I highly recommend this recent article in Foreign Affairs magazine (by Erica Chenowith and Zoe Marks) on the right-wing backlash against gender equality activists.
"In recent years, authoritarian leaders have launched a simultaneous assault on women’s rights and democracy that threatens to roll back decades of progress on both fronts."
"Internationally, a multinational coalition is needed to explicitly reject patriarchal...
The second Generation Equality Forum (GEF) took place in Paris from June 30 to July 2, 2021. Close to 20 FAWCO members joined GEF events virtually, joining some 47,000 people online. Over 1,000 commitments were made to take concrete action to advance the women’s rights agenda around the world.
GEF, sponsored by the governments of Mexico and France, convened by...
Women's rights advocates were shocked when Turkey's President Erdogan announced unilaterally that Turkey would withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Since the Convention was drafted in Istanbul, Turkey, and Turkey was the first country to sign it, it became known as the Istanbul Convention. A leaflet produced by the...
NGO CSW NY Consultation Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eitqt75dw9w&t=16s
NGO CSW Geneva Consultation Day (Laurie Richardson's presentation about NGO CSW Vienna starts at 40:44)
Femicide Hotspot Germany: Let's Break the Structural Pattern!
(FAWCO co-sponsored with Femicide Observation Center Germany and FEMEN Germany)
https://ngocsw65forum.us2.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/g64npsa9GQ34mxLeS
North America and Europe CSW Caucus Meeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPs3xB6TWZQ
Beijing – COVID – What Next? (Organizer:
By Maggie Palu (AW Aquitaine)
This has been a labor of love, and fairly time-consuming, because I’ve been watching some of the sessions again. Here are some links to recordings of meetings that I “attended" virtually.
Enhancing police and justice responses to gender-based violence against women: new tools and emerging challenges in times of the pandemic
Organizer: United Nations Office...
The 65th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) came to a close on March 26 after pushback from regressive governments caused negotiations to stretch into the final day. The CSW65 Agreed Conclusions were adopted at the eleventh hour after a marathon of difficult negotiations. You can watch the Closing Session and hear Member States' statements...
CEDAW is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and entered into force in 1981.
What does CEDAW do?
Reduce sex trafficking and domestic violence
Provide access to education and vocational training
Ensure the right to vote
End forced marriage and child marriage and ensure inheritance rights
Help mothers and families by providing access to maternal health careEnsure the right to work and own a business without discrimination
Why has the USA NOT ratified CEDAW?
Almost all countries have ratified CEDAW - 189 out of 195 countries. Only six have not ratified including Sudan, Somalia, Iran, two small Pacific Island nations (Palau and Tonga) and THE UNITED STATES!
FAWCO supports CEDAW and continues to work towards it ratification.
Key Links
UN Women CEDAW Text
UN High Commissioner for recent developments, links to treaty, reports www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx
Amnesty International Fact Sheet on CEDAW www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/cedaw_fact_sheet.pdf
Organization working for US Senate Ratification
http://www.cedaw2015.org/
The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), part of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), promotes gender equality and the advancement of women. Its charge is to measure progress towards equality and highlight challenges, set standards and formulate concrete policies to promote equality and women’s empowerment, and encourage mainstreaming of the gender perspective in all UN activities worldwide.
FAWCO is a member of the NGO Committees on the Status of Women (NGO CSWs) in NY, Geneva and Vienna. FAWCO members and UN Representatives regularly attend the annual CSW in New York. You can read blogs by members of FAWCO's delegations to CSW.
FAWCO signs on to Written and Oral Statements submitted to UN Women for consideration by CSW, joining our partner women's NGOs with consultative status to ECOSOC. You can read these statements on the Advocacy page.
| Key Links | |
| UN CSW | http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw |
| NGO CSW New York | www.ngocsw.org |
| NGO CSW Geneva | www.ngocsw-geneva.ch/ |
| NGO CSW Vienna | https://ngocswvienna.org/ |
The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018.
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session. FAWCO is sending a delegation of ten members from around the world, and they will be posting on the CSW62 Blog.
See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw62-2018
The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017.
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session. FAWCO is sending a delegation of ten members from around the world, and they will be posting on the CSW61 Blog.
See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw61-2017#sthash.5Yges7P1.dpuf
A FAWCO delegation of 17 women attended CSW59 at UN Headquarters in New York from March 9 - 20, 2015. We posted blogs here to report on our experiences and impressions.
Click to download the four-page FAWCO Brochure created especially for CSW59: front and back pages and the inside pages.
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.
Erica Higbie and My-Linh Kunst blog from the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. It took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2014.Live reports from Erica Higbie who is attending the UN Commission on the Status of Women at the UN in New York.
Read Final Report on CSW 57 from UN Rep Erica Higbie.
“The trade in and exploitation of human beings through trafficking is one of the gravest violations of human dignity that exist. The purposes of trafficking in persons range from forced and bonded labour to various forms of sexual exploitation, forced marriages, removal of organs and other contemporary practices similar to slavery."
Navi Pillay
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights