Volunteering. Giving time and effort for no financial reward.

Interesting idea you might think in a global society so driven by material gains. So why do so many of us keep on doing it? I have to say that I have been more 'rewarded' in my volunteer work with UN Women Singapore over the past two and a half years than I ever expected to be. These past few months especially at UN Women Singapore have been so full of achievement, milestones and satisfaction in working towards gender equality and empowerment I almost feel like I owe them something for letting me be involved.

Project Inspire, reminded us that anyone, anywhere in the world can make a huge difference to the lives of women around the world. Congratulations not just to the winners, but to all of the ten finalists who presented their ideas in August at INSEAD. Not only were three of the participants able to walk away with a cash prize from MasterCard to further their achievements with women's projects, but also they were all able to form a bond, network and grow and encourage each other. This is what empowerment is all about. Providing platforms and environments of co-operation for great ideas to flourish.

The collaboration with MasterCard continued with Endeavor. A group of MasterCard employees and UN Women Singapore staff went to Cambodia to see first-hand the impact that projects there are having on women's lives, and how they could use their expertise to help. It's one thing to talk about projects that make a difference - quite another to actually get to see them and contribute.

Like many people, here at UN Women Singapore the issue of human trafficking, particularly the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation, has caught our attention and demanded a response. As part of our on-going efforts, in collaboration with the US Embassy Singapore and INSEAD we were fortunate enough to host Siddharth Kara, world renowned author and policy advisor on the issue. Kara was able to give us renewed hope that much can be done to fight this seemingly insurmountable global crime. His focus on tackling trafficking from an economic perspective as well as a humanitarian one reminded us that it takes ideas and minds from all fields to make real change.

In keeping with UN Women Singapore's innovative approach to informing the public about issues of gender inequality we held our first international film festival in September. Documentaries from around the world were shown to a captive audience highlighting some of the issues that women and girls are challenged by such as access to education and sexual exploitation, as well as how some challenges are being met through things like micro-financing. Thanks to the US Embassy for helping us bring out one of the filmmakers - Amy Benson to talk to the audiences about her personal experience in making her film.

Finally SNOW. Every year numerous staff, volunteers and Executive Committee members at UN Women Singapore put in an enormous amount of time and effort to create our annual Say No to the Oppression of Women gala dinner. This year was no different and I have to say I think it was the most successful yet! At last count $400, 000 was raised on the night to go towards projects in the region that help women fulfil their potential, their dreams and move ever closer to those wonderful ideas we call empowerment and gender equality. Congratulations to everyone who worked on SNOW, and to everyone who attended and was able to raise the much needed funds.

So, thank you UN Women Singapore for allowing me the privilege of volunteering with you. Every month I am amazed by how much work is done, inspired by both the women we are working for as well as the women and men I get to work with and encouraged that every day is a step forward for women everywhere.

Warmly,

Katrina Dick
UN Women Singapore Volunteer

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UN Women Singapore raises $400,000 at annual SNOW gala

By Helen Thompson

UN Women Singapore's annual fundraiser, SNOW-Say No to the Oppression of Women-raised $400,000 to support projects benefiting women and girls in Asia.

The 1920s-themed event, held on October 7, entailed a five-course meal provided by five top chefs from the region and a live art auction.

Marisse Gabrielle Reyes, Communications and Fundraising Manager for UN Women Singapore, said that the art auction was a success, with the most bids going to Takashi Murakami's three lithographs-New Day, Luddy and Bull Market, Chris Levine's Equanimity, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, and Russell Young's portrait of Audrey Hepburn.

Distinguished guests included President of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, his wife, and CNN's 2010 Hero of the Year, Anuradha Koirala, founder and chairperson of the NGO, Maiti Nepal.

In her foreword to the SNOW gala programme, Anuradha Koirala wrote that Maiti Nepal: "works to establish effective measures to prevent, protect and rehabilitate potential and former victims of trafficking of women and children, child prostitution and child labour."

She added that the groups purpose was also: "to encourage women to be financially self-sufficient by teaching them income generating skills and to rehabilitate children and young girls from the streets by providing each girl with an education, counselling and a safe home."

According to Trina Liang-Lin, president of UN Women Singapore, in the past it has supported girls' homes by providing 16-18-year-old girls with life skills scholarships.

They have also funded the End Violence Against Women campaign and the Day-Off campaign encouraging employers to give their domestics a day off from work.

