In 1993, then FAWCO President Barbara Johnson suggested that FAWCO apply for UN accreditation starting with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and pursued this goal together with FAWCO 1st Vice President, Peggy Rigaud. On June 15, 1995, FAWCO was approved for association with the UN DPI.
In August 1995, seven FAWCO delegates joined 30,000 women for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China: Helen Hootsmans (AWC Amsterdam), Lois Pott (AWC The Hague), Becky Tan (AWC Hamburg), Donna Sebti (AW Casablanca), Jeanne Schapp (AW London), Leslie Fiac (The Taunus), and Peggy Rigaud (AWG Languedoc-Rousillon). The Beijing Conference was the stimulus for increasing FAWCO's UN involvement, leading FAWCO to apply for accreditation with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
FAWCO was granted special consultative status with ECOSOC on August 14, 1997.
FAWCO’s early UN representation was spearheaded by Pam Perraud in New York. Other early representatives were Lise Chase in NY, Joanne Gallagher in Geneva and Phyllis Reimer in Vienna.
In 1999, FAWCO 1st Vice President Paula Daeppen started representing FAWCO on a regular basis at the UN in Geneva. With Pam Perraud in NY, she actively promoted FAWCO at the UN and set the course for our work as a UN-accredited NGO.
FAWCO’s first ECOSOC Report for the period 1997 through 2000 was prepared by Pam Perraud and Paula Daeppen, who recognized the need for a continuing active focus on global issues in order to retain ECOSOC consultative status.
In 2001, Paula Daeppen was appointed FAWCO’s first NGO Director (2001–2008) charged with expanding FAWCO’s UN involvement and linking UN activities with FAWCO’s global committees.
2001
FAWCO delegates at the Luxembourg Conference unanimously adopted a mandate “to urge the US to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).”
FAWCO joined CoNGO (The Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations), the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO CSW), NGO Committee on Human Rights, Committee on Aging and the Committee on HIV/Aids.
FAWCO UN Reps Pam Perraud and Paula Daeppen took part in the third Preparatory Meeting for the UN Special Session on Children in NY.
2002
FAWCO participated in the UN Special Session on Children in NY represented by Paula Daeppen and Pam Perraud.
Delegates to the FAWCO Conference in Florence adopted a Resolution on the special needs of aging women.
FAWCO participated in the UN World Assembly on Aging in Madrid, represented by Paula Daeppen, Arline Coward and Dolores Cuellar.
FAWCO joined the Geneva International Network on Aging (GINA), working with WHO.
FAWCO participated in the UN Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on the Information Society.
2003
FAWCO’s Resolutions & Recommendations began to reflect our UN advocacy, in particular regarding the environment, CRC, CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The concept of a “carbon neutral conference” was introduced by Valerie Garforth at the FAWCO Conference in Stockholm. The emissions of carbon dioxide resulting from travel to and from the Conference were offset by donations to buy trees for the FAWCO Millennium Forest Project sponsored by AIWC of Casablanca, Morocco.
2004
FAWCO’s Millennium Forest Project, organized by the AIWC of Casablanca and funded in part by donations from FAWCO clubs worldwide, was featured in a United Nations publication on success stories supporting the Millennium Development Goal for Environmental Sustainability.
Recognizing the need for a significant global focus to ensure continued ECOSOC status, NGO Director Paula Daeppen proposed a major global project in support of the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) to the FAWCO Board. The suggested focus was malaria prevention.
2005
At the FAWCO Conference in Birmingham, delegates unanimously agreed to take up the global challenge of reducing poverty and improving lives by supporting the MDGs and making a significant commitment to worldwide malaria prevention – with an initial target of $75,000 to be raised by the 2006 conference in Berlin for FAWCO’s 75th birthday.
FAWCO’s malaria initiative, called “NetWorks,” became the first project where all FAWCO clubs joined together on a global issue.
FAWCO took part in the World Swim for Malaria.
FAWCO partnered with the Biovision Foundation on malaria prevention to fund mosquito nets, integrated vector management and education for malaria elimination.
FAWCO member Laurie Childers was named Secretary of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in Geneva, for the first time giving FAWCO a position on this board.
2006
FAWCO’s goal of $75,000 for NetWorks was surpassed, and $165,885 was raised directly, with an additional grant of $100,000 obtained from the Hilton Foundation for our partner organization Biovision.
