Report prepared by Ruth Suderman, Member of the University Women's Club of Winnipeg, and a Member of the NCWC Delegation

Some Notes on sessions attended at the CSW 2015

March 8      Consultation Day (“Celebrate the Feminist and Women’s Movements 1975 -2015”)

This opening event certainly felt like a celebratory welcome to delegates. Everything from the opening songs by the Women of the World, the welcoming messages by Soon-Young Yoon, Chair of NGO Committees on the Status of Women/New York, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women, the speakers and panelists throughout the day, provided positive energy and food for thought.

Women of the World

We were urged to look at progress in regard to the issue of violence against women. As an example, domestic violence is now considered a crime. Education on the issues of violence against women needs to occur at all levels. We need equality across the board. "The world must change, not the women."

Particularly striking was the keynote address by Ruchira Gupta (Women of Distinction Awardee and winner of a Clinton Global Citizen award) as she spoke about the issues she raised in the production of the documentary "The Selling of Innocents" and the fight to end sex trafficking in India. She urged us not to settle for rescuing just the top portion of the girls in the lower rungs of poverty but to work at helping the very last girl.

 

Other speakers and panelists urged us to:

- "speak about feminist economy rather than women in poverty"

- acknowledge “the diversity and depth of the movement in various regions"

- examine the “fundamental resistances” to the laws and tools in place, but not yet implemented.

- examine why many women are still left behind in the present economic structures.

- realize that the backlash is very strong, and particularly strong in extremist places -- this is about us, all of us.

- realize that in some societies, patriarchy is used to create divisions between us.

- understand that political use/ misuse of religion is used to divide us

- recognize that CEDAW helps to establish where we want to be.

 

Dr. Gertrude Mangella

 Dr. Gertrude Mangella spoke about “What Beijing Plus 20 Must Accomplish.” Some statements that caught my attention were:

"The next conference in 20 years needs to be organized by women not yet born."

"We need to pass the slow drivers in government."

"Support the right women (stop supporting the right men.)"

"We need to do our homework after this conference." Dr. Mangella was elected to the pan-African parliament and then became its president. She saw this as doing her homework from Beijing.

During a panel discussion in the afternoon, Mary Robinson, former Prime Minister of Ireland, talked about the price that needs to be paid to achieve our goals and the negative impact of climate change (omitted in Beijing) especially on women. The young people spoke about their hopes for the future and the progress they feel they have made to this point.

Young Activists' Perspectives with Mary Robinson

Celebration March, March 8

This march was upbeat and celebratory. The speeches were dynamic.

Celebration March to Times Square

NGO Orientation, Monday March 9

This session provided a needed overview of the history of the UN and the World Conferences on Women, government meetings, parallel and side events. This was helpful for me as someone new to CSW.

 

Energy Access as a Key Driver of Gender Equality, Monday, March 9

In this presentation by a panel, "energy is women's business" was at the core of the presentation. “Access to clean energy is crucial for women and children" as they are the ones who suffer the most when clean energy is not available, The Beijing Platform did not touch on energy.

They estimated 4 million deaths due to kitchen pollution and smoky kitchens. Another health concern is that the women were carrying 40 pounds of water on their heads daily causing spinal injury and damage to reproductive organs.

If water, sanitation, clean energy (cook stoves) and electricity are not available, women suffer disproportionately. Income generation also depends on available energy.

Panelists speak about the need for energy access for women

Making the Invisible Visible: Partnering to End Violence Against Women and Children in Rwanda, March 9

We were shown the powerful results that can come from the collaboration of UNICEF, Zonta and UN Women. The one- stop centers for medical and psychosocial care in Rwanda for survivors of violence provide assistance to women in need.

 

NGO CSW Forum Reception, March 9

The NGO CSW Forum held a reception for all UN and NGO delegates attending CSW59 at the Armenian Convention Center Ballroom. We were welcomed to the North American/European section of the ballroom by Soon Young Yoon, Chair of NGO Committees on the Status of Women. It was at this reception that Ruchira Gupta was awarded the Woman of Distinction Award for 2015. There was a large buffet available to all attendees. Music was provided by an all woman mariache band.

 Kenya – Women’s Economic Empowerment . . . , March 10

This presentation provided information on an organization in Kenya (called JOYWO for Joyful Women) that empowers rural women to take control of their lives. Women are offered small loans to start small businesses, usually involving agricultural production. JOYWO has facilitated the mobilization of approximately 190,000 rural women into groups allowing them to raise capital and make these small loans. Women have gained confidence and learned new skills, especially when it comes to personal and small business finances.

Key to the success of the project has been the support of Her Excellency Mrs. Rael Ruta, patron of the Joyful Women Organization.

JOYWO panelists

Gender Inequality and Climate Change - How to tackle a Double Injustice, March 10

This panel was chaired by Martha Chouchen-Rojas. The French minister, Pascale Boistard's main point seemed to be that women in power at ALL levels of government needed to take action. Mary Robinson echoed this and extended it -"poor women are disproportionately affected by climate change." "Women should be in all aspects of the climate change discussions." "Women are in the front lines as climate change is happening." She observed this first hand in her visits to Africa. Climate change discussions "need to be people centered." Adaptations costs. We need more financing. Climate change discussions need to recognize the different impacts on women and men. "The climate world is still very male driven by science and numbers. A gender balance is needed in these discussions. Climate change is the most serious human rights issue. "We are the first generation to see its impact and the last generation to have time to do something."

