WO=MEN in New York

Wat willen we de Nederlandse regeringsdelegatie meegeven als ze naar de Commission on the Status of Women in New York gaan?   Dat was de hoofdvraag tijdens de maatschappelijk middenveld consultatie op 6 december in Den Haag die WO=MEN samen met Aletta-Equality en de Nederlandse Vrouwen Raad (NVR) organiseerde. Elk jaar geven we de regeringsdelegatie die Nederland vertegenwoordigt in de Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) bij de Verenigde Naties aanbevelingen mee. Dit jaar gaat het hoofdthema over geweld tegen vrouwen. Wat vindt het netwerk van WO=MEN goede methoden om geweld tegen vrouwen te voorkomen? En waar moet Nederland voor strijden bij de VN? Nederland wordt internationaal gewaardeerd en is een speler die gevoelige onderwerpen durft aan te snijden, zoals seksuele en reproductieve gezondheid en rechten (SRGR). De 40 organisaties/individuen die aanwezig waren bij de maatschappelijk middenveld consultatie hebben flink wat input gegeven die worden verwerkt in ...

Even though the negotiations had been extended beyond the date that was scheduled to have concluded the session in the end no agreed conclusions have been adopted at the 19 th meeting of the fifty-sixth session of the CSW (March 15 2012). To my knowledge it is the first time in history that the CSW did not adopt agreed conclusions to (formally) submit to the Ecosoc Council. Embarrassment all around the diplomatic community in New York! Diplomats rightfully fear to be seen as incapable of flexibility and compromise. In words of Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Women: ‘ a disappointing inability to reach consensus. ’ There are some rumours that after another nightly session the informal negotiations in the end stuck especially around the wording of issues of sexuality and reproduction. But other subjects too were far from resolved. The statement on behalf of the African Group (AG) hints for instance at disagreements about the ter...

Vanuit de zaal waar de onderhandelingen plaatsvinden hebben we het laatste nieuws over de onderhandelingen gehoord: Vanavond om 6 uur hield de voorzitter van de CSW een pleidooi aan alle aanwezigen om zich te richten op de groep om wie het deze CSW ging: rural women. Hij riep op de eigen strijdpunten in dat perspectief te zien en om tot een eindresultaat te komen. De informals vervolgden tot 8 uur, op welk tijdstip de balans werd opgemaakt. Er waren slechts 7 paragrafen extra overeengekomen, en nog tientallen para's pending. De voorzitter legde voor hoe/of nog verder te gaan. De EU gaf aan te willen doorgaan, evenals Zwitserland. De African Group (die al had aangegeven enkele para's mee terug te willen nemen naar de groep) en Rusland wilden stoppen, vervolgens bleek uit de zaal dat de wil om verder te gaan ontbrak. De voorzitter gaf aan dat men dinsdag of woensdag de informals zal voortzetten. Joni van de Sand, WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform

A proposal to held a 5th Women’s World Conference in 2015 will be put forward to the General Assembly of the UN on behalf of Secretary Seneral mr. Ban Ki-moon and on behalf of President of the General Assembly, mr Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. Early this morning at the last NGO Briefing Ms. Ana Marie Hernando (Philippines), Vice-Chair of the Bureau of CSW 56, confirmed that the chef of the Secretary General’s Cabinet yesterday indeed made an intervention under Agenda item 5 of the CSW. Both gentlemen will embark on a process of consultation as the member states note only have to agree in the General Assembly), but also have to provide the funding to organise the conference. The official statement is to be found on the UN-Website. Possiby this link does not work - inthat case one should try to search at the UN-website: latest statements of the gs, date March 8 (http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=5904). The 5 th Women’s World Conference is to take place in the...

On March 6, the Malaysia based International Women’s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW AP) organised an event on the global economic crisis and how to sustain and invigorate the women’s human rights agenda. Due to the current economic and financial crisis there has been a significant shift and shrinking of financial support for women’s human rights organisations. During the event organisations and donors - amongst others OSI and Hivos - discussed main issues that have had an impact on the women’s movement. Women’s organisations shared their experiences and strategies on how to advance the women’s human rights agenda, the challenges that they face in doing so and the innovative measures they used in addressing the funding crush. One of the presenters was Leontine Bijleveld, of WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform, she shared the experience of a coalition of Dutch organisations in keeping women’s rights on the Dutch international agenda. The Netherlands government commits to women’s rights as a prio...

