[Gcap-mujeres] VOICES RISING Nº 255 SPECIAL ISSUE / CSW - NY

[ICAE Oficina]

VOICES RISING Nº 255 SPECIAL ISSUE / CSW -  NY


GEO/ICAE

VOICES RISING
YEAR VI - Nº 255 SPECIAL ISSUE / CSW - NY
February 27, 2008


Content
1.- Opening of the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
2.- THE SECRETARY-GENERAL REMARKS TO THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
3.- DAWN PANEL: “What happened to financing for gender equality? A South 
Critical view of FF, Debt Relief, Aid Effectivenes and A4T”
4.- Launch of the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign 
within the framework of the 52nd. Session of the CSW
5.- GEAR UP

--

1.- Opening of the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women

25 th. September 2008

Prepared by Marcela Hernandez from GEO/ICAE and Alejandra Scampini, 
Regional Director of Women’s Rights Programme in Actionaid

Queuing, and waiting and hoping
BUILDING A UN THAT WORKS FOR ALL WOMEN

Thousands of people, mostly women, queued up at the visitors’ entrance of 
the United Nations on this cold but sunny morning of September 25th . More 
people than expected gathered in New York to attend this 52nd . Session of 
the Commission on the Status of Women. The conference room where the 
official opening session was held was packed and nearby conference rooms 
were used to show on big screen the opening session.

It is really unfortunate that the representation of the regions is so 
unequal. We could see women from Africa, Europe and US but this time, for 
us coming from Latin America is really sad not to see the large group of 
feminists and women’s groups that used to follow up these processes.

We heard that many groups asked for registration but it seems they were not 
lucky at raising funds and that is a reality we have to analyze.

The CSW opened this time with a very important issue: RESOURCES and women’s 
groups and feminists groups have not always been very visible in the places 
where finance and resources are the main issues. So CSW comes in a good 
time to provide more spaces to discuss these issues knowing that 2008 is 
also the year for other meetings related to the Follow up of Monterrey 
Consensus and Aid Effectiveness.

Reading the brochure on the CSW parallel events, it is a good sign that 
there are so many parallel events planned by AWID, WIDE, DAWN, UNIFEM that 
tackle how the financing for  gender equality intersects with ongoing 
processes around trade, aid, debt and those spaces look as critical spaces 
to improve our debates on these issues from a gender perspective. It would 
be interesting to see what other groups are doing specially those more 
based at the level of national and local work.

Gender responsive budgeting is also high in the agenda of CSW and we hope 
we can hear more about what are the lessons on this and how these lessons 
are also  responding to the macroeconomic framework that very much affect 
the decisions of our governments around what to spend and when.

Violence against women and girls is also very much present here in the 
agenda and discussion. May be what in the agenda so far is missing is what 
are they referring to when they say Violence. Let’s hope this unfolds in 
the discussions and we see much more debate on how poverty is also a denial 
of women’s rights and therefore violence and also the intersection of HIV 
AIDS and violence that has been so visible in other fora and raised by many 
groups in the campaign Women Wont’ Wait. End Violence against women and HIV 
AIDS. NOW!

There are some key groups working on rural women and land and natural 
resources that are really trying to also create a space to discuss the 
financing specially for the rural women in developing countries. We really 
hope as Actionaid to engage with those groups in the discussions and see 
synergies we could create around women’s rights to land and livelihoods in 
the year of the 60th celebration of Human rights Declaration and the year 
of the launch of Hungerfree Campaing of Actionaid

There is a permament call for women’s and feminist organizations and CSOs 
to be at the table when issues around the financing is on the table. Let’s 
wait what the official delegates have to say on that these two weeks.

ICAE will be actively participating in these debates and we welcome the 
proposal of GRAIL , Ecumenical women, Methodist women 2000, women’s 
institute for social transformation , southern dispora research and 
development centre for putting forward the panel on financing for gender 
equality: what’s race, class , and gender got to do with it. The 
accumulation of how to work around the intersectionalities of ICAE will 
benefit of this dialogue to incorporate a more economic dimension to it. 
And think about what is the price attached to these intersectionalities.

Last but not least some groups here are really hoping that the CSW becomes 
the space for the Secretary General to appoint the new Executive Director 
of UNIFEM and that there is a creation of political leadership around the 
new Gender architecture reform.

Some groups signing on Gender Equity Architecture Reform as really using 
the space to call attention on this.

We cannot move backwards, UN is in debt with women, we need to have a space 
that is really strong and that can really champion on women’s rights

It is the time to create the institutional mechanisms that are required to 
make a stronger unity both at international and national level.