FAWCO’s Global Concerns Fund (GCF) was established to continue FAWCO’s focus on one major global issue in support of the UN MDGs in conjunction with the ongoing concerns of FAWCO’s Global Concerns Committees and UN Liaisons, who proposed the project. The first GCF continued the mandate of FAWCO’s successful NetWorks campaign to focus on the eradication of malaria.
FAWCO’s efforts in malaria prevention were noted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their publication “From Vision to Action: NGOs Promoting Health in a Globalized World.” This publication was produced in support of the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World, and featured best practices of 27 selected NGOs. FAWCO’s NetWorks initiative and partnership with Biovision is described in detail.
FAWCO contributed to a comprehensive 32-page report written in advance of the 2007 session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The publication entitled “A GIRL’S RIGHT TO LIVE: Female Foeticide and Girl Infanticide” is a compilation of information addressing human rights violations against the girl child.
2007
FAWCO joined members of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO CSW) in Geneva in Celebrating Eleanor Roosevelt, an initiative to recognize Eleanor Roosevelt as the driving force behind the creation and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.
With Paula Daeppen, Pam Perraud and Alicia Higa, FAWCO took the lead as the initiator, sponsor and host of the ER website. In 2018, after providing valuable information and resources on Eleanor Roosevelt for ten years, FAWCO decided a stand-alone website was no longer necessary.
At the urging of Pam Perraud, the FAWCO Board approved a donation of scholarship funding for the Eleanor Roosevelt Center Girls Leadership Workshop at Val Kill, New York, to encourage the leadership development of young women with a commitment to social justice and human rights.
FAWCO Member Clubs were encouraged to organize events such as teas, candlelight services, letter-writing campaigns and essay contests related to Eleanor Roosevelt and the 60th anniversary of the UDHR to honor Eleanor Roosevelt and call attention to the fact that, 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, women were still waiting for their rights.
2008
FAWCO was instrumental in the creation of a memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt at the Place des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, recognizing her as the driving force behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The memorial was dedicated on December 5, 2008 at the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the UDHR. A booklet on Eleanor Roosevelt’s role and the importance of the UDHR accompanied the ceremony inaugurating the plaque.
Pam Perraud and Paula Daeppen in 2008
FAWCO worked with the US Mission to the UN in Geneva to publicize Eleanor Roosevelt and the UDHR. In June, the US Ambassador to the UN hosted a concert in his home in Eleanor Roosevelt’s memory and invited the ambassadors of the 17 other countries on the Human Rights Commission that worked on the UDHR, as well as FAWCO and the other members of the ER Team.
The FAWCO UN Team also worked with partner NGOs on the ER Team to organize, edit and promote a bilingual brochure on Eleanor Roosevelt and the UDHR to be used in Swiss schools. The brochure tells the story of ER and the UDHR, and provides details on the Eleanor Roosevelt commemoration in Geneva. There is also a video (in English and French with subtitles) about the UDHR and the ER plaque commemoration.
In September, Paula Daeppen and Pam Perraud attended the annual UN NGO Department of Public Information (DPI) conference held in Paris at UNESCO, where FAWCO distributed information about the ER plaque in Geneva and the Eleanor Roosevelt website.
2009
FAWCO UN Reps Sara von Moos and Anne Cameron Rutschmann attended a two-day Global Women Leaders Summit in Geneva organized by Allida Black of the Eleanor Roosevelt Project of George Washington University, who had helped write the booklet on ER in conjunction with the ER plaque project. A highlight of the Summit was the presentation of the Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement Award in Human Rights to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
FAWCO UN Director Pam Perraud attended briefings at UN Headquarters in New York in commemoration of the International Year of BioDiversity as well as a special event honoring Cheri Blair, wife of the former British Prime Minister, for her work with “Stop the Traffik,” an NGO fighting human trafficking.
UN Youth Representative Sarah Gogel attended a special session in NY on the issue of Children and Armed Conflict, while UN Rep Marge McGowan attended regular meetings of the NGO CSW and the Working Group on Women, Peace and Security as well as meetings on The Child’s Right to Health and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
In Houston, UN Director Pam Perraud and UN Rep Louise Greeley-Copley attended a meeting of the World Affairs Council where they met Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize in 2004 for her environmental work starting the Green Belt Movement. FAWCO’s UN Director was invited to speak about FAWCO’s environmental activities at a screening of a PBS special on Wangari Maathai’s life entitled “Taking Root.”