NGOCSW/NY Forum offered CSW-delegates and NGO-participants the opportunity to march on international women's day. Jessie Hexspoor (Hivos) made an impression of her first global women's march.

Breaking news bij de CSW: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gaat voorstellen om een 5e WereldVrouwenConferentie te organiseren in 2015! Hij zal dit formeel in stemming brengen bij de 66e sessie van de UN General Assembly die in oktober dit jaar zal plaatsvinden. Dat is aangekondigd door het CSW bureau bij de laatste algemene publieke sessie. Komt er een vrouwenconferentie in navolging van de vierde conferentie in Beijing (1995)? En zo ja, wat zou dit betekenen voor gender gelijkheid en empowerment van vrouwen in de wereld? Sinds het Beijing Platform voor Actie is de wereld veranderd. In een aantal opzichten zijn vrouwen erop vooruitgegaan. Aan de andere kant lijken de verhoudingen tussen progressieve en reactieve krachten steeds meer op scherp te staan. Een nieuwe conferentie kan leiden tot een nieuwe declaratie. Daarmee zal Beijing verouderd zijn. Als er een 5WCW komt, zullen pro-gender, pro-vrouwenrechten, pro-empowerment, pro-sexual orientation and gender identity activisten alles ...

Voici une déclaration sur le droit des femmes iraniennes de participer à la CCF qui a été lue par une consœur, au nom des militantes iraniennes, au cours de la séance d’information matinale des ONG. Des copies de cette déclaration ont été distribuées pendant les célébrations de l’ONU marquant la Journée internationale de la femme. La délégation syndicale à la CCF

A group of international women's and human rights activists, organizations and networks, including AI, AIDOA and AWID to name a few, joined forces with a group of Women's rights activists from Iran and applied for an oral statement during the General Discussion at CSW 54. The application was turned down. UN Women was requested to explain why: CSW's Bureau decided to refuse allotting speaking time to the alliance because Iran, one of the 45 members of the CSW this year insisted to do. We all thought that freedom of expression was one of the fundamental right, guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but apparently this does not apply to UN premises! In the end the CSW-NGO liason team right allowed one of the sisters to read the statement just after the closing the daily NGO briefing this morning. You can read it through this link . Also watch the video, ABSENT VOICES , in youtube. Leontine Bijleveld

Patti O’Neill, Deputy Head Policy Coordination Development Co-operation Directorate OECD, presented a paper at the Interactive Panel on the Review theme.: Follow the Money – Tracking Financing for Gender Equality. Download of the paper is possible via CSW 54 . In the first part of her paper O’Neill explained the development of the OECD DAC gender equality policy marker. Once countries become members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), they are required to submit statistical data on their aid activities along common reporting rules and standards. Data on aid activities targeting gender equality have been collected since 1991. The biggest breakthroughs have come over the last five years, leading to increases in aid focused on gender equality. Today all 24 DAC members are using the marker and 75% of the sector-allocable aid is screened. The Committee is able to use the data in peer reviews to identify gaps between political commitments and statements...

On Friday 2 March, the organisation Karama organised a conference on the role of Arab women’s rights activists in the Arab Spring. Greater representation of women in decision making processes in countries in the MENA region, increased participation and representation of female - civil society - leaders from the Arab region in the international analysis and public dialogue on the Arab Spring and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 were the main topics on the agenda during the conference. Approximately fifteen NGO leaders and women’s rights activists from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Somalia, and Sudan presented three main panels: 1. Are the Arab women shaping the future after the Arab Spring 2. Striving for new constitutional rights in the context of Islamist electoral victories 3. Women, peace and security: demanding accountability for implementing resolutions 1325 and 1820 in the Arab region Are the Arab women shaping the future after the Arab Spr...

