Report for the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women NZFGW and Graduate Women International GWI

On

The United Nations 60th Commission on the Status of Women- CSW60 New York

“Leave No One Behind”

Every March the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York turns the focus of the United Nations towards women and gender related issues world wide. (Http//

It provides an opportunity for civil societyNon Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to participate through a forum where activists from around the world can discuss issues relating to women and girls, to network, share strategies and to lobby governments to implement resolutions and treaties. It also provides a safe place for women where their voices can be heard. This is especially important for those who do not or cannot have a voice in their own communities.

The theme for the 60th session this year was ‘Women’s Empowerment and its links to Sustainable Development’. As well, a secondary review theme is also considered and this year it was ‘the Elimination and Prevention of all forms of violence against Women and Girls’. Preventing all forms of violence against women is relevant to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)adopted by the UN on September 25th, 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of the new sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years (the 2030 agenda). Goal 5 is a stand-alone goal on gender equality. Gender equality is a fundamental human right and necessary for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. It has been acknowledged and celebrated during this CSW session that the 17 SDGs are by far the most ambitious UN Projects since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. SDG goal 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” by leaving no one behind, was the thread that weaved its way through both side and parallel events this year at CSW.

From the 14th to the 24th of March there is a huge schedule of some 450concurrent events presented by the NGOs at various buildings around the UN (known as parallel events) as well as the main sessions of the Commission andhigh level events - side events - run by member governments and organisations in the United Nations buildings.The days are very full and intense and choosing which events to attend can be daunting for new delegates but are so energising that any session is a valuable learning experience.

There were over 8000 people at CSW60 this year, stated to be the biggest ever yet, including Graduate Women International (GWI) for whom I was a delegate and the International Council of Women (ICW-CIF ).

For the first time CSW held a Youth Forum. Young people, 30 years and under met to discuss the empowerment of young women and young men as partners in achieving gender equality in order to advance the agenda toward 2030. At the end of two days the young people presented their Declaration to the chair of the Commission, H. E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguilar Patriots from Brazil and were also given the opportunity to present it at the official opening ceremony on Monday, 14th of March.

NGOS have the opportunity to provide a written statement in support of the themes a few months before CSW takes place. Both GWI and ICW took this opportunity. Other organisations are invited to endorse these statements to strengthen their case.

GWI focussed on educationand called for governments and policy makers to realise girl’s and women’s empowerment through access to lifelong education, this being the key to achieving sustainable development. States and policy makers were asked worldwide to take action on the unique challenges affecting girls and enable them to fulfil their potential by removing barriers to their education at all levels. GWI sees safe access to, and completion of, quality secondary education as a critical means to provide girls and young women with the tools and skills necessary to progress further in higher education, work and society. Engagement in higher education is critical for the advancement of knowledge needed for sustainable development and for the preparation of current and next generations to put that knowledge to use across all aspects of their work and lives and is a crucial element in enabling a nation’s economic growth and political stability. Member states were urged to

  • Invest a minimum 6% of GDP in education, as recommended by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, to support and enhance the provision of quality education that is truly accessible to all, irrespective of socio -economic status, and to ensure quality training of teachers and adequate resources.
  • Provide informal education where necessary as a means to achieve sustainable development amongst isolated and vulnerable groups.
  • Provide education for all indigenous women and girls in an acceptable context as emphasised for all indigenous peoples in Article 16, UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Articles 26 and 27 of the ILO Convention 169 for Indigenous and Tribal Peoples
  • Use gender-disaggregated data to inform education policy development to enhance women’s ability to enjoy their rights and take advantage of empowerment opportunities.
  • Address gender pay gaps through appropriately administered channels including through collective bargaining.
  • Establish mechanisms and resources to monitor institutions at local, national and international levels to ensure accountability of all stakeholders in their responsibility to uphold for women and girls equal education access, human rights and gender equality.

This statement was supported by 6other International Women’s organisations.

All governments give an oral statement during the proceedings and NZ’s statement was made by Dr Jo Gribb in the absence of Hon Louise Upston, Minister for Women. GWI was honoured to be invited to present an oral statement also during the proceedings and this was read to the assembly by GWI United Nations Representative Ms Mick Minard. It can be viewed on UNTV here. The full text of the written and oral statements can be found here.

Prior to CSW60 governments start working on a document known as Agreed Conclusions. This is the principle outcome document which will be agreed to by the members of the Commission as the way forward for the future on the priority theme for thatyear. It is a set of concrete recommendations for governments, intergovernmental bodies and other institutions, along with civil society actors (NGOs) to be implemented at the international, national, regional and local level.

A zero draft is released in February and in every country’s NGOs try to influence their Government delegates by making suggestions for amending this document – only Governments can submit possible amendments to the Commission facilitators. As part of the NZ delegation we met regularlyeach evening with our delegates to be updated on the negotiations. NZ members supported the Maori Women’s Welfare League MMWL on improving the statements on indigenous peoples.

As a delegate for Graduate Women International and a panel presentation member for the International Council of Women, I attended the opening Consultative Day events, morning GWI and UN briefings, the Asia/Pacific caucus, side events and mission-related parallel sessions,where possible, on education issues and others of my choice during the first week of CSW 60.

