WO=MEN in New York

Egyptian women’s organisations make a firm statement that the Egyptian delegation at the CSW does not speak for the New Egypt. They are calling for real political, social, cultural and economic change and women’s agendas have to be part of it. Yet this will not be the case when people from the previous regime continue to be in power. The Coalition of Women’s NGOs in Egypt call on us to sign their petition for rapid dissolution of Egypt ’s National Council for Women. You can read why below, and sign the petition here . Women in the revolution We interviewed Hibaaq Osman from international NGO el Karama and had e-mail contact with Mozn Hassan, Director of local NGO Nazra for Feminist Studies and Egypt Advisor for Global Fund for Women. They told us similar stories. The January 25 revolution was joined by all Egyptians who called for change. Women from different political views, cultural backgrounds, urban and rural classes, participated and were key actors. Hibaaq: “ In Egypt , the w...

Today, history was written. Although, because of its name, it seems that the launch of UN Women is only meaningful for half of the population, namely women, we believe it should be celebrated by men as well. It is a signal that men cannot go about the world’s challenges alone, and that men and women, girls and boys should run the hurdles- and enjoy the fruits of their efforts TOGETHER. We had almost given up already, thinking we would not be able to get access to the United Nations General Assembly Hall to attend the official Launch of UN Women. However, with our persistence, we found ourselves right there am ongst all those governmen t and NGO representatives to watch Ban Ki-moon, Princess Cristina of Spain and many other exemplary persons celebrating this big step in reaching gender equality across the world. UN Women made a strong statement by opening the doors of the GA to civil society. The fact that we, as well as many other NGO representatives, were given access to the event ‘...

To hear more about the latest developments in the formal UN member states' negotiations, today we (civil society) met with the Dutch delegation from OCW, Carlien Scheele and Charles de Vries, and the new Dutch Permanent Representative at the UN for gender and SRHR, Hinke Nauta. EU negotiations Carlien informed us about the EU negotiations on the Agreed Conclusions. Every year the EU member states come together during the CSW to negotiate amongst each other what they would like to change or add to the draft conclusions. Sometimes they largely agree, at other times they largely don’t, and it has happened that the EU split up in two blocks over more ‘controversial’ issues. During the EU coordination meetings in the past few days, the Dutch delegation plugged a selection of our Joint NGO recommendations. After two EU meetings there was already agreement between the member states, a unicum in the at least a decade. The notion of women as agents of change was added to paragraph 4, as w...

The official launch of UN Women, today at 6:30 PM New York time! "Honouring the Past – Envisioning the Future for Women and Girls", will be hosted by Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women. It will be emceed by Ms. Christiane Amanpour, with other distinguished speakers and performers. Watch in LIVE through the UN webcast: http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/index.html Choose Channel 6 from the menu on the right

No civil society access to formal UN sessions Our evening was totally made yesterday when we managed to get our hands on an access pass for the public tribune of the official UN members states´ session for day 2 of the CSW. Today however, we found ourselves blocked by security guards at the entrance. The UN Security Council had organized an unscheduled meeting in ´our´ room. CSW55 discussions were moved to a room without possibilities for public presence. The UN Headquarters have been under construction for several years now, which can make space limited and information sharing unorganized. It did make us wonder though, how high the Commission on the Status of Women is ranked on the UN´s priority list. On the other hand, the recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region deserve all the intention of the international community they can get. We aim to give you some more information particularly on the situation of women in the region in the coming days, when we w...

In several sessions throughout the day, I find myself in the room with the same person. Apparently my interests are similar to his... In the last session of the day, I sit next to him. I find out that he is called David Makala and that he is a Gender and Development Practitioner from Tanzania. One of the very few African men that I have seen at the CSW. In the room at this last session of the day, the atmosphere is tense… an activist vibe is detectible, especially when a lady stands up and shouts “Patriarchy has figured us [women’s activists and feminists] out!”. I wonder what this does to him, as a man, to be a women’s, or rather gender activist amongst so many women who seem to have a rather negative attitude towards men. “Patriarchy is a monster, but we should not be afraid” David tells me that there is no way, men can be successful without women, neither can women without men. “I come from a gender perspective, we need to tackle this monstrous Patriarchy together”, says David...

To avoid bombarding you with a large number of blog texts each day, we will be simultaneously using the WO=MEN twitter account for the quotes of the day. Click HERE to see the Twitter messages! You are welcome to FOLLOW us.

Today was the first official day of CSW55. This morning at 10, all UN entities (government delegations) collected at the UN Headquarters for the formal opening ceremony. The UN sessions are closed to the general public, however, some lucky NGO representatives manage to get their hands on access passes for the public tribune (we will not bother you with the procedures). Kirsten van den Hul, UN Womens-representative for the Netherlands , was one of them and shared her impressions with us. Click on the links below to read the full speeches of the key note speakers. Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-General spoke about the status of women. She emphasized that we have made progress, but it is not nearly enough. For example, 2/3 of all illiterate adults are women. This figure has not changed in the past 20 years. Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) gave an impressive speech about the importance of investing in women for social dev...

Financing NAP 1325 During the panel on Investing in Peace: Financing 1325 & the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, Sara Lulo ( Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School ) & Greg Starner (White & Case LLP's Commercial Litigation Group) shared their experiences on strategies to work with the private sector. Sara: “Doing good is good business.” This is why the private sector is getting more and more involved in 1325 related, not for profit activities. (For m ore information, contact Dewi Suralaga from Dutch development organization Cordaid who also participated, Dewi.suralaga@cordaid.nl) What is in it for the private sector? Greg: “We as a law firm like to see our lawyers on the ground getting experience, as an opportunity to develop expertise. We also like the idea to contribute to programmes that fit our objectives. We want to feel like we are adding value to local communities or international initiatives.” How does a law...

