SI delegation at the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2013

In spite of the
groundbreaking achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), women
and girls are still poorer than their male counterparts.  In the run-up to the 58^th Session
of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58), which will focus on challenges and achievements in the implementation of the MDGs for women
and girls,SI has set out five key ways
that the MDGs fell short, showing how these can be addressed by the Post-2015
development agenda.

1.   
The global community knows
that what you measure significantly impacts on what you do and how resources
are distributed. The MDGs did not treat gender as a cross-cutting theme. Indicators for each and every goal should
have been disaggregated by sex.

2.   Funding and financing were noticeably absent. Of particular importance,
there was nomention or requirement to deploy gender-responsive budgeting and
gender audits.

3.   
Accountability
mechanisms were weak. Governments, private
institutions and other actors must be held to account for their actions or
lack thereof. Naming and shaming is not usually enough.

4.   Violence against women and girls was not addressed. As we all know that this is one of the primary
barriers to achieving gender equality and ensuring women have equal access to resources
and security, it is no wonder that the MDGs didn’t achieve what they could have
for women and girls.

5.   
“Gender” has two sides,
yet the MDGs focussed solely on women and girls. To truly effect change, attention must be paid to working with men
and boys and breaking gender stereotypes for women AND men. We do not want
to gauge women’s success by how much their lives look the same as their male
counterparts. At the same time, we want men to be able to freely determine the
course of their lives without being constrained by male stereotypes. Work on
both sides must occur in order to achieve true gender equality.

For more information,
read the Soroptimist International written statement for CSW58.  As an NGO with General Consultative Status at
the UN’s Economic and Social Council, SI’s policy statement is one of the official
documents of CSW.

Advocacy
– What you can do!

Over 50 Soroptimist
delegates from around the world will be attending CSW in New York to learn,
lobby and share information.  But you don’t
need to be there in person to make a difference!  SI is asking our global network of more than 3000
Soroptimist clubs and 80,000 SI club members to ensure that our concerns and
proposals are heard by governments.

Here are three
things you can do to make a difference for women and girls before CSW using the
Soroptimist statement:

1.   
Use our
postcard or letter template to write to your national government officials
responsible for gender equality and women’s issues; find the relevant contacts
in this UN directory
of national mechanisms for gender equality.

2. Lobby government
officials, women’s commissions, or other relevant targets in person to ensure
that the voices of women and girls, as expressed in the Soroptimist International
statement, are included in decision-making at this year’s CSW. Make sure they
have a copy of the Soroptimist statement!

3. Learn more about
the issues raised in SI’s statement and spread the word in your club and community.
Discuss the issues with local community leaders.

And when you’re
done, we’d like to hear about it! Use the Soroptimist online reporting system
(PFR) to tell us what you did.

Advocacy Resources

• What Can You Do for CSW58
  
• CSW58 Official Written Statement
• Advocacy Letter CSW58
• Advocacy Post Card CSW58

Soroptimists at CSW

Soroptimist International is organising several side events at CSW58; for the latest updates before, during and after the CSW, visit www.soroptimistinternational.org/CSW58.