This year the funds raised will help support a UN Women Cambodian project designed to improve women's economic empowerment as well as the work of Maiti Nepal, including providing funds for one year of education for over 30 girls rescued from sexual exploitation in Nepal.

While SNOW is UN Women Singapore's biggest annual fundraising initiative, they also continue with smaller fundraising projects throughout the year. Selected artworks from the SNOW exhibit are still available for bid via email, phone or online until December 14.

For more information go to http://snow.org.sg/auction.html or contact Marisse Gabrielle Reyes at marisse.g.reyes@unifem.org

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Project Inspire Rewards 3 Young Social Entrepreneurs

By Camilla Adindamaulani

UN Women Singapore and MasterCard hosted the grand finale of "Project Inspire: 5 minutes to change the world" on 24 August 2011 at INSEAD Asia Campus. The Grand Finals saw 10 inspiring young social entrepreneurs from Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, India, Ghana and Singapore present their unique ideas on how to improve the lives of women and girls in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, in a 5 minute live pitch.

Project Inspire awarded the grand prize of US$25,000 to the Hapinoy Program from the Philippines. Their winning project aims to support 1,000 women 'sari-sari' (or neighborhood convenience store) owners in Luzon in the southern Philippines through micro-finance. Hapinoy trains these women micro-entrepreneurs in personal and business development, management systems, better priced goods and introduces additional revenue channels.

The judges also awarded a grant of US$10,000 to UPLift Initiative from Thailand for the Best Financial Literacy/Livelihood proposal. Their project will empower Burmese women migrants living in landfills at the border of Thailand and Myanmar by building a women's resource centre that provides financial literacy training and skills for income generation activities.

In a surprise development at the Grand Finals, MasterCard put forward a US$10,000 special prize for the Most Creative Community Outreach proposal, which the judges awarded to 'Painting the Road to Empowerment' from India. The team's program benefits abused and discriminated women from Pingla, East India, who have a unique culture of earning a living by singing and painting. Her winning project aims to replicate the successful Pingla model in the nearby village of Chandipur, bringing this artistic talent to the production of diversified products including decorative scrolls and other artworks.

Paolo "Bam" Benigno Aquino who represented the Hapinoy team shared his Project Inspire experience, "The grant prize is extremely helpful for an institution like ours and the recognition turned out to be a catalyst for support from other local institutions in the Philippines. We look forward to working with UN Women and MasterCard in the following year and hope that this is just the initial engagement with Hapinoy."

"We came together with UN Women Singapore to bring greater understanding of women's empowerment to young people and give them a platform for action," said Georgette Tan, Vice President, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide, and co-creator of Project Inspire. "We truly hope that each Project Inspire participant continues on their journey to create a better tomorrow - this isn't the end of the journey, it's just the beginning, and we can all play a part."

All winning teams kicked off their projects last month. Their journey will be documented on the recently launched "Inspired Stories" blog at www.5minutestochangetheworld.org/blog

More information about Project Inspire can be found on www.5minutestochangetheworld.org.

Project Inspire is jointly organized by UN Women Singapore and MasterCard with support from INSEAD, Bain & Company and Channel NewsAsia.

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'Endeavor' Links Business to Social Good

By Mellisa Chong

In our mission to cultivate working partnerships with the private sector , The Singapore National Committee was proud to launch its signature project called Endeavour, in collaboration with MasterCard Worldwide.

Project Endeavour takes a group of socially-conscious individuals on humanitarian journeys to learn about women social issues and challenges that the women are facing in villages where livelihood problems. Participants visit local non-profits, attend inspirational talks with experts in human rights, participate in field work and interact with local advocates on social issues.

Project Inspire's maiden voyage to Cambodia took participants tothe heart of Kampong Chhnang province in July 2011. We were proud to have a group of impassioned MasterCard employees as our pioneer batch of volunteers to partake in "Endeavour Cambodia". These dedicated individuals took time off, both from their professional and personal capacities with the hope of spreading the message of hope and the spirit of contribution. In addition, they had also decided among themselves to coordinate a collection of clothing items and toys to share among the needy community members in Kampong Chhnang.

