kazykhanov and the main organizer of the 2005 bazaar.
Following its founding in 1963, the UNDWC mainstay programmes were the National Displays and Teas, sponsored by different Permanent Missions. It also organizes language lessons, home nursing classes, dances for teenage children, and bridge and canasta tournaments for members. Among some of the more recent Club-supported projects were: construction of a home-craft centre in Choma, Zambia; literacy education in Bangladesh; establishment of a school network in Nicaragua; equipping a clothing factory run by women in Timor-Leste; outfitting a women’s literacy centre in the Solomon Islands; and setting up a day-care centre for mentally and physically disabled children in Georgia.
The first effort of UNDWC to take on a more philanthropic role started with selling UNICEF Christmas cards, with volunteer saleswomen dressed in their national garb. Eventually, the wives (and on occasion the husband of an ambassador or diplomat) began raising funds for substantive projects overseas. In-the-field delivery of the programme, which directly benefited women and children, is designed by a UN agency, usually UNICEF or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UNDWC currently comprises 150 members from 90 countries. Its Executive Committee President is Fay Malouf-Vassilakis, wife of Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece, while Nane Annan, wife of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is an honorary member and a regular supporter. Following tradition, National Teas continue to be hosted by different Missions, providing a unique opportunity to exchange views and develop an appreciation of cultures and traditions of countries from all regions.
The bazaars fulfil an educational as well as a philanthropic objective. The 2005 fund-raiser, held at the UNICEF House and open to the general public, including UN staff and diplomatic corps, was attended by luminaries such as Harry Belafonte, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, whose appearance came on the final days of her tenure, and Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah, as well as UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egelund. Mrs. Annan addressed the event.
Over 100 missions donated goods and items for sale, which reflect the art, culture and handicrafts of each of the four designated regions—Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe. UNDWC members and their children helped during the raffle drawing. So far, the Club has already raised over $120,000. “These events not only give something from New York to the world”, said Ms. Kazykhanov. “They also bring the world to New York.” |
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