At the opening of the session, the United Nations, Secretary General, Ban 
Ki-moon launched the campaign to end violence against women: “Unite to End 
Violence Against Women”, to a high-level audience of Government Ministers 
and Ambassadors, as well as numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 
and representatives of the UN System.

“Violence against women and girls makes its hideous imprint on every 
continent, country and culture,” said the Secretary-General. “It is time to 
focus on the concrete actions that all of us can and must take to prevent 
and eliminate this scourge -- Member States, the United Nations family, 
civil society and individuals -- women and men. It is time to break through 
the walls of silence, and make legal norms a reality in women’s lives.”

Below you will find the full statement of the UN Secretary General.

On the other hand Rachel Mayanja, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser 
on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women gave her support to this campaign 
to end violence against women and stated that the forthcoming events: The 
Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana, in September 
2008, the follow up International Conference on FFD to Review the 
Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus in Doha, Qatar, etc, are unique 
opportunities to go on pushing for gender issues. She said that although 
the Monterrey Consensus considered the gender perspective, this was not 
strong enough for the implementation of actions. She also mentioned climate 
change as a priority in the development agenda and how this impacts 
particularly on women, recognizing gender equality as a cross-cutting issue.
Rachel Mayanja also expressed her concern on widows, as a result of 
conflict processes and on the selling of organs as a lucrative business 
where women and children are the main victims.

--

2.- THE SECRETARY-GENERAL REMARKS TO THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
New York, 25 February 2008

(Check against delivery)

Mr. President of ECOSOC, Distinguished Ministers, Mr. Chairperson of the 
Commission, Excellencies, Civil society representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am honoured and moved to be with you today.

Standing here before the Commission on the Status of Women, whose members 
have done so much for gender equality worldwide, I am energized by your 
activism and inspired by your achievements.

Today, we come together to launch a global campaign to end violence against 
women. I am counting on you -- advocates from Government, civil society and 
the UN -- to carry our message around the world.

Violence against women is an issue that cannot wait. A brief look at the 
statistics makes it clear. At least one out of every three women is likely 
to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Through 
the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the 
right even to exist. No country, no culture, no woman young or old is 
immune to this scourge. Far too often, the crimes go unpunished, the 
perpetrators walk free.

War has always been devastating, but now, women and girls are themselves 
targets in the war zone. Today’s weapons of armed conflict include rape, 
sexual violence, and the abduction of children conscripted as soldiers or 
forced into sexual slavery.

On my visits to conflict-torn areas around the world, I have spoken with 
women who have endured horrific forms of violence. I will forever be 
haunted by their suffering -- but equally, I will always be inspired by 
their courage. These mothers, sisters, daughters and friends are determined 
to reclaim their lives.

This is a campaign for them. It is a campaign for the women and girls who 
have the right to live free of violence, today and in the future. It is a 
campaign to stop the untold cost that violence against women inflicts on 
all humankind.

We know that gender inequality is hampering progress towards the Millennium 
Development Goals -- our common vision to build a better world in the 21st 
century.

We know that violence against women compounds the enormous social and 
economic toll on families, communities, even whole nations.

And we know that when we work to eradicate violence against women, we 
empower our greatest resource for development: mothers raising children; 
law-makers in parliament; chief executives, negotiators, teachers; doctors, 
policewomen, peacekeepers and more.

And so my campaign to end violence against women will continue until 2015 
to coincide with the target date for the Millennium Development Goals.

We have solid policy frameworks and initiatives to build on.

UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict brings together 12 entities 
across the United Nations family, from the Department of Peacekeeping 
Operations to the World Health Organization.

The UN Task Force on violence against women is spearheading joint 
programming at the national level.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, set up eleven years ago, 
has supported partners in communities, nations and regions around the world.

Just last December, the General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on 
rape and sexual violence.

And the landmark resolution 1325 on women, peace and security adopted by 
the Security Council seven years ago raised the issue to the level it 
deserves.

Today, I call again on the Security Council to establish a mechanism 
dedicated to monitoring violence against women and girls, under the 
framework of resolution 1325.

Let us remember: there is no blanket approach to fighting violence against 
women. What works in one country may not lead to desired results in 
another. Each nation must devise its own strategy.

But there is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and 
communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, 
never tolerable.

In this campaign, I will personally approach world leaders to spur action 
through national campaigns.

