 03 March 2008
New York—Record
numbers of advocates
from women’s
organizations from
around the world
participated in
the 52nd session
of the United Nations
Commission on the
Status of Women
(CSW) meeting held
at the United Nations
headquarters in
New York from 25
February to 7 March
2008.
This year’s priority
theme, “Financing
for gender equality
and empowerment of
women” resonated
with the “Invest
in Women—It Pays!” theme
of Women Deliver, and
advocates at CSW argued
that women’s
health, particularly
sexual and reproductive
health and rights (SRHR)
including maternal
health, must be explicitly
included in financing
and budgeting for development.
This year’s CSW
falls at a mid-point
in the lead-up to an
official review of
key global development
agreements, making
for a particularly
difficult negotiation
for women’s groups. Governments
were reluctant to champion
new expenditures or
bold statements on
health and rights when
the CSW’s recommendations
on gender and financing
will be integrated,
hopefully, within a
broader global development
framework. Specifically,
this meeting feeds
into the process for
two meetings to be
held in the fall of
2008: the Third High
Level Forum on Aid
Effectiveness, Accra,
Ghana and the Follow-up
International Conference
on Financing for Development
to Review the Implementation
of the Monterrey Consensus,
Doha, Qatar.
Despite this reluctance
from government delegates
and being shut out
from official negotiations
from the first day
of the informal consultations,
dedicated NGO advocates
introduced and supported
language for SRHR and
funding for women’s
organizations and defended
language to improve
gender equity in macro-
and micro-financing. The
Agreed Conclusions,
the final outcome document,
do not go as far as
many advocates would
like; for example,
the document does not
carry proposed language
for a stronger UN entity
that is well resourced
and oversees the UN’s
work on gender equality.
On the other hand, the
document sets out recommendations
for gender sensitive
budgeting and financing,
while reaffirming the
Beijing Platform for
Action, the Cairo Programme
for Action and the
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and reiterating
the promise of universal
access to reproductive
health
Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights
Despite resistance from
middle income countries,
who generally saw financing
for women’s health
as something that is
completely outside
of gender budgeting,
the Agreed Conclusions
recommend governments,
UN agencies, international
financial institutions,
civil society and NGOs,
as well as the private
sector:
“Strengthen
education, health,
and social services
and effectively
utilize resources
to achieve gender
equality and the
empowerment of
women and ensure
women’s and
girls’ rights
to education at
all levels and
the enjoyment of
the highest attainable
standard of physical
and mental health,
including sexual
and reproductive
health, as well
as quality, affordable
and universally
accessible health
care and services,
particularly primary
healthcare.” (para
21 ee)
Advocates were unsuccessful
in incorporating language
on sexual, reproductive,
economic, and social “rights” (a
point the arch conservative C-Fam was happy
to publicize). As
much as advocates lobbied
governments to include
language on sexual
and reproductive rights,
only New Zealand and
Norway politically
supported including
rights-based language
in this area.
Gender Equality Architecture
Reform (GEAR)
The global campaign
for Gender Equality
Architecture Reform
(GEAR) was formally
launched during the
CSW on February 26,
and highlights the
under-resourcing of
the women’s entities
in the UN system and
the need for a stronger,
consolidated, higher
status women’s
entity. The GEAR
campaign proposes one
entity to unify the
UN women’s entities,
including the Division
for the Advancement
of Women (DAW), the
Office of the Secretary
General’s Special
Adviser on Gender Issues
(OSAGI) and the United
Nations Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Such
an entity would not “ghettoize” women’s
issues - just as ILO
or UNICEF do not ghettoize
labor or children -
but would instead provide
clear leadership, strong
capacity and system-wide
coherence.
Now supported by more
than 180 organizations,
the GEAR campaign challenges
the UN to “GEAR
UP,” and at CSW,
more than 40 countries
championed the call,
mentioning in their
national statements
the need to strengthen
the UN’s institutional
mechanisms on gender
equality and calling
for a consolidated
entity led by an Under
Secretary General.
The Agreed Conclusions
recognize “under-resourcing
in the area of gender
equality in the UN
system…….and
stresses the need for
more effective tracking
of resources….spent
on enhancing gender
equality….” (para
19) They specifically
call for strengthening
the UN system both
through more effective
gender mainstreaming
and for “enhancing
its capacity to effectively
assist States….on
gender equality and
women’s empowerment….and
to make adequate and
reliable human and
financial resources
available.” (para
kk)
Supported by statements
from the Secretary-General,
Liberia, MERCOSUR,
Mexico, Switzerland,
Norway, Iceland, Canada,
EU, Australia, Philippines and
New Zealand were the
countries who pushed
for stronger language
on GEAR.
The next steps for the
GEAR campaign will
be to convey to the
General Assembly the
broad support from
governments and civil
society for moving
forward on a stronger
institutional mechanism
for women that can
deliver real improvements
in women’s daily
lives.
Conclusion
The CSW 52nd Session
Agreed Conclusions
are a new advocacy
tool for the global
community concerned
with women’s
sexual and reproductive
health, including maternal
health. For Women
Deliver advocates,
the Agreed Conclusions
can be used to support
your calls for adequate
funding for MNCH and
other components of
women’s empowerment.
In addition to the Agreed
Conclusions [hyperlink],
the Commission adopted
resolutions on: Palestinian
women, INSTRAW, Women
and Child Hostages,
Female Genital Mutilation,
and women, girls and
HIV/AIDS. Country
delegations also submitted
official statements
revealing the strengths
and weaknesses of government
positions on these
issues; if your county
submitted an official
statement, you can
access it on-line here.
To advocate for women’s
interests in international
financing, share and
discuss these documents
with your government
allies and NGO colleagues. Learn
who your country is
sending to up-coming
international meetings
and be sure they know
how their efforts can
support women at home.
If you are interested
in advocating at international
meetings for women’s
health and rights in
the context of financing
and budgeting, the
next opportunity is
7 - 11 April during
the 41st session of
the Commission on Population
and Development, where
the themes will be “Population
distribution, urbanization,
internal migration
and development.” In
June, the United Nations
General Assembly will
meet for a Special
Session on HIV/AIDS. In
the fall, Accra, Ghana
will host the Third
High Level Forum on
Aid Effectiveness,
Accra, Ghana and
Doha, Qatar will host
the Follow-up International
Conference on Financing
for Development to
Review the Implementation
of the Monterrey Consensus.
The 53rd session of
the Commission on the
Status of Women will
be held in 2009 on
the theme, “The
equal sharing of responsibilities
between women and men,
including caregiving
in the context of HIV/AIDS.”
For more information:
Many thanks to Alexandra
Garita of International
Planned Parenthood
Federation and Zonnibel Woods
at the International
Women’s Health
Coalition for their help on this
article. |
