Elizabeth Palmer (activist)

Last updated
Elizabeth Palmer
Born(1913-04-17)April 17, 1913
Manhattan, New York, United States
DiedOctober 4, 2014(2014-10-04) (aged 101)
Claremont, California, United States

Elizabeth Palmer (April 17, 1913 - October 4, 2014) was an American activist who worked for the World YWCA. A native New Yorker, she started working for the US YWCA in New York City in 1935 and later became the General Secretary of the YWCA in Manchester before moving to the World YWCA in 1945. She became General Secretary of the World YWCA in 1955 and retired in 1978. Palmer worked to help women and girls around the globe and guided the World YWCA to take leadership and create international discussions on the status of women. In 1980 Palmer chaired the NGO Forum at the Second UN World Conference on Women in Copenhagen, Denmark and attempted to expand the diversity of voices heard at the conference.

Contents

Early life and education

Elizabeth Palmer was born in New York City to Elizabeth and Embury Palmer. Palmer attended the Masters School at Dobbs Ferry and later earned a degree in religious education from Columbia University in New York. [1]

Career

In 1935 Palmer began working with the US YWCA in New York City, and in 1941 and 1942 she worked for the YWCA USO program in southern Connecticut. [2] In 1942 she became General Secretary of the YWCA of Manchester, Great Britain. [1] In 1945 she joined World YWCA staff [3] as Youth Secretary [1] and in 1946 she organized a conference of young leaders and members of the YWCAs of Europe, the first after World War II ended. [3] After attending the YWCA World's Council meeting in Hangchow, China in 1947, [1] she was World YWCA Secretary for South and East Asia from 1948 to 1951. [1] [3] Palmer was recommended for this position by Sosa Matthew, National General Secretary of the YWCA of India, Burma, and Ceylon, with the praise that the people of India liked Elizabeth Palmer. [1] In her first year, she traveled to 10 different countries in that region, building networks. [1] Next she worked in the World YWCA office in Geneva, Switzerland as Secretary for Interpretation and Finance, [3] and in 1955 Palmer was appointed General Secretary of the World YWCA, where she worked with the board to set global policy for the organization. She also oversaw the staff in Geneva, traveled to many international conferences and meetings, and served on CONGO committees (Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) and on other NGOs based in Geneva. [4]

Palmer retired from the role of General Secretary in 1978. [3] Her long tenure and accomplishments drew praise from people, including Athena Athanassiou (World YWCA president) from Greece, who commented that she helped to decolonize the World YWCA as women from around the world worked together, partnered on issues, and also struggled along the way in these difficult changes. [1] She was known as a natural leader with an open mind and a mind for finance as well as for justice. She enabled other women to take leadership roles, and established closer links with the growing number of national YWCA associations. [1]

In 1979 Palmer was asked to lead the Planning Committee for NGO Activities at the World Conference of the UN Decade for Women, [5] and in 1980 she chaired the NGO Forum at the Copenhagen Mid-Decade Conference. [4] [6]

The 1980 NGO Forum at the Second U.N. Conference on Women

The 1980 Forum took place as part of the Second World Conference of the UN Decade for Women in Copenhagen. Elizabeth Palmer was selected by Edith Ballantyne, board president of CONGO and member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to be chair of the NGO Forum planning committee. Palmer's responsibilities included raising funds for expenses ($470,000), coordinating with the Danish National Council of Women for volunteers, and coordinating how the forum will work with the many NGOs. [5] Planning meetings were open to all NGO participating in the conference, and 34 participated. [5]

Through her longtime work with the World YWCA, an organization known for focusing on women's rights and the education of girls, Palmer had developed connections in the UN and was well known in the global feminist community, so she chaired the NGO forum. [1] Each of the three UN Conferences on Women had NGO forums chaired by women from the World YWCA (Mildred Persinger, Elizabeth Palmer and Nita Barrow). [4] The choice of having Palmer, a white, Christian, American, well-educated, middle-class woman chair the international forum, and perhaps have too much influence in the conversations, was not without criticism. [4]

Palmer learned from some of the feedback of the forum at World Conference on Women, 1975 that took place in Mexico. Aiming to make the 1980 forum more participatory and flexible, she provided programing but also allowed for more spontaneous programming to occur. [4] She asked the International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) to start networking activities and a networking center, which became Vivencia!, a networking and flexible workshop space within the forum that also became central for Spanish speaking women in attendance. The women from IWTC who helped lead in this effort were Anne S. Walker, Vicki Semler, and Vicky Mejia. [6] Over 8,000 people participated in the forum, representing 128 countries, and 150-175 workshops, panels, and meetings were held each day, [5] bringing a diverse experience to each attendee, and according to some sources, making it difficult to report on what the experience was for the women in attendance. [7] Palmer and her committee provided funding and minimal structure so the participants could take the lead. [4]