Lakshmir Puri spoke more generally about the gender blind process till 2010. She would like to see the term "women's empowerment" included in the terminology of climate change discussions because it makes more developmental sense.

 

Child, Early and Forced Marriage – Indicators for Progress, March 10

The Honourable Dr. Kelly Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, spoke about the fact that in Canada we have laws to prevent child, early and forced marriage.

Greta Rad Gupta talked about measuring progress: 1. Where we have been, 2. Where we are going and 3. The role of data

700 million women alive today were married as children.

Salam Kanaan from Jordan talked about the many Syrian refugees in Jordan. 630,00 are registered but the government believes the true figure is around 1.5 million. There has been an increase in the number of Syrian child marriages for several reasons: protection, financial, male refugees can emigrate more easily if married.

Hope, a young woman from Kenya, spoke about the need for community sensitization, the need for harsher penalties and stricter laws, and the need for parents to see the benefits of education for girls.

Francoise Girard from Women's Health Organization spoke of the need to take into account the whole girl, the need to look at the root causes of child marriages like the devaluation of girls. Schools need to be girl friendly and girl centered.

She urged us to go for one strong indicator of success in the upcoming years – eg. the percentage married at 18+ in the 20-24 age bracket.

I wondered why Canada had chosen to support this particular issue (although an important one) when there are so many issues like murdered and missing aboriginal women that affect so many more women in Canada.

 

Progress Report of the Beijing Declaration at Twenty: Preventing Violence Against Indigenous Women in the Western Hemisphere and Addressing Our need for culturally Relevant Health Care Services, March 10

At the Beijing Conference, there were just a couple of references to indigenous peoples, not enough. Indigenous women and girls are 8 more times at risk of exploitation in the USA than the general population of women. Of concern is the Keystone pipeline. “Man camps” along the pipeline prey on vulnerable indigenous women. Mining and fracking are considered environment violence, because water is contaminated. This affects reproductive capabilities. Children are dying; this is seen as a form of genocide. However, governments see this form of mining as development.

We need to learn to work with governments. Women need culturally specific treatment in health care. The indigenous speaker from Ecuador spoke about some hospitals for natural births and the use of mid-wives. Indigenous peoples still need to be acknowledged as people with rights.

 

Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325 & CEDAW Women – Peace – Security, March 11

The keynote speaker was Marilou McPhedran. She spoke about the legal framework for peacebuilding, an antidote to legal and policy fatigue. We want to use legal frameworks to shift the culture of violence (rape) to a culture of peace. She outlined the various Security Council resolutions that are in place together with the CEDAW GR 30 document. Her conclusion was that autonomous feminist movements are the most powerful tool against violence.

Implications of forced displacement of Iraqi families due to ISIS terror, March 12

This panel became a very heated discussion on the issues facing the Iraqi people as a result of the ISIS terror. Many times, the discussion and arguments tended to diverge from a concentration on how the ISIS attacks and the resultant refugee issues affected women to a general discussion of the impact on the country.

Judge Dr. Zakia Hakki speaks about issues in Iraq

 We used to be #1, March 12

Canada was #1 on the equality index in 1995; now we are #23. The five member panel presented some powerful albeit disheartening information about the women’s movement in Canada. The panelists were contributors and writers of the document “Progress on Women’s Rights: Missing in Action,” a shadow report on Canada’s Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Some of the points made during this presentation included:

 - The women’s movement has become fragmented because of government funding cuts and a change in focus. The labour movement tries to support various projects but simply cannot replace government. The labour movement has taken up such causes as child care and violence against women.

- We need a national action plan and policy to address violence against women. This needs to include a stand-alone policy on intimate partner violence or sexual assault.

- The federal government funding shift to the “Housing First” model has not taken into account the reasons for women’s homelessness. Women’s homelessness tends to be hidden and is often the result of violence. Due to the cut in funding for the National Council on Welfare, there is no gender specific information about women in poverty.

- We need policies that focus on girls: regarding violence against girls, their mental health and emotional well-being, and their education.

- The federal government’s cancellation of the long-form Census has significantly hampered progress for women on many fronts.

- Women’s leadership in civil society is critical. The resolution of the Security Council together with CEDAW’s work has laid the legal groundwork for us. Autonomous feminist movements are the most powerful tool against violence.

Mary Scott, NCWC, introduces the session and panelists

Gender Equality and Aging Society: the Asian Perspective, March 13

The panel brought varying perspectives to the discussion. The most valuable section was some of the conclusions:

-all data be gender and age desegregated

-support a long life learning approach to technology and aging

-strengthen community networks

-make the invisible visible

-integrate aging into all policies (absent from Beijing)

 Other Meetings Attended:

Morning Briefings March 11-13

Daily Canadian Government Briefings

A CFUW Meeting

Two IFUW Breakfast Meetings

General Comments

I found my experience at CSW59 to be exhilarating. Hearing so many perspectives on gender issues, appreciating the diverse positive strides throughout the world, I was moved by the efforts to improve the lives of women made by so many people.

It is evident that a great deal of thought goes into the wording of the statements and resolutions.

I was impressed with the work being done in several African countries like Kenya and Rwanda. These are tangible steps. I am disappointed in Canada’s efforts in the area of violence against women.

I liked the fact that there was a large spread of age groups in attendance. This is a hopeful sign. However, I hope the push to include aging women in the language and the dialogue on all women’s issues is heard.

Climate change is having a disproportionately harder effect on women than men. Something to think about.

 

Ruth Suderman