Today was my last full day at the UN for CSW 58. I met Erica and we both attended the open Economic and Social Council's session where draft resolutions were discussed and statements from the floor were accepted.  A nice young woman sitting next to me, Sang Liao, an intern at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the UN, has...

Today, I had time to get my official CSW 58 badge so was able to attend not only Parallel Meetings in the church center but also go "inside" the UN buildings where there were more "Side Meetings". I took full advantage of this and attended two sessions on Human Trafficking, a session on Girls Education in Afghanistan, a session on...

As I walked with Erica Higbie, FAWCO's UN Rep in New York, to the UN area, I was filled with anticipation - nervous and excited, imagining myself in the UN Great Hall / the General Assembly with dignitaries from member states.  However, Erica informed me that the so-called "Paralllel Meetings" put on by NGOs are outside the UN buildings and open...

Monday March 17th
"Data-Revolution" is the CSW58 buzzword and it means doing a better job of capturing gender statistics for the Post-2015 Agenda. Mexico presented a program on making women more visible through indicators and tracking statistics that are gender specific. Governments need to capture disaggregated information on unpaid work, care-giving, access to healthcare and resources, wealth, income, violence, education,

Consultation Day March 9th
Consultation Day is sponsored by NGO CSW (civil society’s Committee of the Status of Women) and traditionally takes place on the Sunday before the Commission on the Status of Women.

This year’s NGO CSW Women of Distinction Award winner was Sharon Bhagwan Rolls for her empowerment of women through radio in Fiji, where women have little...

On the last day of CSW57, four female United States judges presented their perspectives on domestic violence, which they defined as; violence directed against women by their intimate partners is an epidemic of global proportions that has devastating physical, emotional, financial and social effects.

Efforts to combat domestic violence are now moving toward recognition of it as a violation of...

The Ambassador from Iraq, Dr Hamid Al-Byati, addressed asession on the influence of faith in the elimination of violence against women today at the CSW. The following are some excerpts from his presentation:

“We, of the Abrahamic religions (Jews, Christians and Muslims), are all one family in our faith. As brothers and sisters in this family, we must treat each...

Now well into the second week of CSW57, some overarching messages are becoming loud and clear.

The loudest and clearest of all is that violence against women and girls is preventable, but the approach needs to be right and appropriately adapted to the local circumstances.

What’s working:

• Community initiated change with strong support for local activists
• Focusing on the benefits...

Today in a session organized by the Doha International Institute, “Arab Spring: a chance for women’s rights”, four Arab women discussed their perception of violence since the uprisings in 2011. There was general agreement that the violence that is going on now, against men and women, is a systemic form of violence; largely perpetrated by the police or military. Female...

Happy International Women’s Day from CSW57!

Ban Ki-moon’s message today at the United Nations in New York was that violence against women is not inevitable; that we must struggle against it and win. Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UNWomen, also had encouraging words to say at this commemoration for International Women’s Day.