Of trials unplanned – day 3

Continuing my tradition of getting conscripted into positions of some authority, I was recruited into the plenary team for the entire GA – busying up the already hectic schedule with a bevy of apparently randomly placed meetings on practical and legal affairs regarding the General Assembly segments of this Maltese March Meeting. To be frank, I was bribed with Swiss chocolate; this has so far ensured my loyalty, but it remains to be seen what shall happen if a higher bidder comes along. Indeed, it seems the Swiss’ mercenary spirit lives on, although it is strange to see the roles reversed. In any case, it’s been enjoyable so far, although the real test is yet to come with a 2 part marathon plenary session tomorrow.

In other news, the SCORA people were quite friendly and welcoming, even to a blue wearing stranger such as myself, although this could be expected from so called SCORAngels. As previously theorized, most of the introduction was dedicated to discussing the committees primary sectors of interest. In a way, it is quite disheartening to see that so many nations are still not open to, or even criminalize, things we see as nearly basic rights, including such things as access to basic contraception or legal and safe abortions. However, it is refreshing to see that so many of our colleagues from around the world are concerned about these issues, and are taking steps to promote sexual health in their nations through both educating their population and pressuring their governments.

Another peculiar aspect was the notion of family planning – coming from Canada, it is easy to forget that for most of the world, family planning is nearly exclusively about limiting or delaying child birth to maximize access to education and employment from women and limit the resource drain of multiple rapid childbirths. Indeed, it came as a surprise for some of my colleagues that Canada maintains policies that actually facilitate pregnancy, such as fertility clinics and grants for in-vitro fertilisation. In any case, I found the discussions there quite interesting, and for the time being I am enjoying my time among the red robbed ruckus.

Greetings from the isle

Gabriel Lavoie