Governments formally agreed a Political
Declaration on day one of CSW59, 9 March. But what impact will this have on the future advancement of gender equality?

 

CSW59 hosted
the global review of Beijing+20 and the implementation of the Beijing Platform
for Action, providing governments, NGOs and civil society with an important
opportunity to reaffirm their political will and ambitions to achieve gender
equality.  NGOs showed their passion through hosting parallel events, whilst active
governments  hosted side events showcasing what they had done to empower
women and girls.

Multiple
NGOs and civil society groups issued statements highlighting that the
commitments that Governments are making are not enough to ensure that the basic and
already internationally agreed principle of equality becomes a reality.  Soroptimist
International joined this movement by issuing its own statement.

Read
SI’s statement in response to the Political Declaration by clicking on the image below.

 

Unfortunately
there was disagreement amongst governments on including the words ‘human
rights’ in the Political Declaration, and other important language that had
already been agreed.  Additionally, there were no references to particularly
vulnerable groups such as the ‘girl child’, ‘older women’, ‘indigenous women’,
‘disabled women’ and others. This language is important because it provides the
international legal framework for governments having to take action to achieve
the Beijing Platform for Action. The gaps between what is agreed and what
actions are taken cause significant barriers to women and girls being able to
access their human rights.

As well as
the Political Declaration, the working methods of CSW were discussed and
negotiated during CSW59.  The working methods are key as they impact
on how NGOs, such as Soroptimist International, are able to engage with governments moving forward and
contribute to CSW activities.  Just as with the Political Declaration, NGOs and
civil society experienced push back on their level of involvement in CSW and
advocated hard to ensure that our voices will continue to be included to ensure the needs of women and girls are properly met.

 

Photo: Soroptimists unite at the International Women’s Day March to show civil society’s drive to achieve gender equality. 

The
vagueness of the political declaration will not positively contribute to the
achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.  This
means that NGOs like Soroptimist International will have to keep advocating
strongly to ensure that actions to improve the lives of women and girls are
taken.

As it says
in the Soroptimist International statement, twenty years since the agreement of the Beijing Platform for Action,
not only should we have seen more progress towards achieving gender equality,
but we should not still have to say that “women’s rights are human rights”.

Although it
is clear that there is a long way to go to achieve gender equality and the
empowerment of women and girls, it is also important to applaud the positive
actions that have been taken by some governments. Ultimately, NGOs, civil
society and progressive governments were successful in including ‘human rights’
in the Political Declaration, and in getting a formal reaffirmation of the
Beijing Platform for Action. You can read the Political Declaration here.