I will urge all States to review applicable laws, and to revise them or 
enact new ones to ensure that violence against women is always 
criminalized. And I will call on all States to enforce their laws to end 
impunity.

I will encourage the media to take our message far and wide, and urge 
regional organizations to set priorities and targets.

I will galvanize the UN system to provide stronger and more effective 
support to all stakeholders, at the local, national, regional and global 
level.

I will form a global network of male leaders to assist me in mobilizing men 
and boys  men in Government, men in the arts and sports, men in business, 
men in the religious sphere, men in every walk of life, who know what 
leadership truly means.

I will work hand in hand with women’s groups worldwide. The progress over 
the past century happened thanks to them, and they will be our chief 
standard bearers in the future too.

And I will propose a high-level event in 2010 to review what we have 
accomplished, exchange best practices and map out the steps ahead.

Dear friends,

Our campaign will build on a deep and broad partnership, bringing in all 
society to take us to the end of violence against women and girls everywhere.

To help us reach our destination, I call on young people around the world 
-- our leaders of tomorrow.

I call on the private sector around the world, whose reach is indispensable 
in advancing our cause.

I call on women’s groups around the world, whose valiance and vision have 
brought us to where we are today, and who will keep charting the way forward.

I call on men around the world to lead by example: to make clear that 
violence against women is an act perpetrated by a coward, and that speaking 
up against it is a badge of honour.

I call on Member States around the world: the responsibility, above all, 
lies with you.

I call on all of you to pledge with me:

United We Shall Succeed.

Thank you very much.

--

3.- DAWN PANEL: “What happened to financing for gender equality? A South 
Critical view of FF, Debt Relief, Aid Effectivenes and A4T”

Prepared by Marcela Hernandez, GEO / ICAE


Panel’s Chair: Gita Sen
Panelists: Mariama Williams, Aldo Calliari, Gigi Francisco

Gita Sen  DAWN - opened the panel explaining that the four pillars of 
financing for development are divided in 2 international and 2 domestic:

-       Domestic resource mobilization (for eg; taxes)
-       Debt (borrowing from abroad)
-       Development assistance
-       Trade

Plus a fifth element, only for middle and high income countries which is 
private capital flows. These elements are crucial for financing for 
development.

FFD can be looked in terms of volume and quality. If we talk about quality 
we understand reliability, predictability, sustainability. Quality depends 
on how those finances impact on gender equality.

Another important element, which never gets counted as a resource for 
development is women’s unremunerated work. Such money is not paid to women 
and goes somewhere else. In lots of the official documents of this 52nd . 
Session of the CSW this last point is not mentioned and this is really 
disappointed, said Gita Sen.

Mariama Wiliams - IGTN, DAWN - from Jamaica talked about gender equality 
and financing and the challenges in the global economy. As part of these 
challenges, she mentioned financial volatility, the financial crisis in the 
market, the lack of adequate regulations of banking structure, the fuel 
crisis, and all these elements increase the impoverishment in the global 
south.   She also mentioned the environmental crisis and the choiceless 
democracies (for eg. the upraising in Kenya and the ethnic tensions).

Mariama mentioned at least 3 threats facing the south: deindustrialization, 
deagriculturalization and depopulation.

What’s most important of aid and trade reforms is that all of them are 
focusing on the budgeting processes of the developing counties. What is 
unchangeable and remains the same is the macroeconomic framework.

She also said that there are also several keys to development that we need 
to look at within FFD:
-       The function of an agile and mobile welfare state
-       The state needs to focus on ensuring employment, decent work
-       That gender equality and women’s empowerment be able to promote 
gender equality interventions necessary to get good outcomes for women and 
girls.
-       The ability to finance public services such as water, health, 
sanitation, etc.
-       Social compact on development.
-       Decentralization and enhancement of local and regional governments. 
Building community infrastructure. The state must be able to provide public 
investment.

Gigi Francisco - DAWN - talked about gender equality and aid effectiveness, 
questioning if it is just about the money.   She questioned which are the 
concerns that the feminists have on aid effectiveness and if women are able 
to determine and control the projects that are being funded. In this sense 
Gigi remarked the need of more CSO women in the discussions, political 
debates. That is to say, the capacity building of women’s CSO which does 
not mean professionalizing them.

Aldo Calliari - Centre of Concern - focused on aid for trade, mentioning 
that the problem with aid for trade is that it can become a counterforce 
for undoing a lot of what the feminist movement has been doing. He remarked 
that a lot of money has been poured on countries assuming that they would 
be able to pay back and this hasn’t been the case. The WTO has generated a 
lot of imbalances and constraints.

