Anusha Santhirasthipam, Soroptimist International Assistant Programme Director, reports on her meetings with Government representatives from Indonesia, Estonia, Armenia and Iceland, and outlines some of the challenges that must be overcome if CSW is to end in a strong outcomes document and make real progress in eliminating violence against women and girls.

It was encouraging to hear the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium quote Mahatma Gandhi “If non-violence is the law of humanity, the future belongs to women” during the Opening Session of CSW57.

After the Opening Session yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet several Government leaders on the sidelines of meetings. I discovered that many of them have come to CSW57 with a positive approach towards eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.

I met the Minister leading the delegation from Indonesia who spoke on behalf of the 10 countries in ASEAN (Association of South-east Asian Nations) and who is also a highly influential member of the G77 grouping of countries. She is a passionate advocate of CEDAW as the cornerstone of women empowerment and wants to see every country in the world uphold the Beijing Declaration and recognize CEDAW. She expressed four areas of concern that require an integrated and holistic approach: 1) survivor support, 2) action against perpetrators, 3) changing social norms and societal weaknesses, and 4) reform of policies and existing programmes.

I attended a special panel session on “UN Security Council Resolution 1325 – What lies ahead?” and got to talking with H.E. Mr. Urmas Paet, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia who was most interested in Soroptimists Educate to Lead programme theme whereby we transform the lives of women and girls through education, empowerment and enablement programmes. The Minister emphasised that education of girls is pivotal and that it is his country’s high priority to eradicate poverty and improve the socio-economic fabric of local communities to discourage crime and the exploitation of women and girls as well as root out trafficking of women and girls.

The former chair of CSW H.E. Garen Nazarian who is currently Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN, told me that his country is fully committed to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, by exerting efforts towards an increased participation and representation of women at all levels of decision-making in Government.

Then tonight, at the NGO/CSW Reception, I had the pleasure of meeting Greta Gunnarsdottir, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Iceland at the UN who is one of 40 women who are Ambassadors to the UN. She assured me that this time all countries are genuinely seeking to arrive at an agreed outcome document. There are several challenges and dissension on wordings in the draft document, particularly, in respect of provisions dealing with sexuality and reproductive health rights. However, she conveyed the opinion of general optimism among most country delegations that the Draft Document prepared by UN Women is comprehensive enough because of the series of consultations spanning several months which involved all stakeholders.

Meanwhile, UN Women has urged all of us NGOs to step up our advocacy work and encouraged us to lobby Governments to do the right thing. There are indications that some countries want references to “girls” deleted from all paragraphs in the Draft Outcome Document because girls are deemed to be under parental control and in some countries a girl is only recognized as the “property” of her father. There are countries proposing to substitute references to “gender equality” with other descriptions and plan to roll back safeguards found in earlier agreements, conventions and declarations.

We have to watch closely what Governments say at CSW57 and decide whether it is mere rhetoric or lasting commitments. Many Governments have revealed their national action plans over the past 2 days. However, we see a disconnect in several countries between what a country says that it aspires to do and what those countries are actually implementing “on the ground”. We urge Soroptimists to log onto the CSW57 UN Webcasts and listen to the speeches by your respective country representatives at the UN and to remain ever vigilant!

We must persevere to ensure that men and boys are included in the action plans because for change to happen, men and boys must be engaged, enlightened and encouraged to become advocates for reforms and agents of change.

For more updates and photos from CSW57, visit www.soroptimistinternational.org/CSW57