After a rather theoretical presentation full of data from the US during the Parallel session on 'Relational Aspects of Gender Equality in Sport: Male-Female Collaborative Advocacy', Mathilda Mwaba from Zambia is asked to take the stage. She is the Executive Director of NOWSPAR, a Zambian organisation that promotes gender equality through sports. She actually comes with much more interesting ‘real’ information about her experiences in challenging gender stereotypes by not only assisting girls and women, but also by starting a dialogue with boys and (young) men. Mathilda & Mathilda Mwaba, with Kirsten van den Hul (yes there were men present as well, we just really like this picture) Every Body Matters It feels refreshing when Mathilda explains how the organisation is confronted with the reality of the relational context: men want to be involved as well in fighting for greater gender equality! “We cannot avoid including men in our work” says Mathilda. She explains how turn...

During the NGO Consultation Day, we met an inspiring student, Mariam Yaqub from Lehigh University who got inspired by our message that gender stereotypes need to be challenged, and that men need to be proactively involved in solutions to violence and discrimination against girls. After Joni's statement, she came towards us to ask for more information. She interviewed us over some drinks, which in the end became a pleasant exchange of experiences. You can read her blog with her reflection on our conversation here . Great to meet other activist youth at the CSW!! Read Mariam's blog !

We’ll give you a daily dosis of inspirational quotes. There’s so much going on we simply can’t go into detail on all of it, so this is a selection that might trigger some thoughts… “Women can, Yes we can!” Michelle Bachelet states with great confidence. The audience cheers and applauses, the head of UNWomen is already loved by experienced women activists. See for more reflection on Bachelet’s speech the blog below. “We have to stop it, because it hurts. Even as a man, I also know it.” A young US marine (male) stands up to speak his mind on men’s roles in ending violence against women and girls. “That right there, is a micro-representation of what is wrong in this world: we are not moving, because we are quite comfortable where we are now…” Dutch Women respresentative at the UN Kirsten van den Hul makes a sharp observation on the behaviour of two NGO representatives who do not want to move up a few seats so we can sit together ...

Michelle Bachelet (Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General for UNWomen) About 300 people, nearly all women, in the main room of the Salvation Army are full of excitement. It is the day before the official start of the CSW and we are already toge ther to share our contact cards, experiences and ideas. On top of that, Michelle Bachelet who is the head of UNWomen and a great example comes to speak! Expectations are high… Civil society: partners of UNWomen! Michelle Bachelet starts off with sweet words in a room full of women activists and organisations: “today, the NGO consultation is the corner stone of the CSW.” When Bachelet states that civil society is part of the solution to reach greater gender equality, she gets a standing ovation from the NGO representatives present in the room. UNWomen depends on the support and partnership with civil society, and “NGOs are key partners of UNWomen” says Bachelet. Action is added to the words as the question is posed: “How do you, as NGOs...

By Joni van de Sand WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform In just a couple of days the CSW55 kicks off! Before we can really start our participant observation of the United Nations’ diplomatic jungle, we will give you a short update on what we have been up to. We also present some relevant documents for you to take notice of, hopefully read, and perhaps even sign?! (you will go where many have gone before you…) Civil society cooperation In the past few weeks WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform has cooperated closely with other civil society organizations - amongst which E-Quality, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, Vrouwenbelangen, the International Council of Women (ICW) and many more - to collectively formulate statements and recommendations regarding this years relevant themes. (If you don´t know how it all works with the CSW and the differences between main theme/review theme/emerging issue, etc, have a look at the CSW55 website ) Main theme During a consultation meeting with Dutch civil society repr...

By Rineke van Dam Junior representative WO=MEN Gender and the emancipation of women remain hot topics up to today. In spite of strong commitment to work on gender equality through international agreements, implementation on the ground is not always taking place effectively. For instance, when the new government took position in the Netherlands at the end of 2010, there was much commotion in the press when the names of proposed ministers were presented: sixteen out of twenty are men, leaving only four women in such leading and exemplary political positions. Media attention soon died away, but the Netherlands is left with a male dominated government. MDG3 Fund in Danger? Gender ratio in the government is one way to look at its ‘women-friendliness’. Of course, priorities and policies are of primary importance as well. To our great pride, the Dutch government has a special budget for MDG3, which is spent on initiatives that promote the emancipation of women. However, with all the enthus...

by Rineke van Dam (junior representative WO=MEN) The Big Apple, symbol for economic vibrancy, cultural exchange and tempting opportunities. When I receive the call from Joni van de Sand working for WO=MEN that I have been selected as junior representative to attend the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, I feel thrilled and a bit intimidated. Such an opportunity needs to be harnessed. The same evening, I delve into the program for the upcoming session. I need to be well prepared to valuably contribute to discussions on the position of women in the world of today. Missing Women The theme under review is the ‘elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child’. This theme makes me think about Amartya Sen’s intriguing example on the implications of discrimination against the girl child. He comes up with the concept of “missing women” and argues that due to unequal access to healthcare and nutrition in a number of countries, ...

It is time for a new session of the Commission on the Status of Women. During the 55th session, the main theme will be: - Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women's equal access to full employment and decent work. The theme under review will be: - The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child. We, Joni van de Sand and Rineke van Dam, will be present in New York on behalf of WO=MEN. Through this blog, we will keep you updated on the most relevant developments, interesting events and 'juicy' details. We happily invite you to respond to our posts on this blog or write your own post by sending your contribution to j.vandesand@wo-men.nl Yes, we FEM! Joni and Rineke