El-Karama organized a on e-day conference on March 2nd at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel. The conference was composed of experts and activists from within the Arab region, including women from Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunis , as well as global partners, amongst which from HIVOS and WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform. The conference led to a concrete set of recommendation s for the future: Panel 1: Are Arab women shaping the future after the Arab Spring? - Success for women will come from how well we are organized, ad what social and other resources women have. We must use our numbers to organize, to speak loudly, to counter what’s happening against women’s rights, to reach the political candidates, and to use the media. - poverty and politics are the crux for women’s empowerment. We must work at the level of the village and in rural areas to end poverty and illiteracy, so that not just the Muslim Brotherhood is recognized for this. - We have to play the game diff...

The interactive dialogue about the review theme was expected to lead to strong recommendations for accelerating progress in implementation of the Agreed Conclusions 52, taking into account not only the challenges but also the opportunities stemming from the current global context. The multiple crises facing the world however threatens real progress. As the secretariat had stated in the issues paper: “To achieve equitable and sustainable development results, a stronger response tot the issue of financing for gender equality is needed." Generally spoken the interactive dialogue was not very exciting or revealing. A moderator’s summary will highlight the key findings and recommendations of the event. We present some of the more interesting views below. Lydia Alpizar (AWID) observed some trends in funding women’s rights: “What we see is kind of a paradox. On the one hand, in the last 3-5 years, there has been an increase by mainstream actors in interest in women and girls as ...

Thank you Chair for the invitation to make an intervention in this rich debate on behalf of Hivos, a Dutch development agency. I am speaking also on behalf of the other Dutch NGO’s with ECOSOC accreditation attending this 56 th CSW, which in their turn represent many other women’s rights organizations at home. To start I would like to recall our excitement in 2008 that the M word, Money, was on the CSW agenda. Gender equality requires money and investments and so Money Matters indeed. The Agreed Conclusions of CSW 52, finalised behind closed doors in the night after the closing ceremony, did not meet our expectations at all. Women’s rights organizations in the Netherlands and Europe, having been present at the CSW 52, issued a statement, expressing their deep concerns that there were no meaningful commitments in the Agreed Conclusions related to financing for gender equality. No concrete targets and timetables and no strong mechanisms for effective tracking and monitor...

In the organization of Work of CSW 54 Thursday 1 March was dedicated to the Review theme Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women . In two panels experts presented their views, often in the form of a shorter oral paper presentation and a more extensive written version, available on PDF on the CSW 54 website , as is the Issues paper prepared by the secretariat (your have to scroll down untill you see the aanouncements of the panels). The morning focussed on the national experiences and the afternoon was dedicated to the perspecive of international organisations an multilateral development partners. For the Dutch organizations, especially Hivos and WO=MEN, the review theme did have a special meaning as they had been very intensely engaged in the lobby for strong Agreed Conclusions on the subject of Financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment . By the way: it is recommendable to read the blogs the HIVOS/WO=MEN/IIAV team wrote back in 2008 , the year ...

Gender equality is about the relationships between women and men. Take a second to really absorb this apparently simple statement. Though the overall majority of the people walking around the CSW56 premises are women (with the exception of government delegates where the balance is about 50/50), we – as the network called “Women Equals Men” - are happy to share that men’s organizations working on gender equality are present here as well. Male gender champions Gary Barker from Instituto Promundo ( Brazil ), and Tim Shand and Aviwe Mtibe from the Sonke Gender Justice Network ( South Africa ) shared stories of change when working with men at the grassroots. Representatives from UNFPA and UNICEF also reaffirmed that without men, there can be no gender justice. These organizations therefore have targeted programmes with men, as well as mainstreamed work with men in projects related to a.o. violence against women and family planning. Gary Barker explained about the recently lounged Men...

This afternoon was the moment for several regional caucuses. That means: civil society organizations from a specific region meet up and exchange thoughts. Unlike the negotiations between the government delegations, these meetings are open to anyone who wishes to join. We were very interested to hear how women from around the African continent strategize during the CSW. As you may recall, during last year’s session the representative of the African Group did not flourish in pro-gender statements… An African Women Statement was presented on behalf of regional African women’s organizations. The organizations recall CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (‘Maputo Protocol’ 2003). They underscore acceleration of the implementation of commitments made to women’s human rights. Hinders to women’s freedom of choice and mobility in the socio-economic context are mentioned. Even the persistence of patriarchal norms and rural...