Despite some criticism, it is acknowledged that the three forums at the UN conferences on women, including the one in 1980, generally influenced the UN to address women's needs, spreading awareness and conversation about the global status of women well past the 1980s. [4]

Palmer was recognized by the United Nations as one of only three women on their list of one hundred people who helped build the UN. [3]

Later life

After 1980, Elizabeth Palmer stayed active in the YWCA World Service Council. [3] In a 1987 article about a World YWCA meeting in Phoenix, Arizona where 700 women from 72 countries met, she was quoted describing how the YWCA had grown to understand that women need a sense of self reliance and control locally to effect change. She added that women can make a difference when they understand what structural issues are happening in their communities. [8] Palmer moved to Pilgrim Place, a senior community in Claremont, California, in 1988, where she died in 2014. [2]

Related Research Articles

Habitat II, the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul, Turkey from June 3–14, 1996, twenty years after Habitat I held in Vancouver in 1976. Popularly called the "City Summit", it brought together high-level representatives of national and local governments, as well as private sector, NGOs, research and training institutions and the media. Universal goals of ensuring adequate shelter for all and human settlements safer, healthier and more livable cities, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations, were discussed and endorsed.

The World Organisation Against Torture is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other forms of violence. With more than 200 affiliated organisations in its SOS-Torture Network, the OMCT aims at accompanying, reinforcing and protecting anti-torture organisations in particular in erosive environments and provides a comprehensive system of support and protection for human rights defenders around the world. The global network consists of local, national and regional organisations, which share the goal of eradicating torture and fostering respect of human rights for all.

Dame Ruth Nita Barrow, GCMG DA was the first female governor-general of Barbados. Barrow was a nurse and a public health servant from Barbados. She served as the fifth governor-general of Barbados from 6 June 1990 until her death on 19 December 1995. She was the older sister of Errol Barrow, the first prime minister of Barbados.

The 2001 World Conference against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban I, was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa, under UN auspices, from 31 August to 8 September 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Women's Year</span> Name given to 1975 by the United Nations

International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs</span> Government organization in New York, United States

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Second and Third Committees of the United Nations General Assembly. UN DESA assists countries around the world in agenda-setting and decision-making with the goal of meeting their economic, social and environmental challenges. It supports international cooperation to promote sustainable development for all, having as a foundation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as adopted by the UN General Assembly on 25 September 2015. In providing a broad range of analytical products, policy advice, and technical assistance, UN DESA effectively translates global commitments in the economic, social and environmental spheres into national policies and actions and continues to play a key role in monitoring progress towards internationally agreed-upon development goals. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.

The NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York (NGO/CSW/NY) is one of three women's committees of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the UN (CoNGO). Established in 1972, it provides an open forum for women's voices to be heard at the United Nations. The NGO/CSW/NY assists girls and women of all ages to advocate and organize for the implementation of global agreements, including the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, Beijing Platform for Action, UN Security Council Resolution 1325, the Millennium Development Goals and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The committee works in cooperation with the NGO Committees on the Status of Women in Geneva and Vienna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebeca Grynspan</span>

Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis is a Costa Rican economist who has been serving as Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since 13 September 2021.

Mildred Tilghman Emory Persinger was an American feminist and international activist for non-governmental organizations (NGO).

Elaine Valdov is President and Founder of The International Institute for a Culture of Peace As a peace and human rights activist and conflict resolution specialist, Valdov lectures internationally and is best known for her work in championing and building initiatives worldwide, in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and UNESCO’s International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. She has chaired task forces for women empowerment and gender equality; and founded “Yoga Peace Ambassadors” to teach MDG humanitarian service options in Yoga Ashrams worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arvonne Fraser</span> American political activist

Arvonne Skelton Fraser was an American women's rights advocate and political campaigner. She held the position of Senior Fellow at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and from 1993–1994 was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She also managed the political campaigns of her husband Donald M. Fraser during his career, from 1954 to 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Møller</span> Danish diplomat

Michael Møller is president of the Diplomatic Forum of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation, principal advisor at Macro Advisory Partners and member of the boards of several foundations, including the Kofi Annan Foundation. He is Honorary President of the Association of Former International Civil Sevants for Development (Greycells). He is a Danish former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the 12th director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). He was also the secretary-general of the Conference on Disarmament and the United Nations Secretary-General's personal representative to the conference. He was appointed to these roles by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in November 2013 and was reappointed by Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2017 for another year. Møller has over 40 years of experience as an international civil servant in the United Nations System, serving in different roles in New York, Iran, Mexico, Haiti and Geneva. Prior to his tenure as director-general, he was the executive director of the Kofi Annan Foundation from 2008 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Jiagge</span> Ghanaian judge and womens rights activist

Annie Ruth Jiagge, , also known as Annie Baëta Jiagge, was a Ghanaian lawyer, judge and women's rights activist. She was the first woman in Ghana and the Commonwealth of Nations to become a judge. She was a principal drafter of the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and a co-founder of the organisation that became Women's World Banking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Ali Alhakim</span> Iraqi politician and diplomat

Dr. Mohamed Ali Alhakim is an Iraqi politician and diplomat. He was the foreign minister of Iraq from October 25, 2018 to May 12, 2020 in the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. He is the former Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations Office at Geneva and New York.