Among some of the activities were Basket Weaving, an Environmental Exchange and Empowering Young Minds. On top of being taught how to weave bamboo products, delegates were given a chance to appreciate the history, craft and culture behind bamboo weaving. Another group of delegates helped with making the environment around the community hall a safer place to play and work for children and adults. The last group had a whale of a time sharing how to make arts and crafts with the children by exploring their creative use of colours and shapes in addition to fun and interactive games!

The Singapore National Committee is grateful to have had a number of esteemed individuals grace our expedition as well. By leveraging on UN Women Cambodia's extensive network, H.E. Dr. Ing Kantha Phavi (Minister of Women's Affairs), Ms Bunchhit Veasna (Director for the Economic Development Department ) and Ms Wenny Kusuma, (Country Director for UN Women Cambodia) enlightened the participants with first hand stories of the predicament of Cambodian women.

H.E. Dr Ing Kantha Phavi expounded on the brutally real plight of the women in Cambodia while elaborating further on the complexities that surround the driving forces behind the structural and cultural discrimination against women. H.E. also explained the measures that her department had taken to address the root causes and their accomplishments in this area.

Ms Wenny Kusuma provided an inspiring delivery of what it means for the delegation to be present in Cambodia for this purpose - and very importantly, Ms Kusuma put the Endeavour trip into clear perspective, by asking the delegation to really "see" the women in their communities. By "seeing", Ms Kusuma was asking the delegation to see beyond the obvious, and look into how the women were represented in their community - socially, culturally, economically, etc. and to ask the ever perennial question of "why".

The Endeavour trip was also attended by activists and advocates such as H.E. Kassie Neo, formerly a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge and now heads The Peace and Development Institute (PDI), promoting and protecting human rights in Cambodia. Ms Mony Pen, has dedicated her life to helping women with AIDS in Cambodia (Ms Pen herself is HIV positive) through her engaging education and outreach programmes in Cambodian Community of Women Living (CCW) with HIV network.

The Singapore National Committee is pleased with the successful run of the inaugural Endeavour Cambodia.. Endeavour's success is due to the contribution and dedication of our core partners namely, MasterCard Worldwide, UN Women Cambodia, The Ministry of Women's Affairs of Cambodia, The Women's Development Centre in Kampong Chhnang, CCW and PDI.

"The MasterCard team which visited Kampung Channg was provided a wonderful experience," says Georgette Tan, Vice President of Communications - Asia Pac and Middle East, MasterCard. "UN Women ensured that every aspect of the service trip was meticulously covered, and we've all been inspired to come back to spend more time with the Kampong Channg community."

Should your organization be interested in experiencing "Endeavour" with the Singapore National Committee, please feel free to contact Mellisa Chong at mellisa.chong@unifem.org.sg or call us at +65 6238 6761.

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SoundOut CD Launches at Concert at Blu Jazz

By Katrina Dick

After a year of hard (albeit fun) work ranging from a collection of tracks, meetings with musicians and many pleasurable hours listening to lots of great local music - the SOUNDOUT Against Sex Trafficking CD was launched loudly and proudly with a concert at Blujaz Cafe on June 22.

In July of 2010 UN Women Singapore launched the SOUNDOUT website as a way of reaching a new audience and spreading the word about the horrors of sex trafficking in Singapore and the region. We invited people to make some noise and to SOUNDOUT against this crime by donating tracks to be shared on the website. Of the twenty eight tracks donated to SOUNDOUT to date, thirteen were selected for the CD.

With the generosity and support of Blujaz Cafe, the donating bands and the boys from Shark Tattoo studio (who did an awesome job temporarily tattooing the SOUNDOUT logo on members of the audience), the SOUNDOUT CD was launched with lots of blare and positive energy at a concert over two floorswith seven of the featured bands performing. It was a great reminder that music really can lift the spirit and give us strength to fight for what is right.

Thank you to all the bands who have donated tracks, performed at the launch and at other SOUNDOUT gigs. A big thank you also to Ramesh at Songzu music studio's for re-mixing all the tracks to make the CD sound even better than it already did and to TBWA / Tequila Singapore for the original artwork and concept.

You can visit SOUNDOUT at www.soundout.sg and download the CD for free here.

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Human Trafficking Expert Siddharth Kara in Singapore

By Vanessa Liew

Siddharth Kara shows us pictures of carpet weavers in Nepal, most looked younger than 15, the age they claim to be. According to Kara, the children are kept under guard and forced to work 18 to 20 hours a day, are force fed stimulants, punished if they misbehave and suffer from various ailments including spinal deformation and muscle atrophy. The carpets they produce are shipped mostly to the European Union and America.