The FAWCO Board announced plans to initiate a four-year Target Program designed to support the UN Millennium Goals (MDGs). The UN Director worked with the Vice President for Global Issues and the FAWCO Foundation to set up an application and evaluation process to assess proposals for the new program.
The FAWCO UN Director announced plans to expand the UN Team to include UN Advocates in local clubs who do not live near UN Headquarters in NY or UN Offices in Geneva or Vienna who could serve as liaisons and promote the UN to local clubs.
2010
FAWCO Member Clubs selected Clean Water as the Target Issue for the new Target Program, FAWCO’s main effort to support the UN Millennium Development Goals. The FAWCO UN Director worked as advisor to the Target Selection Committee, which chose Wells for Clean Water sponsored by the Tabitha organization in Cambodia as the Target Project for the next three years.
FAWCO continued to promote, support and contribute funds to the Eleanor Roosevelt Girls’ Leadership Workshop. The FAWCO UN Director was invited by the Eleanor Roosevelt Center in Val Kill to a reception in NYC to meet Curtis Roosevelt, grandson of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
Pam Perraud, UN Director, attended the 2010 Global Forum on Women Beijing+15 and the 45th annual CSW in NY, where she attended briefings at the US Mission with US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice and Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador–at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
UN Rep Sara von Moos attended meetings of the NGO CSW and Human Rights subcommittees in Geneva and did extensive research on obstetric fistula. Sara von Moos, Alicia Sauer, Anne Cameron Rutchmann along with UN Director Pam Perraud attended the Human Rights Day Celebration on December 10 and met with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
FAWCO sent two representatives, Katherine Crick and Erica Higbie of AWC Perth, to the annual UN NGO Conference sponsored by the Department of Public Information (DPI) held in Melbourne, Australia, where the focus was on Global Health.
2011
On March 8, FAWCO UN Reps in NY, Geneva and Vienna attended commemorations for the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD) in their respective cities, and the UN Director made a presentation in Paris in honor of IWD.
Michelle Jackson, UN Advocate from Frankfurt-Taunus (Germany) represented FAWCO at the annual UN DPI conference on Sustainable Societies in Bonn, Germany in September.
On September 26, for the first time, FAWCO sponsored a High Level Panel for the UN Human Rights Council at its 18th session in Geneva at the Palais des Nations. The topic was “Women and the Right to Water,” in keeping with FAWCO’s Target Program theme of Clean Water. Lois Herman of AWA Rome and Chair of the Women’s UN Report Network (WUNRN) organized the event with the assistance of Sara von Moos, UN Rep in Geneva.
2012
The FAWCO UN Director wrote a review of 15 years of FAWCO activities at the UN and presented a proposal to the FAWCO and FAWCO Foundation Boards recommending that FAWCO adopt Women as our main focus for UN activities and organize global projects around four main areas of focus: education, environment, health and human rights.
FAWCO joined UN Women’s National Committee of the United States. The UN Director was invited to join regular Board calls with local chapter presidents in the US.
On October 24, UN Day, AWA Vienna and IWC Bratislava had a tour of the UN in Vienna followed by a talk by experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on human trafficking.
In November, UN Reps Laurie Richardson and Tonya Teichert attended a symposium on Femicide organized by the Academic Council of the UN at the UN in Vienna.
Through the Global Team on Ending Violence Against Women and Children (EVAWAC), FAWCO participated in the UN-endorsed 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign by encouraging FAWCO members to read Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dunn. In September, UN Director Pam Perraud and EVAWAC Team member Therese Hartwell attended a screening in Houston of the PBS film Half the Sky with Sheryl Wu Dunn.
2013
In conjunction with the FAWCO Conference in Bern, UN Rep Sara von Moos helped organize a tour of the UN in Geneva; participants visited the US Mission and heard from staff working on women’s issues at the UN.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Betty King gave the keynote address at the FAWCO Conference. She also participated with FAWCO members on the “Meet Me on the Bridge” march in solidarity with Women for Women International around the world.
At the Bern conference, Anne von Oorschot, Chair of the Target Program, announced that since 2009, a total of $165,000 had been raised, with $135,000 going to Tabitha Foundation in Cambodia for new wells and $30,000 going to water-related projects in other countries.
