This is my last day at #CSW67. I have walked around 110.000 steps between my cozy - euphemism for supersmall - hotelroom at 39 street and the different UN buildings at 44 and 45. When walking these blocks in this city full of contrasts - inequalities - I come across many people like me, walking hastily from one session or negotiation to another, usually tired, sometimes full of hope but also sometimes feeling a bit desperate: are we listened to?
This post COVID CSW is special and yet again, as others are saying, it is 'the usual'. Special, as it is the first time people gather again physically in big numbers: over 13.000 people have come to New York! The usual, because although we are in big numbers, there are many more who couldn’t make it because of visa issues or lack of resources. To increase access, there is a strong plea by African CSOs for rotation the location of the CSW.
Power
This year’s theme, "Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls", started many discussions about the power that governments and tech companies hold over the digital space. How people are being silenced or abused. How gender inequality is deepened because of lack to access to the internet for women and girls. How algorithms produce a white, male dominated digital culture.
But, also how it still holds many opportunities for girls and women in all their diversity to inform, share and mobilise globally. And how important it is to re-claim this space.
The formal process of the CSW, which consist of almost around the clock negotiations towards agreed conclusions, are unfortunately and despite the hard work of, amongst others, the Dutch delegation, heavily influenced by conservative forces who have as main objectives to exclude or minimise diversity language and keep decision making power for all women and girls limited. The process has made me realise that the work we do within Masarouna, a five-year project mobilising young people in the MENA region to claim their sexual reproductive health and rights, also online, is of major importance.
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| Hayat Mirshad |
Reality check
In the Reality Check! Accelerating gender justice and SRHR through digital technologies session that we organised as part of Masarouna our panelists discussed how important it is to provide online safe spaces and raise awareness on cybersecurity. Because, as Hayat Mirshad (executive director Fe-Male) says: "It is not much discussed in public, because it’s still a taboo. Culture and health are intertwined. It’s about patriarchal and stereotypical social norms, attitudes and perceptions. There is a lot of stigma and shame around topics."
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| Catherine Poulton |
Catherine Poulton (GBV in emergencies specialist at UNICEF) states that it is essential to co-design these spaces with girls from the very start. Emily Krasnor (Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Specialist, Humanitarian Response Division at UNFPAUNFPA) confirms and adds: "What we need, is safety and privacy by design, not exactly what tech companies who want to move fast are generally offering us."
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| Emily Krasnor |
Chrystine Mhanna (journalist at Raseef22) explains how she as a journalist generates impact while staying safe by writing personal stories using a pseudonym: "We should start with ourselves and write our personal stories; what it is we are struggling with on a daily basis." And yes, there is a lot of struggle!
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| Chrystine Mhanna |
A good start
However, I want to end these reflections on a positive note, which is that in nearly every conversation and every session people express they want solidarity. They want intergenerational exchange. They want to learn from each-other and complement each other. And I think this CSW67 has definitely been a good start. So let’s continue to work towards gender equality, together! Read more
Katinka Moonen, specialist Gender Justice and SRHR Oxfam Novib
*Photo credits: Lara Yazbeck
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