And the carpet weaving industry isn't the only one where you will find such shocking circumstances.

"Human trafficking and slave trading is integrated into the world economy in a way it has never been before," the former Merrill Lynch investment banker-turned-anti-slavery crusader tells the audience at a forum organised by business school INSEAD, the Embassy of the United States of America in Singapore and UN Women Singapore on September 15, 2011.

That means it taints just about every industry you can imagine, from tea, coffee, fishing, clothing to construction which as Kara describes in detail, uses both child labour and bonded labour.

In fact, he estimates there were 30 to 36 million slaves in the world in 2010 based on his definition of the crime.

It takes into account the acquisition of the slave through force or deceit such as abduction or false job offers and the actual exploitation and slavery where a person's liberty is unreasonably restricted while forced to provide labour or services.

Perhaps controversially, he "doesn't care what the compensation level is" (some definitions impose a minimum wage level) and includes those who enter the agreement as they simply had no other choice.

Imagine if you're living on less than $2.50 a day - an amount which can't even get you a latte at Starbucks, as Kara points out. But it's just that amount on which two and a half billion people in the world, or 40 per cent of the global population lives on. It's an amount not sufficient to secure shelter, food and bare necessities - and so an offer of more than $2.50 and a supposed chance at a better life elsewhere, no matter how remote, is simply too good to turn down.

It is this poverty level which provides the steady supply of victims for the human trafficking business. And even if the slaves do manage to escape, they still face the same poor conditions and might end up getting re-trafficked again.

Bias against the female gender and ethnic groups is another strong supply force. He recounts an incident in a Moldovan shelter where a woman told him, "In your country, when a man beats a woman, you call the police. In my country, we call it tradition." It gives you an inkling of why women see such potentially dangerous agreements as an escape.

Another disturbing encounter he has had was with a young Thai girl in a shelter who was trafficked twice to work in the commercial sex industry - first to our Singapore shores and then to Malaysia.

"[Sex trafficking] is one of the most brutal and barbaric forms of human trafficking. Not only does it involve torture and violence but also multiple counts of rape -- up to 20 times or more a day, day after day, month after month. As a young child, it's a difficult thing to heal from and the lack of protection and care you give these people is really unconscionable."

Kara brings up terms like supply and demand and numbers because he believes that it's the most effective way we can combat the crimes of contemporary human trafficking -- by understanding the economics and business of it.

And it is a lucrative business. Today's slaves sell for an average price of US$425 - ranging from US$200 for bonded labourers to US$2000 for trafficked sex slaves, who generate around 40 per cent of the total profits out of all the forms of slavery.

And how much did human traffickers make last year? Around US$104 billion.

Combine this with the almost risk-free nature of the job and you can see why it's a "good" business to be in.

In India, the most relevant punishment is for owning a brothel which entails a US$44 fine. In Italy, Thailand and Denmark, there aren't even fines for human traffickers. And even where there are stiffer financial penalties like in America, Albania and the Netherlands, the number of convictions is too small compared to the scale of the entire operation.

And this is where half of the key to the solution lies - attacking the profitability traffickers enjoy by dramatically raising the risk of running such enterprises.

One of Kara's suggestions is the creation of an international trafficking and slavery inspection force and more proactive law enforcement to stop exploitation as soon as they see it - getting the victims out means cutting off future cash flow for the traffickers. Massively increasing the economic consequences for the crime is obviously another.

The other half of the key? It concerns you and me.

Our ever-increasing demand for lower prices on the things we buy is unwittingly driving the booming human trafficking trade.

Having to pay next to nothing for labour, usually one of the highest costs in any operation, means slave traders get to charge less for the goods they sell, thus helping them to remain price competitive - and profitable.

Here's what we can do to start remedying the situation:

Demand that companies whose products we are buying have certified that their supply chains are not tainted by any form of slave labour and that this is a regular part of their operating model

Demand that companies invest in the communities whose labour they employ. If these people willingly provide the cheap labour they seek, then companies have an obligation to give back and invest in education and healthcare to help the former become less vulnerable

Pressure our lawmakers to put stricter policies and laws in place.

