Video:  H.E. Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil) is Chair of the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (2016).

On Monday, 14 March, the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) turns
the focus of the United Nations towards women and gender related issues
worldwide. This year is a landmark CSW, because it is the first global meeting
of governments, NGOs, civil society and experts since the agreement of the 2030
Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals that only discusses the impact and
role of gender.

 

Image: Soroptimist International UN Representative Bette Levy, Vice Chair of NGO CSW New York, during the Consultation
Day for CSW60 in New York.

Soroptimists will be amongst the 8100 NGO representatives attending the sixtieth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
(CSW60). They will be advocating on how best to include and empower women
through sustainable development, eliminating gender-based violence, and promoting
the human rights of women and girls.

 

Image: Sam Cheriton, Cheri Flemming and Soroptimist International President Yvonne Simpson

Here, we take a look at the two themes, and explore why they are so
important.

CSW60 Primary Theme:
Women’s Empowerment and its Link to Sustainable Development

‘Educate, Empower and Enable’ are the ‘3 E’s’ of Soroptimist International
and these ideas underpin the project work done by clubs across the globe. Already a key issue for SI;  women’s empowerment is now increasingly a key issue in sustainable development.

Empowerment can be thought of as a multi-dimensional process that helps
people to gain control over their own lives, and for them to be contributors
and leaders in the communities. For women and girls, without empowerment it
will be impossible to achieve gender equality.

Sustainable development approaches look to balance social, economic and
environmental needs, whilst also trying to improve the lives of people.
Previously, women and girls have not felt the full benefits of development
processes, with their roles being undervalued. Women still take on the majority
of domestic responsibilities, are paid 10-30% less in employment, and are
disproportionately affected in times of crisis, amongst other issues.

 

Infographic courtesy of UN Women.

In response to these continuing problems, the new 2030 Agenda and the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain a stand-alone goal on gender
issues: ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’. The
inclusion of this goal is a huge achievement, and acknowledges that there is
no development without the full participation of women and girls. Furthermore,
through the 2030 Agenda, governments have agreed that gender is a cross-cutting
issue. This means that every issue is a ‘women’s issue’; how infrastructure is
built, how education systems develop, and how decisions are made are just as
relevant to women and girls as they are to men and boys. This supports the
understanding that due to social roles and current disparities, women are
effected differently by development processes and have different needs from
men.

One of the main issues that connects women’s empowerment and sustainable
development is the question of ‘how
to include women and mainstream a gender-sensitive approach’? Women’s absence
in leadership, decision making, policy development and implementation is notable.
By better involving women at all these stages, gender mainstreaming would
become almost automatic, and would drive empowerment of women and girls.

 

Infographic courtesy of UN Women.

As the 2030 Agenda will determine the actions of governments over the next
15 years, it is crucial that the needs of women and girls are properly included
and addressed. Soroptimist International’s CSW60 written statement examines
what needs to be done to achieve the empowerment of women and girls. (You can
read the written statement here.)

CSW60 Review Theme:
The Elimination and Prevention of All Forms of Violence against Women and Girls

Violence against women and girls can take many forms, from sexual violence,
to human trafficking, to domestic abuse and other types of discrimination. With
one in three women experiencing gender-based violence in their lifetime,
violence against women and girls is a human rights violation on a pandemic
scale. Although there have been efforts made by law-makers and law enforcement,
NGOs, communities and others, not enough progress has been made. That any woman
or girl must live with the effects of violence is one too many.

Why progress on eliminating gender-based violence has been so slow is a
difficult issue. It is important to appreciate that although this is a global
problem, the challenges facing communities and countries are often specific and
are affected by culture, traditions and other factors. The knowledge that those
working in communities have is therefore critical to eliminating gender-based
violence. However, the discrimination and wide-spread violence against women
and girls also indicates this problem has common factors. By gathering together
at a global event, such as CSW, civil society, NGOs, governments and other
experts are able to share information on effective approaches. By doing this,
the aim is to accelerate the elimination of violence faced by women and girls.

 

Infographic courtesy of UN Women.

Connecting the impact of policy, good legislation and social change is
critical for eradicating gender-based violence. This is also acknowledged by
the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs; Goal 5 of the SDGs has specific targets on this
widespread problem. As well as being a review theme for CSW60,
eliminating and preventing all forms of violence against women and girls is
relevant to how sustainable development progresses. For as long as women are
not considered and treated equally to men it will be impossible to eradicate
gender violence, which is rooted in discriminatory attitudes.

This year, SI’s oral statement for CSW60 focused upon what universal
actions can be done to eliminate violence against women and girls across all
countries and communities. Supported by twenty other organisations who all
contribute to the global effort to eradicate gender-based violence, the
statement looks at how it is possible to improve accountability, address
structural inequalities experienced by women and girls and how to ensure that
legislation supports the needs of victims and survivors. (You can read the oral
statement here.)

These two issues are kick-starting the discussion of how
best to improve the lives of women and girls and will set the scene for future
discussions and negotiations at the UN. By advocating on eliminating violence
and empowering women and girls, Soroptimists at CSW60 are contributing to actions
that will be taken by NGOs, civil society, government and international
agencies over the next fifteen years.