Geneva, October 4th, 2023

There is great value in having SI's Reps to the UN meet in-person.   Because of this, SI's three Main Reps to the UN and l have agreed to meet in-person once a year to discuss and plan for Servas' further involvements at the UN.  This very thing is happening this week.  

Six of SI's Reps to the UN (the 4 Reps to Geneva--Daniela, Beatrice, Helga and Magnus--and Kent and l) have gathered here for a few days, to see the UN offices in Geneva and to participate in the current session of the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC).  It has also been a great opportunity to get to know each other better, talking about Servas, global issues, and other topics. 

Servas' Geneva team has submitted a written statement to the HRC on the theme of women and poverty, focused particularly on women in situations of armed conflict (copy attached).  The team has also prepared statements on a few specific topics on the HRC's agenda this week.

As well, the Geneva team organized a side-event "Women, Poverty, and Human Rights" which took place yesterday morning.  Helga, Daniela, and Magnus were the speakers, with Kent as moderator. 
 Joining the six of us Reps at the side event were sixteen others, all or most of whom were representatives of member countries of the UN.

This weekend, Angelika, Kent and l are attending the Servas Alpe-Adria meeting in Linz, Austria.  On coming Monday and Tuesday, the five of us (Angelika, David, Marneo, Kent and I ) will be at the UN offices in Vienna.

Hamsavahini Singh, Servas India and Coordinator of the Servas International at the United Nations Team,