And maybe the one of the easiest solutions -- use our consumer dollars only on certified untainted products, even if they cost a little more. As Kara puts it, "If someone like me with my slow wits and slight frame and limited resources can go around the world and track down victims of human trafficking and trace supply chains all on my own, then surely elevated resources, intellects and commitment can bring an end to these unconscionable crimes."

For more on the topic, read Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery by Siddharth Kara.

Vanessa is a freelance writer and can be found here.

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A Message from President Tony Tan Kem Yam

Dear friends and supporters of UN Women,

I want to thank you for supporting this commendable effort to empower women and girls in the region. The work of UN Women, reaching out to underprivileged women throughout Asia - to provide women and girls with an education and access to healthcare, to defend them against violence, and to protect them in their communities - is noble and worthy of our support.

Funds raised from UN Women Singapore's annual SNOW dinners in the past have gone a long way in helping thousands of women in the region, whether those in crisis or in micro enterprises.

Throughout the 12 years UN Women Singapore has been in existence, originally as UNIFEM, the organization has become one of the forefront leaders of thought and action in the area of women's issues in Singapore and around the region, bringing together academic expertise, governments and embassy staff, the public as well as corporations.

I am happy to support UN Women Singapore in one of my first public engagements as President of Singapore. I encourage you to continue supporting UN Women with your generosity.

With best wishes

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam
President
Republic of Singapore

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SNOW Art Auction Preview

By Helen Thompson

Originally barracks for the British army in Singapore, Dempsey Hill was host, on Wednesday night, to a preview of the UN Women Singapore's annual art exhibition and auction to generate funds for the region.

In between restaurants and upscale shops, the Red Sea Gallery hosted the sixth annual SNOW Art Exhibit and silent auction.

SNOW - Say No to Oppression of Women - is the UN Women Singapore's fundraising platform.

It all started, said Pia Bruce, Executive Director of UN Women Singapore, with a focus on gourmet food and then over time expanded into an elaborate gala dinner, art exhibition and art auction.

The funds generated from the art auction and accompanying gala dinner on October 7 will be used to support UN Women projects throughout Southeast Asia.

Ms Bruce explained that "this year we're looking at a project in Cambodia helping bamboo weavers develop a better living through improved products and supply chain . . . We're also contributing to projects for women battling HIV/AIDS while making a living as well."

The UN Women Cambodian project, Improving Bamboo Handicraft Value Chains for Women's Economic Empowerment is designed to help women develop their business potential through technology.

With more information about potential markets, they can increase their productivity and generate more income.

"SNOW also funds part of our public education and outreach activities for the next year," Ms Bruce said.

Communications, Fundraising Manager and curator, Marisse Reyes has been working on the exhibit for the last six months.

She sourced donations from local and regional artists who have regularly contributed to the art exhibit and also recruited additional artists to donate their work for the first time.

Along with regular contributors to the SNOW exhibit such as Ketna Patel, Ms Bruce explained that: "every year we get to know a few more artists who believe in our cause and are willing to contribute to it."

This year the exhibition includes works by artists such as Jeho Bitachor, Jovan Benito, Sarah Harvey, Lim Khim Katy, Chris Levine, Russell Young, Shin-Young Park and Takashi Murakami.

Diana Francis is a recurring artist in the SNOW art exhibition, having donated artwork for the 2010 auction.

A British artist, Ms. Francis has lived in Singapore for almost 20 years.

"Diana's work is inspired by her experiences and travels, but interpreted through the eyes of a foreigner, applying contemporary colour and composition to predominantly Asian themes."

This year she has donated three pieces from her 2010 exhibition entitled "Life is Beautiful."

Ms Francis describes "Life is Beautiful" as "seven paintings that encapsulate the seven disciplines of the Singapore Sun Festival."

"Seven pure virtues, music, visual arts, film, literature, wine, cuisine and wellness reinterpreted from a perspective of a 'moment' that is priceless, from the eyes of a child."

The theme of her exhibition, she felt, fitted well with the focus of UN Women in Singapore and SNOW in particular.

"UNIFEM is all about women's rights globally," she said, "I feel quite strongly about it... that not only in the West it's still predominantly a male world, but especially in struggling third world countries where there's still not much information... Anything we can do to keep driving the awareness... I'll support that."

From oil paintings to acrylic screen printing and lithographs, the works in the exhibition represent a diversity of experience, many of which speak to the experiences of women and minorities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

For example, while Jovan Benito's "Couple Harvesting Flowers" foregrounds the experience of rural women in the Philippines and Thet Naing Soe's Pa O Tribe No. 19 represents Burmese women, Chris Levine's lenticular print, "Equanimity" is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and Russell Young has captured Audrey Hepburn.