The SDGs have a stated intention of “Leaving No One Behind”, and this was the theme of the Consultation Day on Sunday March 13th in New York.Consultation Day speakers emphasized that civil society must ensure that we ‘leave no one behind’ as we pursue the 2030 agenda. If someone is left behind, it will be a woman, a woman who will have no access to proper health care, education or reproductive rights. Civil society is pivotal to making sure that no one is left behind because it is the sector that has the most access to the population it serves and should pay attention to the gaps and challenges, monitoring and denouncing those agencies and governments that are not willing to advance these goals. The call to action for civil society to strengthen the 2030 agenda is clear. Lakshmi Puri, the Assistant Secretary-General of UN Women, spoke about the indivisibility and inclusivity of the SDGs, and that there is momentum to create a new normal with gender equality into the SDG framework. She said we should capitalize on the shift in the mindset of policy makers, and look to inspire and implement through laws, policies, and actions of the State. We should advise governments, and hold them to account. We should integrate approaches to change through ministries and NGOs, and urge information, investment and innovation to make transformation happen. We should “Fly high!” And the three most important things to accomplish this year as stated by PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director UN Women are Implementation, implementation and implementation. We must preserve what has been achieved and look at the gaps now that we have a road map in the SDGs.

CSW Sessions on women’s empowerment in decision making positions

The ICW President, Dr Jung-sook Kim, spoke at a session about “Women in Power and Decision Making.” She spoke about changing the law in South Korea to enable 54 National Districts to have 50% women, so that there are 40 more women now in their Parliament. A former South Korean Parliamentarian and Minister for Political Affairs, Yun-sook Lee was also at the forefront of advancing the status of women. Both pointed out that any country that has passed CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women) should endorse 50% women representation. Irene Natividad, President, Global Summit of Women and Chair, Corporate Women Directors international, presented research data:Heads of State/ Presidents: 18 women and 175 men; Parliamentarians: 22.6% women, 77.4% men. Countries without quotas had on average only 14% women. In Europe’s Blue Chip Companies there are only 2 women CEOs. Forty studies showed that companies with more than 30% women had higher GDP, and survived the economic crises better.

Rae Duff, President NCW New Zealand, told that although NZ adopted all women’s (including indigenous Maori women)right to vote in 1893, and women’s right to stand for parliament in 1919, it was not until 1933 that a woman was elected to parliament. Since then New Zealand women have continued to progress towards equality at all levels however this has lagged in recent years and there is still a 12 – 14 percent gender pay gap and women hold only 31 per cent of seats in Parliament. New Zealand is ranked 10th out of 145 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index whereas our Pacific neighbour, Fiji, is ranked 121st. Fiji has one of the lowest representations of women in politics in the world and their economic participation and opportunity for women came in at 125th. Under representation of women in politics and the economy in both countries means that the skills and expertise of half the population are being under-utilised. The most common barriers are often cultural as across the world, politics and high level decision making are still considered to be “men’s work”. Sustainable economic growth, social development and environmental sustainability can only be fully realised when women are recognised and take their place as equal partners. Rae urged people to use the Beijing Platform, CEDAW and the SGDs to make changes.

A number of seminars presented by European organisations argued very strongly for the introduction of quotas to ensure a greater representation of women in power and decision making positions. But in many cases the quotas were set very low such as say 30% which New Zealand has obtained simply by training, supporting and encouraging more women to take up their democratic rights. At the side event 30% Policy to Practice – the Malaysian Experience panelists spoke on their National Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women which set a target of 30% of women directors on boards, their successes and areas of concern as this has not been achieved yet. If women’s representation is to increase, there must be a strong political will and buy in from all sectors, strong institutional support, sharing of child care and family responsibilities, legislation if necessary to ensure a gender balance in parliament, on stock exchanges and public companies, investment in women’s education and economic assets, use of professional recruiters to reduce the effect of “the old boys network”, training for women on accounting, finance, and corporate governance and women mentors and role models. There is a specific target in the SDGs on women’s full and effective participation in leadership at all levels of decision making. Half the population of the world is female. In order for us to ‘leave no one behind’, women must engage in the political process. Equality is enshrined in the SDGs and we cannot wait for another 100 years to achieve it. Women must engage politically to achieve justice and access to equal opportunities. They must also invest in their children and their families. Women bear the burden of providing unpaid care, so when women are empowered politically, they have greater involvement in improving societal issues such as health and child carein their communities. Resistance to women’s leadership is deeply ingrained worldwide. Boys must be educated to listen and we must educate both boys and girls to make the transformation we are seeking in the 2030 agenda.

It is anamazing experience to attend a CSW in New York and something we should be promoting to our members to at least attend one. You get to see Civil Society and Governments of the World working together to effect change for women and girls.

There is a wonderful opportunity for Graduate Women International and the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women as Education is the theme for next year - SDG goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. We need to be supporting and encouraging members, especially young members, to attend this to present on equal Pay, women on boards, in Parliament and leadership positions, our educational programs especially for indigenous people and migrants. I also believe NZFGW, NCWNZ and other NGO’s should be working with our Government to look at how we can partner in a side or a parallel event.

Rae Duff

GWI Education Convener

Graduate Women Wellington

Education Panel Consultation day30% Policy to practice – The Malaysian Experience

The New Zealand Delegation

Consultation DayWomen in Power and Decision making

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