Voor het eerst sinds 7 jaar maakt de minister van emancipatie deel uit van de regeringsdelegatie naar de CSW. Minister van Bijsterveldt heeft vol overtuiging daarvoor gekozen, zo vertelde ze de NGO-vertegenwoordigers vanmiddag tijdens de lunch op de PV, waarvoor ze hen had uitgenodigd. Hoewel in de Nederlandse context de politieke discussie over emancipatie tegenwoordig vaak ten onrechte verengd wordt tot emancipatie van homo’s, lesbo’s, biseksuele en transgender personen (LHBT), gaat het Nederlandse emancipatiebeleid ook en nog steeds over verbetering van de positie van vrouwen. De titel van het persbericht - Minister maakt zich bij VN sterk voor vrouwenrechten - moet dan ook zeker niet worden opgevat als wel bij de VN, maar niet in Nederland , merkt uw columnist op. De toespraak van de minister vond op dinsdagmiddag plaats, toen het al avond was in Nederland, zodat we niet meteen een link naar de tekst konden plaatsen - inmiddels, het is nu hier een uur of zeven, vonden we de...

This morning the opening ceremony of the 56 th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place in the General Assembly of the United Nations. Several organization- and country-representatives delivered speeches, which provide us with some useful insights in the overall trends and specific agenda’s during the session to come. All spokespersons confirmed the importance of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) . This agenda captures the centrality of gender and gender equality. It is not entirely surprising that progressive, moderate and conservative states alike underline the BPfA. After all “one of the key roles of the CSW is to monitor progress and address remaining gaps in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.” ( Ms. Marjon V. Kamara from Liberia , chair of CSW56 ). Ms. Kamara further stated that “For good reasons, the annual sessions of the CSW are a ‘must-attend’ on the calendars of the global gender equality community. It is the ti...

Rustige CSW? Het was uitermate prettig om maar een stuk of vijf vrouwen vóór ons te hebben in de rij bij de registratie op zondag. Terwijl we toch pas na half tien aansloten. Al waren het er wel iets meer geworden voor we uiteindelijk aan de beurt waren, ruimschoots voor elven liepen we alweer door een zonnig, maar erg fris Manhattan – erg fijn voor mijn griephoofd. Nu we de eerste CSW-dag achter de rug hebben beginnen meer eerste impressies in te dalen. Het lijkt er op dat het, in ieder geval qua NGO-aanwezigheid, erg rustig is. Veel rustiger dan in 2010 en 2008 – mijn voorgaande CSW-gangen. Of het ook qua inhoud rustig zal zijn valt te bezien. Er schijnt al weer informeel verder onderhandeld te zijn over de door het Bureau van de CSW opgestelde draft Agreed Conclusions (zie voor de Bureauversie de link een blog of wat geleden). Hopelijk horen we daar meer over op de lunch bij de Permanente Vertegenwoordiging waarvoor we morgen door minister van Bijsterveldt zijn uitgenod...

The National Domestic Workers Alliance (VS) celebrated the Oscar for The Help in numerous ‘Be the Help’ viewing parties. Trade Union Women from all over the world, in New York for CSW 56 , joined in last saturday night. They felt like having received the honour of the prestigious award for themselves. Marieke Koning (International Trade Union Confederation) explained about the international campaign the global unions have embarked on. The international Domestic Workers Network is of course on of the partners in the campaign.The ‘12 by 12’ Campaign aims at 12 ratifications of C189, the new ILO Convention Decent Work for Domestic Workers, by 2012. The Campaign runs now in 56 countries. Dozens of unions /coalitions organised events in December 2011 to officially launch the Campaign. Though the Netherlands has ratified the majority of the ILO-Conventions minister Kamp has decided not the ratify the new convention. Consequence of ratification would be that domestic workers o...