While Ms Bruce would like to attract bidders to the art exhibit, she also sees it as a way of offering the Singapore community an evening of art, wine and food as well as promoting the work of UN Women in Singapore.

The annual gala dinner held at Capella in Singapore on October 7 also featured as a special guest, CNN Hero of 2010, Anuradha Koirala.

Singapore's President and Mrs. Tony Tan Keng Yam were Guests of Honor at the gala dinner.

Email Marisse Reyes at marisse.g.reyes@unifem.org.sg to place a bid.

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UN Women Singapore's EGM

By Audrey Ho

ON 12 August 2011, an Extraordinary General Meeting was held at UNIFEM Singapore's office. Perhaps the most significant outcome of the meeting was members' approval of the change of name to "Singapore National Committee for UN Women".

UN Women was created by a UN General Assembly resolution in July 2010, and became fully operational on 1 January 2011. It is in keeping with this development that the approval for change of name was essential. With this change, we become part of an organization that merges and builds on four parts of the UN system:

• Division for the Advancement of Women
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
• Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
• United Nations Development Fund for Women

After the close of the meeting, Pia Bruce gave an update of the progress of the STOP campaign. The partnership with The Body Shop, ECPAT and various local governments agencies has led to the setting up of an inter-agency task force that will look into the problems of and solutions to issues of human trafficking. In the pipeline also is possibly a hotline that will offer counseling to victims and potential victims. UNIFEM continues to be active in raising awareness through school talks and other activities. Judging by the number of signatures amassed for the petition - over 100,000!! - it wouldn't be stretch to say the STOP campaign is en route to being a resounding success!

Jacqueline Loh wrapped up the evening with her update of the Day Off campaign. The ILO-sponsored report was finalized in June 2010 and UNIFEM is working closely with the Ministry of Manpower to arrive at a consensus about the findings and appropriate course of action going forward.

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In Conversation with Saima Salman: Strengthening Your Emotional Muscle

By Camilla Adindamaulani

What gets your blood boiling? An inconsiderate driver cutting you off on the road? A friend cancelling lunch with you for the umpteenth time? Your flirtatious colleague getting a promotion before you?

Emotional aggravation is an unavoidably a part of life. Often times we are quick to blame or react to unfavourable circumstances. However, clinical psychologist and UN Women Singapore member, Saima Salman, says the best way to cope is to control YOUR own response.

"Just like your body needs exercise to build your strength, it takes practice to build your emotional muscle," Salman advised over 20 participants of "Building The Emotional Muscle" In Conversation series. Salman, Founder and Director of Rational Living Inc. has over 14 years of clinical experience and has worked with people of American, European and Asian cultural backgrounds. Salman introduced methods to maintain emotional control in your professional and personal life as well as managing negative emotions of others.

The subject of her topic was based on her extensive training in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy /Cognitive Behavior Therapy, a branch of knowledge developed by an American psychologist and a renowned expert on 'emotional muscle', Dr Albert Ellis.

Salman explains that our daily problems, negative thoughts, negative beliefs and unhealthy behavioral responses are all interrelated because an increase in stress-related tension also increases the likelihood of emotional disturbance.

To control these emotional disturbances, Salman offered methods and exercises to keep positive emotional responses, and ways to maintain an empowered way of thinking, feeling and behaving.

An attendee who learned about the event from a listing in the Straits Times said, "I came with an open heart to gain from this session. I have been feeling down due to family and work problems in the past year. Tonight, I saw a way out of this situation. It will take time and effort, but it can be done".

Participants took home more than just a new skill set to cope with emotional distress. They alsoreceived a pencil printed with reminders to keep a positive mind, such as the empowering reminder: "Nothing can upset ME without MY permission."

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Book Clubs

By Mrinalini Venkatachalam

"The Good Women of China" by Xinran

The Good Women of China is a collection of true stories about the lives of Chinese women in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Xinran is a Chinese journalist who hosted a radio program called "Words on the Night Breeze". The program invited Chinese women to share their stories of the difficulties in life they were facing in a closed door China.

