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.

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.

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.