Finally, Roberto Bissio - Social Watch - who was not a panelist but gave 
his perspective on gender equity mentioning that gender equity in education 
has been achieved worldwide but the problem is to be able to keep it up. At 
this moment some countries are regressing.

He also stated that there is no correlation between poverty and gender 
parity and mentioned the case of Rwanda that is one of the poorest 
countries and has gender parity while Luxembourg is richer and has a bad 
level of gender parity.

--

4.- Launch of the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign 
within the framework of the 52nd . Session of the CSW

26 th. February, Church Center, New York

Prepared by Marcela Hernandez, GEO/ICAE

Charlotte Bunch, from the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, chaired the 
meeting and explained that the campaign started two years ago, back in 
2006, in a CSW session.  The emphasis of this campaign is a stronger 
women’s organization that can deliver results on the ground. The Campaign 
is trying to create an ongoing structure to represent women’s energy and 
efforts. (See below more information about the campaign)

Peggy Antrobus from DAWN was a panelist who focused on a perspective from 
the global south. She remarked the importance of the UN as the only forum 
where representatives from the south, particularly the G77, have a voice, 
and as the UN is under threat, the G77 women must come here to defend it 
because it is the only place where they have a voice. She went on saying 
that the UN has meant a great deal to women because of the work done by 
UNIFEM and specialized agencies. In the field, one can see UNIFEM, UNICEF, 
ILO, committed to issues of development, social justice, etc. UNIFEM has 
limited resources and is only in 15 countries but it is the only one that 
has a special relationship with women’s organizations and does work on the 
ground.

Finally she concluded that money for gender equality is being held hostage 
by other interests and that people from the north have brought gender 
equality as a conditionality.
A clear statement from the European Union is needed to strengthen the 
operation side of the gender equality architecture. Calling for a stronger 
entity, we expect a stronger operational side.

Lydia Alpizar from AWID stated that the institutionality of gender equality 
and women’s rights, at the UN, is very weak, and that the lack of funds is 
a real lack of political will from the north and south. So it is a good 
moment to mobilize women to put pressure on the UN, when we say that we 
want a new UN that works for women on the ground. Other processes related 
with FFD and other issues are also seeing a weakening UN. Lydia expressed 
her concern about the UN pilot projects of ONE UN and wondered what would 
happen if there is no UNIFEM on the ground.

She said that AWID is interested in the campaign for its potential to 
mobilize people on the ground and listed concrete actions that groups 
joining the campaign, will carry out at national and regional level:
-       organize a meeting with the head of the national machinery to talk 
about gender equality architecture
-       share the information of the campaign with other groups
-       get in touch with UN agencies that work in your country to see what 
kind of alliances can be built.
-       Develop your own materials, and state why it is important to have a 
new UN
-       Create e-lists, bloggers, etc.
-       Meetings and consultations with grassroots women
-       State where the UN is working appropriately on the ground.

Lydia ended by saying that this campaign should not only focus on doing 
advocacy in New York.

The representative from International Planned Parenthood Federation, that 
has adhered to the GEAR campaign, added that new money is needed for this 
reform, and that they should not take away or transfer the money from 
sexual and reproductive rights to the GEAR campaign.

The focal point of the campaign in Asia mentioned that within this 
framework they are lobbying with government and national machineries and 
argued that we must ensure that there is an entity that actually works for 
women and has adequate resources.

The focal point of GEAR in Europe expressed that Europe is a very strong 
player and has a strong voice within the UN, so, as women’s activists, they 
are talking to EU and non EU members to see how they can strengthen the 
GEAR. They are lobbying and sending letters to national governments and 
they have even talked to the President of the General Assembly (Macedonia) 
to try to bring his attention to this issue.

The focal point in Africa also reconfirmed its commitment and adherence to 
the campaign in the hope that it will bring women’s gains and will confront 
human rights problems. They will work with other organizations in the 
region and, beyond them, they will contact UN agencies, the African union , 
etc.

The focal point in the Caribbean focused on the fact that a campaign must 
touch the people’s soul and for that they must have a beat and should have 
a song. She also stated that this campaign means different things for 
different people. Each one has to think what it means to each other. 
Finally she ensured that they would push the campaign through alliances 
with major partners.

The focal point in Latin America stated that they would like to open up the 
debate to more women from this region and also to open the debate on gender 
mainstreaming and how it relates to national contexts.

