A delegation of 14 FAWCO women joined over 6,000 other NGO representatives for the 60th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60) in NY from March 14 - 24, 2016. The Commission was established in 1946 and is "dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women". The annual sessions provide advocates for human rights for women an opportunity to influence the UN agenda. Around 6,000 delegates from the 45 Member States of the Commission, United Nations entities, and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended this year's annual session with the priority theme "women's empowerment and its link to sustainable development". The session comprised the official ministerial meetings, more than 200 side events hosted by the Member States and UN entities, and around 450 parallel events organized by NGOs.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launched in September 2015, are the top priority at the UN and are to be achieved by the year 2030. Goal 5 is "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls". The focus of the Goal 5 Targets—e.g., violence against women and girls, trafficking, early marriage, health, discrimination—were reoccurring themes in the events. "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up", the theme of 2016 Women's Day, was also in focus.
The opening speech "CSW60 is the First Test of Our Resolve" by UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka gives a perspective on the 2030 Agenda. The concluding commitment of CSW Member States to the implementation of Agenda 2030 is summarized in a press release from the closing day. (Thanks to Carol Strametz of AWC Hamburg for contributing this introduction.)
Blog posts are by UN Liaison Laurie Richardson (AWA Vienna) unless otherwise noted.
Reflections on CSW at the UN in March 2016 by Angela Anderson, AWC Shanghai
I left the Interim Meeting in Seeheim on Monday morning and rode to the Frankfurt airport on the shuttle bus with several conference attendees. Region 11 was well represented on the bus (China, India and Australia). Instead of heading back to Shanghai, I took a direct...
UN CSW: Rozanne VanRie (AWC Antwerp)
After a week long stint at the two week long UN Commission on the Status of Women this past March,, we were all asked to write a report about our experience in order to share with our colleagues at FAWCO.
So, after a my trans-Atlantic trip home to Belgium, I took a long hot...
On March 24, the final day of CSW60, the NGO Committee on Migration in NY, along with the Organization for Early Childhood Education, UNHCR, FAWCO and other organizations co-sponsored an important event: Empowering Syrian Refugee Women and Children for a Better Future: Challenges and Innovative Solutions in Early Childhood Development. The flyer for the event lists the impressive line-up of speakers.