Through the sharing, Xinran hears stories of incest, rape, kidnapping, brutality, suffering, torture and neglect. Harrowing stories of suffering and survival were shared on the airwaves, such as the story of a young girl whose only escape from her father's torturous incestuous demands was to slowly die in a hospital. Another described the predicament of mothers who lost their entire families to a violent earthquake, who recreated a large make-shift family filled with surviving earthquake orphans. She writes of the women in the provinces of China who work all day from sun-up to sundown, then must 'service' the men (sometimes as a shared wife to numerous men) and bear children endlessly and whose only joy is receiving an egg mixed with water and sugar upon the birth of a son, and yet, ironically, they are the only women who claim they are "happy."

The attendees of the UN Women Singapore Book Club thought that this was by far the most realistic and therefore the most disturbing book that they had read. Those from a Chinese background found it especially interesting because they got a glimpse of the lives their ancestors had led. They liked the fact that the book was not sensationalist in tone and that the author came across as honest and genuinely interested in the lives of the women in her country. Some of them found it extremely frustrating that the women do not complain, they do not compare their lives with others more fortunate, they do not expect help and assistance. They could not comprehend this mentality and were equally intrigued by it - making it the most memorable book of the Book Club series thus far.

"Say You're One of Them" by Uwen Akpan

The debut short-story collection by Nigerian writer and Jesuit priest Uwem Akpan, shines a light on the poverty and violence that exists in many African nations, through the eyes of children.

The first story, "An Ex-mas Feast", sets the bar quite high for pain and suffering in childhood, as a young boy tells how his eldest sister, having turned 12, has taken to the streets of Nairobi to earn money for his schooling, and the effects on the family as a result of her earnings.

Another story "Fattening for Gabon", opens with the extraordinary line: "Selling your child or nephew could be more difficult than selling other kids".

Feedback of this read wasn't as well received as other books featured in UN Women Singapore's Book Club. Though some thought it was interesting to tell the stories from a child's eyes, they did not feel that the author had a particularly impactful way of telling the tales and therefore lost their interest at some point. "Fattening for Gabon" was voted as the best story, but they felt that the length detracted from the impression that the story made.

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First Annual Film Festival - Empowering Women: Protection. Participation. Progress.

By Mrinalini Venkatachalam

UN Women Singapore's inaugural film festival "Empowerin?g Women - Protection?. Participat?ion. Progress." showed the power of film and its ability to change lives and minds.

Held at Arts House, attendees gathered over two days over the weekend to view brave documentaries that enlightened the viewers to the predicament of women and girls around the Asian region. UN Women Singapore was delighted to have special guests, Rona Edwards (Executive Producer of "Selling Sex of Heaven") and Amy Benson (Director of "Three") in town from the United States (courtesy of the US Embassy).

One of the six documentaries screened was "Three". The film documents day in the life of three Nepali girls. Their stories give context to the plight of women in Nepal and the invaluable role education plays in ending the cycle of oppression of young girls and women. One of the girls, Shanta, is fiercely determined to finish school and to become a doctor specializing in women's health. Her success seemed certain. But a year later, just a month before she was due to graduate, Shanta took her own life, leaving her family and village devastated and baffled by her death.

Director, Amy Benson spoke to the audience and urged them to consider the hopes and dreams riding on the shoulders of these very young girls. From the pressure from their village to leave and to study in the big city, to the strain it puts on them to change their family's fortunes and the burden to make their village proud and all the while getting accustomed to living the fast life in the city.

Another audience favorite was "Selling Sex of Heaven", a tear-jerking documentary that examines the sex trade industry in the Philippines and how this lucrative business imprisons young women. The investigation looked at primitive social hygiene clinics where hundreds of women and children line up daily for the only medical attention they can get. The aim of the film was to show the complexity of prostitution and the conflicting attitudes of people affected by this demeaning industry, including prostitutes, community workers and even clients. In the process, they managed to capture the dramatic rescue of 17 young girls (some as young as 10 years old) from a local brothel.

Other films screened were "Shooting Women", showcasing the difficulties women face in the male dominated film industry, "Diamonds - Stories of Women from the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV", a compilation of the personal narratives of ten women and one girl who are HIV-positive, and "Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids", the critically acclaimed American documentary about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's largest and most infamous red light district.

Documentaries often have the power of telling a story in a much more weighty way than talks, movies or books can. Says American actor Paul Kim, "documentaries have tremendous power to reveal truth and can have profound effects on societies and lives."

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