World Conference on Women, 1975 was held between 19 June and 2 July 1975 in Mexico City, Mexico. It was the first international conference held by the United Nations to focus solely on women's issues and marked a turning point in policy directives. After this meeting, women were viewed as part of the process to develop and implement policy, rather than recipients of assistance. The conference was one of the events established for International Women's Year and led to the creation of both the United Nations Decade for Women and follow-up conferences to evaluate the progress that had been made in eliminating discrimination against women and their equality. Two documents were adopted from the conference proceedings, the World Plan of Action which had specific targets for nations to implement for women's improvement and the Declaration of Mexico on the Equality of Women and Their Contribution to Development and Peace, which discussed how nations foreign policy actions impacted women. It also led to the establishment of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women to track improvements and continuing issues and the United Nations Development Fund for Women to provide funding for developmental programs. The conference marked the first time that the parallel Tribune meeting was successful in submitting input to the official meeting and became a catalyst for women's groups to form throughout the world.

The World Conference on Women, 1980 or the Second World Conference on Women took place between 14 and 30 July 1980 in Copenhagen, Denmark as the mid-decade assessment of progress and failure in implementing the goals established by the World Plan of Action at the 1975 inaugural conference on women. The most significant event to come out of the conference was that the formal signing of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women took place during the opening ceremony of the conference. Marred by conflict and politicization of international and national events which had little to do with women's issues, the conference was viewed by some participants as a failure. They were able to secure passage of a modified World Programme of Action to expand on previous targets to improve women's status, and established a follow-up conference for the end of the decade.

The World Conference on Women, 1985 or the Third World Conference on Women took place between 15 and 26 July 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, as the end-of-decade assessment of progress and failure in implementing the goals established by the World Plan of Action from the 1975 inaugural conference on women as modified by the World Programme of Action of the second conference. Of significance during the conference was the end result of the Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women being adopted by consensus, unlike the previous two conferences. The conference marked the first time that lesbian rights were introduced in a UN official meeting and the turning-point for violence against women to emerge from being a hidden topic into one which needed to be addressed. Recognizing that the goals of the Decade for Women had not been met, the conference recommended and the General Assembly approved on-going evaluation of women's achievements and failures through the year 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Ballantyne</span> Czech Canadian citizen

Edith Ballantyne is a Czech-born Canadian citizen, who has been a prominent member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) since 1969. At that time, she became the executive secretary of the international organisation, based in Geneva, Switzerland, serving in that capacity for twenty-three years. Between 1992 and 1998, she served as the International President of the organisation. In 1995, she was honored as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira</span>

Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira is a Brazilian journalist and feminist writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Rokotuivuna</span> Fijian feminist and anti-nuclear activist

Amelia Rokotuivuna was a Fijian socialist and feminist community leader and activist, who was known for her opposition to French nuclear tests in the Pacific and to the Fijian military coups in 1987 and 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Carole, Seymour-Jones (1994). Journey of faith : the history of the World YWCA, 1945-1994. Allison & Busby. ISBN   0-7490-0265-4. OCLC   31708235.
  2. 1 2 "Elizabeth Palmer | Claremont COURIER". The Claremont COURIER. 2014-10-09. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Louge, Joelle. "Remembering Elizabeth Palmer – YWCA World Service Council" . Retrieved 2022-09-05.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Garner, Karen (2007). "World YWCA Leaders and the UN Decade for Women". Journal of International Women's Studies. 9 (1): 212–33 – via Bridgewater State University Virtual Commons.
  5. 1 2 3 4 United States (1981). Women in development: 1980 report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, United States House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: The Office.
  6. 1 2 Walker, Anne S. (2004). "The International Women's Tribune Centre: Expanding the Struggle for Women's Rights at the U.N.". In Fraser, Arvonne S.; Tinker, Irene (eds.). Developing Power: How Women Transformed International Development. Feminist Press at the City U of New York. pp. 90–102. ISBN   9781558614840.
  7. ↑ Fraser, Arvonne S. (1987). The U.N. Decade for Women : documents and dialogue. Boulder: Westview Press. ISBN   0-8133-7249-6. OCLC   13822918.
  8. ↑ "The YWCA: not just a fitness or social club. Emphasis shifts toward self-help projects for third-world women". Christian Science Monitor. 1987-09-21. ISSN   0882-7729 . Retrieved 2022-09-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.