Sr Winifred Doherty to speak at GS Gathering Day on September 28 2010.
Here Rosie Hoban of the Good Shepherd Mission and Justice Office asks Winifred a few questions.
Sr Winifred Doherty rgs
Q. Can you tell us about yourself.?
A. I was born and educated in Ireland and entered the Good Shepherd Sisters in 1968.
I am a social worker by profession having studied in University College Cork. I was Directress of a teenage unit in Cork for 5 years then in 1983 I was appointed Formation Directress in Ireland and continued in that role for 20 years – 8 in Ireland and 12 in Ethiopia. I went on Mission to Ethiopia in 1991 and remained there as a missionary for 16 years – the last four years were spent in community development work at the Good Shepherd Sisters Centre. I worked there as Director of a number of projects including Day Care for children under 6 years; school sponsorship programs for 1,000 children; Saving and Credit program for mothers and young women, and infrastructural development in the local neighbourhood.
Q. What area of work are you involved in now?
A. I have been the Congregational representative to the United Nations in New York since January 2008. The Congregation has had ‘special consultative status’ with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1996. We received this accreditation based on Good Shepherd’s long years of experience working with women and girls. Because of this accreditation we are entitled to have representation to the United Nations – up to 5 representatives in New York, 5 in Geneva and to have NGO designates named to represent us at the 5 UN Regional Economic Commissions in Chile, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Thailand and Switzerland. Good Shepherd has a small Good Shepherd International Justice Peace Office in Manhattan, close to the United Nations.
Q. Does the work of Good Shepherd at the UN have any impact on our work in Australia.
A. I believe that the agenda of the United Nations can and does impact and support the work of Good Shepherd not only in Australia, but in every country where we are present.
The agenda of the UN is based on values desiring a ‘better world’ for all. For example the issue of poverty eradication will be of primary focus over the next two years as it is the priority theme of the Commission for Social Development. Gender equality is the main thrust of the Commission on the Status of Women. These are functional committees of the Economic and Social Council and meet annually for two weeks respectively. The new session of the General Assembly will commence with a summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – having the same focus of poverty eradication and gender equality as two of its eight goals. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues and it meets annually in New York. Likewise Human Rights issues are covered for nation states through the Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review, Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and others. In July of this year the CEDAW experts examined the report from Australia and the committee’s recommendations will be published in a few weeks.