The FAWCO Board announced that the next Target Program theme would be Human Rights for Women: Protecting the Rights and Improving the Lives of Women and Girls.
UN Rep Erica Higbie became Chair of the Advocacy Team of the Working Group for Girls in New York. She attended CSW in March in NY and gave daily updates in blogs on FAWCO’s website.
At the invitation of UN Ambassador Betty King, FAWCO’s 2013 Friendship Quilt entitled “Time” was displayed at the Palais des Nations at an exhibition organized by the US Mission in Geneva “Quilts for Change.”
NGO CSW Geneva President Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda appointed FAWCO UN Rep Sara von Moos to be Co-Chair of the NGO Forum connected to the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Beijing +20 Regional Review to be held in Geneva in November 2014.
2014
Sara van Moos, Vice President of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women Geneva, was appointed FAWCO’s UN Director in January 2014.
FAWCO’s Annual Conference in Rome featured UN Keynote Speaker Dr. Moez Doraid, Director of the Coordination Division of UN Women and co-founder of UN Women’s He For She campaign.
Grace Christovasilis became FAWCO’s first representative to a UN Agency. Due to her engagement in social issues and Greece’s strategic location as a pathway for migrants and refugees, Grace was assigned to the UNHCR office in Greece and became the UN Team’s focal point for Refugees and Migration.
Led by Sara von Moos, FAWCO UN Reps Stacy Lara and Anne Riz were involved in the planning and organization of the UNECE Beijing+20 Regional Review NGO Forum in Geneva in November 2014. A delegation of 16 FAWCO members participated in the Forum, with several playing important roles: Paula Daeppen, Laurie Richardson and Sallie Chaballier served as Rapporteurs for plenaries and round tables. Robin Goldsby and her daughter Julia Goldsby composed the Forum theme song, “Maybe It’s You” and performed it during the closing ceremony. FAWCO Youth Ambassador Julia Goldsby joined the Forum planning team as an intern.
One of the year’s highlights was Gavin Higbie joining the UN Team as our first UN Youth Rep. Gavin brought a fresh perspective to issues through his blog posts. He attended UN Youth Assemblies in NY, together with thousands of youths from around the world to discuss the role of young people as the UN moves towards the sustainable development agenda.
2015
UN Rep Laurie Richardson was appointed UN Liaison in January 2015, and continued in her capacity as Secretary of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women Vienna. FAWCO’s UN NGO Reps took on increasingly important leadership roles on NGO Committees in NY, Geneva and Vienna. Erica Higbie (FAUSA), FAWCO’s Main Representative at the UN in New York, served as a Director on the UN Department of Public Information NGO Executive Committee, and as Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee of the Working Group on Girls. Erica also served as Treasurer of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO CSW) in New York. Jane Politi (AWA Rome) was Member at Large of the NGO Committee on Migration in New York. Anne Riz (AWC Bern) was Treasurer of the NGO CSW in Geneva.
In March, a delegation of 17 FAWCO women from around the world gathered at the 59th session of the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59, Beijing+20). Our delegates posted blogs on FAWCO’s website and Facebook about gender equality, women’s empowerment and the CSW59 Political Declaration.
The second FAWCO UN Youth Rep, Valia Mitsakis, was selected to join the UN Team in 2015 and took part in the Young Women and Girls Forum connected to CSW59.
Together with the Human Rights Team and member clubs, we continued to support refugees fleeing conflict zones in unprecedented numbers. We collaborated with the UNHCR in Athens; partnered with a grassroots NGO in Jordan; and joined local refugee assistance initiatives in FAWCO communities across Europe. FAWCO joined in advocacy on behalf of refugee women and children through our involvement with the NGO Committee on Migration. Our UN Representative in Athens worked with local UNHCR contacts to promote their work and raise awareness of the needs of refugees.
FAWCO’s Environment Team and UN Reps Team worked together to inform members about the groundbreaking UN conference of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris.
2016
FAWCO UN Reps served in the leadership of three NGO CSWs: Erica Higbie was Treasurer in New York, Anne Riz was Treasurer in Geneva, and Laurie Richardson was Secretary in Vienna. Jane Politi was Vice-Chair of the NGO Committee on Migration in New York.
