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| Met Nederlands ambassadeur en CSW Facilitator Yoka Brandt op de foto na afloop van de CSW68 |
“We
have reservations on the text. We don’t have instructions to proceed to
adoption.”
After seven days of negotiations at the UN during this year’s Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW), Nigeria almost blocked the negotiated outcome document
from being adopted. Almost, because after some formal and informal
interventions in Conference Room 4, the Nigerian delegate, flanked by the Dutch
Ambassador Yoka Brandt, added: “I now have instructions to support the
adoption.” On the balcony filled with civil society as well as in the plenary
room there was a clear sigh of relief followed by enthusiastic applause,
hugging and photo taking. We have Agreed Conclusions!
Early
negotiations
As usual,
the CSW negotiations process started early February with a Zero Draft, developed
by UN Women and the CSW Bureau. And with input and inspiration taken from the
Secretary General Report. For the EU, as well as many of the other regional or
multiple-country-blocks (when several countries jointly engage in the
negotiations) the process started even earlier in order to develop their own
positions before giving feedback on the Zero Draft.
Civil
society engagement
Because the
Netherlands took up the role of facilitator of the negotiations this year, they
could not engage in the negotiations themselves in the same way as usual. While
it was great to have a committed and capable team from the Dutch Mission and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs play a leadership role in this process, this
complicated the opportunities for us as civil society to influence the text
negotiations. Thankfully, we had some ‘ins’ with other EU delegates (sometimes
through their NGO representatives, sometimes directly) as well as collaborating
internationally through different caucuses.
The
disappeared sofas
In New
York, however, we were unpleasantly surprised by new restrictions placed on our
engagement. The first days of the negotiations took place in the ECOSOC
Chamber, a pretty hall that however does not allow for civil society near the
entrances that are used by delegates. That entire floor is off limits for those
without a coveted D(elegate)-badge. In the second week, the negotiations moved
to the familiar CR-1 (conference room 1) in the basement. But to our surprise,
the sofas in the hallway near the entrance were gone. “No problem”, we thought,
because we have sat on the floor there before when it got crowded with civil
society. This time, however, the guards would not allow it. Several of us pleaded
with the guards, the Dutch facilitation team and CSW Bureau member, a
supervisor of the guards, someone further up in the security department, the Civil
Society Division of UN Women, and ultimately the CSW Facilitator herself. It
took us away from concentrating on the negotiations for some hours, but we
ultimately got ten chairs places in ‘our’ hallway and later one of the old
sofas (and yes it was literally the old sofa, with the exact same torn up
upholstery as in previous years) was returned as well. At least we managed to
hold this line!
Impact
of austerity measures
Just weeks
before the CSW started, the UN communicated that due to austerity measures –
several countries had not paid their dues to the UN yet – the opening hours
would be limited to 10 am – 6 pm. This had serious repercussions for the CSW
process, with formal side events needing to be moved and, importantly, the time
for negotiations in the room being significantly curtailed. In previous years,
it was practice for members states to continue their discussions on the draft
outcome document well beyond midnight on multiple days.
In our
conversations with the Dutch delegates, we had of course probed about ‘back-up
options’, thinking of how the process was handled online during Covid,
considering other physical spaces, starting paragraph-by-paragraph approvals
sooner and limiting speaking time and repetition to speed up the process. Yoka
Brandt as facilitator indeed implemented a system of yellow and red cards and
bells to limit speakers in their time during the first days, resulting in a
faster-than-ever run through of the text before the weekend. In the second
week, thematic paragraphs were discussed in smaller groups beyond the regular
UN opening hours and on Thursday an
additional negotiations sessions was conducted online. Still, only around half
of the paragraphs had been “agreed ad ref” (approved) so much work remained
while time was running out.
The
final steps
On the
final morning, there was much buzz around whether there would be a chair’s text
as an alternative to continuing para-by-para approvals. Progressive countries
seemed to be compromising a lot and what was formally ‘agreed language’ (text
from previous CSW outcome documents) was continuously being renegotiated or
weakened. We considered whether we should actually speak out to not have
a final text at all.
… And then,
as often happens at the CSW, suddenly there was movement. Two hours later than
planned, we were all ushered into Conference Room 4 and the final consensus
approval process for the eleven remaining paragraphs – in one go, not para by
para - continued in front of the audience and UN WebTV. While we were still
struggling to find out what the final text looked like and whether we felt it
was actually worth it, Mexico took the floor and pleaded with states to approve.
They received a prolonged applause that many popstars would die for.
Commitments
to follow up on
We have an outcome document for the CSW on poverty, institutions and financing. It recognizes women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty, have less access to institutions and financing, and should be able to meaningfully participate in decision making processes. Some small steps forward have been made in the text. In line with the theme, there is attention to paid maternity leave, progressive tax policies and debt cancellation. And although we would have liked to see it be much more progressive and ambitious, if governments actually start taking the actions they committed to in these conclusions, the world would be a different place next year when we celebrate the 30th birthday of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
- Nadia van der Linde, WO=MEN
· See UN Women’s press release here
· The CSW68 Agreed Conclusions will soon be published here
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