“Tuesday 15 March was the first of the NGO CSW NY Committee important briefings run jointly with UN Women. This was a special session as the facilitator for the Agreed Conclusions for CSW60, Mr Andreas Glossner, came to the meeting to share progress on discussions of the text with Non – Governmental Organisations present.

The auditorium was packed with eager and determined women. Mr Glossner took many comments from the representatives in the audience about what should and should not be included in the text. He was asked many questions about the process, including when the next
draft would be available; Mr Glossner confirmed that it would be released within 24 hours – a few adjustments were still to be made.

SI has quickly turned its attention to reviewing the wording ensuring that SI messages (sometimes described as ‘asks’) are included and highlighting where they need to be strengthened or are missing from the text. It is also important to check the text to ensure that agreements which have been made in the past continue to be adhered to so that there is not slippage backwards on rights which have been hard fought for by women previously.

Many of our Soroptimist delegates have already been in touch with their country Missions to the UN in New York, some have been invited to meet with Ministers. For these first 3 days of CSW60 the Ministers responsible in their own countries for gender equality have been attending in large numbers and contributing to events.

Soroptimists have already been able to present our messages in person, but now we have a further revised text available, Soroptimists will be able to continue their dialogue with their country Missions in New York, feeding into the process of developing the Agreed Conclusions. There is still a lot of negotiation to take place and we will see many changes over the next
week. However, you can be assured that Soroptimists will continue to act as a global voice for women and girls”.