FAWCO’s delegation of 14 women attended CSW 60 in March 2016. Jane Politi helped organize an NGO Committee on Migration (NGO CoM) panel “Empowering Syrian Refugee Women and Children for a Better Future: Challenges and Innovative Solutions in Early Childhood Development” (co-sponsored by FAWCO). UN Liaison Laurie Richardson represented FAWCO and NGO CSW Vienna at a morning NGO Briefing, and made a statement on women and girls displaced by conflict to UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at an NGO Briefing.
Jane Politi represented FAWCO at NGO Briefings at the UNHCR in Geneva. Tara Scott represented FAWCO’s Education Team at the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) NGO Conference “Education for Global Citizenship” in Korea. Sam Witt attended the UN Youth Assembly in New York in August with FAWCO’s UN Youth Rep Valia Mitsakis.
Anne Riz was involved in planning the NGO CSW Geneva forum “Women’s Economic Empowerment in a Sustainable Perspective” on October 10, supported in part by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Stacy Lara played a lead role on the NGO CSW Geneva team organizing a flash mob on the Place des Nations to mark the International Day of the Girl, October 11.
The FAWCO/FAWCO Foundation Symposium “Stand Up against Human Trafficking” in The Hague in October 2016 included a panel on Tools for Sustainable Change in the Private Sector. One of the panelists was Ms. Eppy Boschma, Senior Advisor to the UN Global Compact Network Netherlands. UN Liaison Laurie Richardson made a presentation on the Symposium at an event co-sponsored by FAWCO on “Preventing Trafficking, Trade and Exploitation of Women and Children: A victim-centered approach” at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's Conference on Transnational Organized Crime in October.
Grace Christovasilis worked with UNHCR Greece, UNHCR Spain, FC Barcelona Veterans and PAS Giannina FC to organize an event for over 540 refugees, including a visit by FC Barcelona players to a refugee camp, soccer workshops for children, and a Solidarity Match between PAS Giannina FC Veterans and FC Barcelona Veterans.
The UN Team, Human Rights Team and Target Program collaborated on a Twitter Teach-In as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, sharing messages about FAWCO’s work in education and preventing violence against women.
In 2016, FAWCO was granted Observer Status to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This accreditation enables FAWCO to send representatives to UN Climate Change Conferences and report to our members.
2017
2017 was the 20th anniversary of FAWCO’s consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), granted in 1997. An article on the history of FAWCO’s engagement at the UN – beginning in 1995 when seven FAWCO women attended the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing – appeared in the FAWCO FORUM Winter 2017 issue. Also in 2017, fulfilling the requirements to maintain our status with ECOSOC, FAWCO submitted its Quadrennial Report to ECOSOC covering the years 2013–2016.
UN Liaison Laurie Richardson was elected Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women Vienna.
Eight FAWCO members participated in CSW61 in New York in March.
Since 2017, FAWCO UN Reps Stacey Kimmig and Ayuska Motha have attended meetings of the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, and the annual Conference of the Parties (COP). FAWCO is a member of the Women and Gender Constituency of Observer NGOs at the UNFCCC.
2018
In 2018, FAWCO joined the UN’s commemoration of 70 years since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
FAWCO had a delegation of 13 at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) in New York.
Thematic discussions on UN Compacts for Refugees and Migrants were held by the UN in New York, Geneva and Vienna, leading up to an intergovernmental conference in 2018 to adopt two global compacts. FAWCO UN Reps attended and reported on many sessions. UN Rep Jane Politi, Vice Chair of the NGO Committee on Migration (NGO CoM), worked on position papers which FAWCO endorsed.
2019
FAWCO had a delegation of 16 members at CSW63 in New York. For the first time, FAWCO held an NGO Forum event at CSW: “Fulfilling Unmet Needs: NGOs Leaving No One Behind.” On March 14, a panel of FAWCO women spoke about their work with grassroots organizations in Cambodia, India, Kenya and Jordan, providing housing, water, women’s health, nutrition, vocational training, and psychosocial support in their communities. The panelists were Yolanda Henry, Dottie Wagle, Claire Mathijsen and her colleague Elizabeth Tunoi from Kenya, and Amanda Lane.
