From 12 – 23 March 2018, the 62nd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) will take place in the United Nations headquarters in New York. CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The event occurs annually, providing a space where UN member states, civil society organisations such as Soroptimist International, and UN entities can discuss thematic issues relevant to gender equality.
The priority theme this year will be ‘Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls’. The Review theme is ‘Participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women’.
This year Soroptimist International’s President Mariet Verhoef-Cohen will lead a delegation of more than ninety Soroptimists from around the world. Mariet says: “ I am delighted to be leading the delegation this year and happy we are represented by so many nationalities and members. This is a very important CSW for SI, not only because the primary theme is rural women, but because the subjects of Agriculture and Water Scarcity are so fundamental to feeding the growing world population. We need to support rural women, to play a vital role in this process and to achieve gender equality for all”.
At CSW there are various events that happen inside the UN buildings. These events must be sponsored by governments or UN entities. They will:
- Conduct high-level roundtables to exchange experiences, lessons learned and good practice;
- Evaluate progress from previously agreed conclusions under the review theme;
- Convene interactive discussions on initiatives to accelerate implementation and build capacity for mainstreaming gender equality across policies and programmes;
- Identify and address emerging issues that affect gender equality.
Additionally, there is a parallel NGO Forum, where civil society organisations host events outside of the UN buildings and are open to the public who register for the CSW NGO Forum.
Soroptimist International events during CSW62:
‘Solutions to the Multi-Layered Issues Faced by Rural Women’ 12 March 2018 at 12:30 pm, 4 W 43rd Street Room: Aqua Room.
Rural women often face diverse and multi layered challenges. Using SDG 4, Quality Education as a tool, Soroptimist International responds to the needs of women and girls in rural communities delivering projects to train and up-skill women to train them to start businesses and provide for their families. This event will share best practices and knowledge to better understand how to design multi-layered project interventions.
ORGANISED BY: Soroptimist International
‘Economic Empowerment of Rural Women’ 15 March, 2018 at 11:30am, UN Headquarters, Room Conference Room 11.
Rural women are key agents for sustainable development and their empowerment is vital for achieving the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Access to basic services and natural resources including water and sanitation, are key elements in this process.
This event explores ideas and examples of how to foster lives and how partnerships and cooperation are key strategies for sustainable development.
ORGANISED BY: Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN, Soroptimist International, Women for Water Partnership, International Federation of Business and Professional Women and Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.
* If you do not have a UN grounds pass you must RSVP for this event by 13 March. Details of how to do so will be added to this article as soon as they are confirmed.