The 17th Session of CSW68 was suspended on Friday, March 22 with the adoption of the CSW68 Agreed Conclusion and resumed on March 27 to hear statements after the adoption, to close the 68th Session, followed by the opening CSW69 which will be a review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on its 30th Anniversary.
The advanced unedited edition of the CSW68 Agreed Conclusions can be had here on the theme of “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective” More Information is available here.
Get ready not for CSW69 – one process is to review the guidance note issued by UN Women to help Member States in their reporting. Retrieve the Guidance note: Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish
The Commission on the Status of Women 68th Session (CSW68) officially opens on March 11, takes place over two weeks, ending on March 22nd. As in past years, CSW68 is a pivotal moment when girls and women from every corner of the planet, come to be present at the United Nations in New York in person or join a global community of girls and women online, all seeking the fulfillment of their human rights according to international law (CEDAW), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s priority theme is focused mainly on finances towards gender equality. Five main headings in the ‘Zero Draft Agreed Conclusion’ are (i) Integrate a gender perspective into financing for development commitments (a-f); (ii) Expand a fiscal space for investments to end poverty for women and girls (g – r); (iii) Implement gender-responsive economic and social policies and strengthen public institutions (s – gg); (iv) Engage and finance women’s organizations and collectives (hh – ll); (v) Enhance multidimensional poverty data and statistics (mm – xx).
The proposed Organization of Work for CSW68 can be found in the link and the various sessions can be seen on UN WebTV Information about Side Events ( Member State Led events) has not been posted yet.
Alongside the UN-led CSW68 processes, the NGO community has parallel events, that are all facilitated by NGOCSW. To access you need to REGISTER.
Once registered it is easy to log in – using your e-mail address, and you have access to over 700 events taking place – some in your region which you may wish to join. The details of each event are listed and the link is provided if it is a virtual event. There are 98 events on March 14th alone! You can only see the list of events by registering! It is an opportunity to engage with groups in your country or region, to start networking and learning more.
In registering you will be able to see our Handbook Ad. Do visit and leave your card.
Good Shepherd this year has been more focused on girls’ voices at CSW68 working virtually while preparing to host girls in person who will be present at CSW68 in New York. Unfortunately, Good Shepherd does not have any in-person girl advocates, but this is more than compensated for by our online engagement in WGG preparation and UN Women’s engagement with youth and adolescents in preparation for CSW68. The Girls Caucus debates and discusses the zero-draft agreed conclusions, and elaborates their recommendations by girls for girls. Six Good Shepherd Girl Advocates from Latin America and a girl from India participated in the Girls Caucus. The WGG Recommendations are below in English, Spanish, and French.
UN Women is facilitating a few events for youth and adolescents. Good Shepherd Girl Advocates from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Latin America, and Madagascar are engaging in these events. The CSW 68 Virtual Youth Forum took place on March 1 and 2. Two of the girls from India were active members of the planning group.
Sugandha and Jasmine engaged in multiple meetings in preparation for the event and each had a specific role at the closing of each day. Read their texts at the closing at the end of Day 1 and Day 2.
Immediately following the CSW68 Virtual Youth Forum, Sugandha was invited to ask a question of the newly appointed Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda at an informal virtual discussion ahead of CSW 68 on Monday morning, March 4. Having introduced herself, Sugandha asked the following question “How can UN Women support girls’ human rights while at the same time accelerating the implementation of quality education for every girl, everywhere keeping in mind the radical impact of feminization of poverty, and holding those in power accountable for all the distress and damage that girls’ experience by the lack of access to this basic fundamental right?”
The CSW68 Global Adolescent Girl Leadership Town Hall is on Thursday, March 7, on Zoom, hosted by UN Women, to facilitate exchanges with other adolescent leaders and decision-makers ahead of CSW68. Good Shepherd has five girls participating – representatives from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Madagascar. The Sri Lankan Girl Advocate is one of the moderators.
Advocacy with the various Member States with Mission at the UN is another way that Girl Advocates seek to influence decision-makers before and during the CSW 68. Good Shepherd Girl Advocates (one from Bolivia and one from Ecuador) were part of a girl’s team that met virtually with the Mission of Peru to the UN on March 1 at 9.30 am. The two other organizations represented were Global Girls Glow, and Girls Learn International. They met with a representative from Peru who will be the point person during the CSW68 negotiations for their country. During the visit, the Girl Advocates from Latin America were encouraged to participate in the regional consultations for Latin America that happened in Santiago in the fall. Also, the Mission of Ireland to the UN has scheduled to meet girl advocates who are attending CSW 68 on Thursday, March 14th.
The GSIJP Office is proud of the engagement and enthusiasm of our Girl Advocates from around the world. We recognize that these girls do so much behind-the-scenes work with their mentors at national and regional levels and then follow through with Kimberly Happich Moloche and other WGG leaders enriching the multiple girl spaces with girls’ experiences, showing casing that empowered girls are already knowledgable and leaders, not just of today but for tomorrow.
JCOR -Justice Coalition of Religious at the UN has once again provided a PowerPoint with an excellent overview of CSW.
We are in the final week before CSW 68. NGOs start a day earlier on Sunday, 10 March. Winifred will attend the Teen Orientation – speaking with the girls in a keynote address and facilitating some orientation for the girl chaperones. Kimberly will attend the NGOCSW68 Virtual Orientation from 10 – 12 noon EST Hear from speakers and experts from the UN, governments, and civil society. The highlight will be a conversation on “2024: What’s at stake?” Interpretation will be provided in Spanish and French. REGISTRATION LINK
Happy CSW68! Our main advocacy point is “Finance Social Protection Now“