In plenary session, Ana Agostino from GEO/ICAE and the IFT of GCAP, raised 
the issue of the delay in the appointment of UNIFEM’s executive director. 
Peggy Antrobus replied that it is scandalous, disrespectful to women and 
that it shows that the UN does not care about women so it says a lot about 
UN’s commitment to women. She went on saying that a strong person and 
leadership is needed to make sure that this GEAR has a strong operational 
side. On the other hand Peggy said that there are people who say that it 
should wait until the gender equality architecture is done and that the 
post might have been held hostage to the GEAR. But this is cannot be 
possible because GEAR will take some time.

In this respect, Charlotte Bunch, from CWGL, agreed on the fact that a 
strong leadership is needed in UNIFEM but did not agree on the fact that it 
was held hostage to the GEAR. Further on she said that she had seen a lot 
of appointments taking too much time. She concluded saying that a strong 
Executive Director for UNIFEM is needed and it is needed NOW.

--

5.- GEAR UP
BUILDING A UNITED NATIONS THAT REALLY WORKS FOR ALL WOMEN

CAMPAIGN FOR STRONGER GENDER EQUALITY ARCHITECTURE REFORM (GEAR) AT THE UN

A stronger women’s organization that can deliver results on the ground:

An Under-Secretary-General should head this entity for women, to ensure the 
necessary status required for representation and decision-making at the 
highest levels both in policy-development and program operations at the 
global and country levels. The new Under-Secretary-General post would 
provide higher level leadership than at present to more effectively drive 
the gender equality and women’s empowerment agenda.

Extensive field presences and a strong policy and programmatic mandate is 
essential for a strengthened UN entity for women to effectively improve the 
lives of women on the ground.

Substantial and predictable resources to ensure that the new entity for 
women has the capacity to meet expectations and deliver results at all 
levels. It must be funded initially at a minimum level of $500 million to 
$1 billion USD with increases over time.

Accountability within the new entity for women, at both national and 
international levels, including through meaningful involvement of civil 
society, in particular non-governmental organizations for women.

The new entity should also promote gender mainstreaming by the integration 
of gender equality and women’s human rights throughout the UN and 
especially in the UN Country Pilots and in all UN reform processes.

Strengthening the UN’s gender equality machinery is a crucial part of 
financing for development. It will better enable the UN and governments to 
deliver on promises made to advance gender equality and women’s human 
rights at the global and country levels

TO JOIN THE GEAR CAMPAIGN, EMAIL: gearcampaign en gmail.com

GEAR CAMPAIGN KEY MESSAGES:

The following “talking points” address the most current arguments for and 
against strengthened gender architecture. Some of the points below are 
responses to arguments we’ve recently heard against moving ahead.

This is not a process that is driven by donors !  The initial call for 
action was from women’s groups around the world, not from governments. 
Reform of gender architecture is supported and driven by NGOs and a range 
of states, including those from the global South.

A strong womne’s entity will help to integrate gender throughout the UN 
system. Other UN agencies will still have the responsibility to integrate 
gender into their own programming and policies, but a new entity can help 
make this happen. A strong women’s entity will not “getthoize” gender, as 
some have feared, but should expand attention to this issue within and 
outside the UN.

Creating a strong women’s entity will not detract from other development 
goals, but will enahance  and work in tandem with those development 
efforts, as women’s equality is a key component of development.

A stronger UN gender entity will make financing for gender equality and 
financing for development more efficient and effective. A stronger gender 
entity will deliver better results and streamline official development 
assistance (ODA) delivery at the country level, including in providing 
gender-disaggregated data.

There has been no susbstantive resistance mounted against strengthening the 
UN’s gender architecture. The resistance has been grounded in other issues 
related to UN politics and UN reform. It is imperative that governments 
move ahead on institutional arrangements that give public support to the 
actual gender issues.

A new women’s entity must have core responsibilities at 
national/operational and global/policy levels. It is imperative to 
strengthen the functioning of the UN on gender equality “on the ground”, as 
well as at the global level.

A new women’s entity must be “built to win”. It must be adequately funded 
or it simply will not be able to do the work it needs to do. It needs to be 
led by an Under Secretary General to ensure representation at the highest 
levels within the UN system.

The system as it now exists is simply not working well enough to deliver 
effective results for women’s lives around the world. It needs to be 
improved and strengthened, with urgency.

All UN agencies need to strengthen their own work on gender simultaneously 
with the process of creating a new entity. Agencies and offices must 
bolster and evaluate their current gender work, collect relevant and 
sex-disaggregated data, present annual reports to the GA, etc.



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