The Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd is a member of the NGO Committee of the Commission on the Status of    Women (NGOCSW).  I attend the monthly meeting and collaborate in working groups.  A subcommittee on outreach to grassroots participation for Beijing +15 is seeking help and collaboration.  If you in your ministry are able to create awareness of Beijing +15 and contribute to the Forum (a two day event in New York, February 27 and 28, 2010 immediately proceeding the 54th Session of the    Commission on the Status of Women March 1-12, 2010) some sugestions and guidelines are provided below.

Grassroots Participation at Beijing +15

A sub-Committee on Outreach to Grassroots Participation for Beijing + 15 has been established to ensure that grassroots women- women who are living and working  in their own communities on issues directly affecting their lives – are meaningfully involved in the 2010 NGO Global forum for Women and the 54th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.  In order to ensure participation of grassroots women – who are so often marginalized from global dialogues, we ask you to consider doing the following:  In preparation for the Global Forum and for CSW 54:   a)organize a  consultation process with grassroots women on the Beijing Platform for Action, and record their experiences, challenges, disappointments, and their best practices in achieving gender equality.  We will attempt to make tools and formats to guide your consultations available on the NGOCSW.org    b) Send information and reports on your consultations to: grassrootsparticipation@ngocsw.org   We will post information about and from local, national and regional consultations processes on NGOCSW.org    c) Share the contents of the Beijing Platform for Action where women have not heard of it.  Copies can be found at  http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/  d)Include a grassroots women in your delegation to CSW 54, so that as many grassroots women as possible can take part in these important governmental proceedings. 

During CSW 54:  In order to ensure effective participation of grassroots women (many of whom may have never attended a global meeting before), members of NGOCSW are organizing the following events:  a) An orientation session specifically for grassroots women  b) A grassroots caucus for sharing experiences,  strategizing and networking   c)  A number of side events that will showcse grassroots women’s perspective on the Beijing Platform for Action and what they have achieved since the 4th World Conference on Women.  I f you would like to be involved in these efforts, please contact us!   Grassrootsparticipation@ngocsw.org