It’s been 20 years since the United Nation’s Fourth Women’s Conference of 1995.

Syracuse University professor Catherine Bertini and her students remembered the event by hosting a panel discussion Wednesday on the worldwide progression of women’s rights since the 1995 conference.

Bertini, a professor of public administration and international affairs at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, held the event in Maxwell Hall with her students from her spring 2015 classes on the United Nations, Girls’ Education, and Humanitarian Action.

The idea for the event originated from Bertini’s experiences as a speaker at the 1995 conference, which took place in Beijing. There was no other event being planned by the Maxwell School to recognize its anniversary.

Bertini said the last event held in 2005, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the conference, was not student driven and had a mostly academic focus. Due to many of her students having strong interests in women’s rights issues, she said she thought they should be main contributors to the discussion.

“About two months ago, she asked me if there were any events about Beijing plus 20. I asked around the department and found there were no events relating to this specifically,” said Emily Fredenberg, Bertini’s graduate assistant and co-organizer of the event. “Instead, there were a lot of events about International Women’s Week.”

There were 10 panelists and each shared what it means to be women in their home country. In identifying the panelists for the discussion, Fredenberg reached out to students in Bertini’s classes this semester.

“When Dr. Bertini and I were organizing the event, we were conflicted with the overwhelming number of panelists,” Fredenberg said “At the same time, I felt it was very important that there was such a diverse representation of both men and women from around the world because it gives you the opportunity to hear so many different voices.”

Although many of the panelists were women, the two men on the panel, representing Guatemala and Germany, also discussed the importance of gender equality and touched on their personal experiences. Aram Lee, a graduate public administration student, was asked by Bertini to serve on Wednesday’s panel.

“I am really grateful that we are participating in the movement of bringing up women’s issues around the world, but we still have more homework to do. It is very hard to break through the rule that men dominate society,” Lee said.

Many of the panelists’ speeches first discussed actions taken by their governments to promote gender equality and the changes that need to be made in the future. The panelists also explored the negative impacts of existing policies and the need to take into account the most vulnerable types of women when it comes to pushing for gender equality.

“There are a lot of common struggles that all women share. At the same time, there are many unique struggles that women have and it is important to recognize them,” said Arielle Moncure, a graduate public diplomacy student.

Moncure said she thinks women’s experiences are underrepresented in the media and in society. The event was a great opportunity to hear more about different people’s lives and societies, she added.

The overall importance of the event was to recognize the importance of humanity, Bertini said. The different stories shared by panelists were representative of lasting struggles of women across the globe.

“With regards to my personal experience with being a Maxwell graduate student, the day in and the day out, you are surrounded by an international community,” Fredenberg said. “This is an amazing opportunity for students to give their personal stories and tell the story of what it is like to be a woman in their country.”

Published on March 19, 2015 at 4:55 pm

Contact Chizobam: cnwagwu@syr.edu