The UN Advocacy Team mobilized and prepared for the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in1995. Beijing+25 is an occasion for reviews of progress made and continuing challenges to achieve the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action. A delegation of nine FAWCO members attended the Civil Society Forum and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Beijing+25 Regional Review in Geneva.
2020
A delegation of 14 FAWCO members was preparing to travel to UN Headquarters in New York to participate in CSW64 in early March, when we learned that CSW would be the first of many UN conferences to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. UN Women informed all registered delegates of “the Secretary-General’s strong recommendation that ... stakeholders refrain from traveling to UN Headquarters. No general debate will take place and all side events planned by Member States and the UN system in conjunction with CSW64 will be canceled.”
2020 should have been a year of celebrations marking significant milestones at the UN: the UN’s 75th anniversary; 25 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; 10 years since UN Women began; and five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The official UN and NGO events reflecting on the past and highlighting ways forward were all virtual due to the pandemic. COVID-19 affected not just the format of the events, but was also an unavoidable theme. COVID-19 revealed lingering preconditions of inequalities and inadequate services and infrastructure. As countries around the world struggled to deal with health, social and economic crises, the UN and the NGO community were thinking about the future, how to build forward and make positive changes. FAWCO’s UN Advocacy Team kept our fingers on the pulse virtually, at the UN and with our collaboration partners, NGO committees, coalitions and constituencies of stakeholders.
At the beginning of the Decade of Action on the SDGs (2020–2030), FAWCO launched an SDG Awareness program to disseminate information and promote action by FAWCO members and clubs. We initiated the SDGs Photo Project, and many clubs participated, creating collages of photos of members with the SDG icons that are most meaningful for them. The team developed an SDGs Film Festival for the virtual regional meeting in November, and organized the 17 Days of SDGs for the members-only Facebook group.
2021
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual online CSW65 and NGO CSW65 Forum made it possible for over 50 FAWCO and FAUSA members around the globe to participate in CSW without traveling to New York. We created a FAWCO CSW65 Delegation WhatsApp group to engage with each other during CSW, continued conversations about what we learned after CSW, and held a debriefing during FAWCO’s virtual conference.
Laurie Richardson and Erica Higbie were actively involved in the NGO CSW Forum Global Planning Committee, with Laurie representing NGO CSW Vienna and Erica co-leading the Advocacy Research Group and heading up the team developing Women’s Human Rights curricula. For the NGO CSW65 Forum, NGO CSW Geneva organized a Consultation Day in collaboration with NGO CSW Vienna. Laurie spoke at and supported the event; Paula and Ann were on the NGO CSW Geneva planning committee. FAWCO co-sponsored an NGO Forum event on Femicide in Germany with the Femicide Observatory Germany and FEMEN.
2022
At the 2022 Interim Meeting in Luxembourg, Laurie Richardson stepped down as FAWCO’s UN Liaison after eight years. Beginning in mid-2022, Alexandra Vo (FAUSA) took over as FAWCO’s UN Liaison.
At CSW66 in March 2022, the nexus between gender equality and climate change was the priority theme – very timely for FAWCO as we launched the new Target Program on environment. Over 50 FAWCO members participated virtually in CSW and the NGO CSW Forum. The UN Advocacy Team presented virtual orientation sessions on how to get the most out of the CSW experience, as well as on the impacts of climate change on women and girls. FAWCO’s delegation participated in hundreds of virtual events and kept in touch on an active WhatsApp group. Alexandra Vo (FAUSA), the new UN Liaison, was able to attend events inside UN headquarters in New York for the first time since March 2020.
FAWCO UN Reps helped plan the NGO CSW66 Forum as members of the Global Planning Committee. Our UN Reps in Geneva and Vienna co-organized an NGO CSW Consultation Day and NGO Forum parallel events. “The Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment: Building Global Solidarity and Partnership”; “Food on All Tables: Promoting access to food for all and its impact on women’s health and rights” and “Climate Justice for Women and Girls: Approaches to Combating Ecocide.”
FAWCO UN Directors Since 2001
Paula Daeppen, UN Director 2001–2008
Pam Perraud, UN Director 2008–2013
Sara van Moos, UN Director 2013–2014
Laurie Richardson, UN Liaison 2015–2022
Alexandra Vo, UN Liaison 2022–2024
Alexandra Vo, Co.UN Liaison 2024-present
Karen Castellon, Co-UN Liaison 2024-present
Updated June 2023.