NGO CSW/NY
Our April Monthly Meeting focused on the Methods of Work and the final CSW66 Agreed Conclusions as well as next steps for implementation and advocacy.
During the meeting, we heard from CSW experts from the UN, Member States, and civil society. We also split into breakout groups to discuss their experiences with CSW, namely what worked, what didn't, and what recommendations they have for moving forward.
CSW66 Outcomes Unpacked
NGO CSW New York and Expert Roundtable Discussion
Video from 28 April 2022 | 1-3pm EDT Summary of Reflections
What worked
● Substantial engagement with Member States
● Focus on intersections of climate change and SRHR and gender and climate justice
● Advocacy and learning
● Virtual Engagement: Able to attend virtually - more accessible for some; People from all over the world able to attend, including girls/young women, who enjoyed the experience of engaging with the governments; Nice to meet people across the world; Creates great momentum
● Consultation Day in-person event
What didn’t work
● UN CSW process: Slow process. Siloed conversations. Confusing how everything functions, what to attend and what not to attend, difficult to choose. Lack of transparency & access to info during negotiations. Opposition within and between Member States, so difficult to get a consensus, Outcome is inevitably watered down.
● Missing from outcome document: Little about migration in the outcome document
● Including marginalized communities more: Global South not represented equally as Global North. Including indigenous, Global South, rural women, WHRDs more. Migrant voices.
● Technology/internet inaccessibility. Rural areas - lack of internet access - challenging in virtual context (but people
would have been able to come if not for COVID etc.)
● Virtual: Feeling of being in the room with other people was missing; Time zones were confusing; Financial/access challenges
model - missing in-person engagement.
● Virtual: Too much going on at the same time - crowded timetable, couldn’t get to all the ones I wanted to go to, not everything recorded, Platform was confusing - log in, register, add the event; Parallel Event organizers using their own virtual meeting accounts was confusing.
Recommendations
● Hybrid format going forward. Maintain hybrid format for those that can’t come to NY but allowing opportunity for in-person attendance/engagement as well. Keep the hybrid model. Better digital inclusion.
● More focus on culture and using culture as social change - have it be more prominent with digitization aspect
● Focusing on review theme and bringing in stronger accountability
● More specific target goals and measures
● More language justice. More translation/interpretation
● Need to secure more human rights spaces in CSW
● Going back to see what we can use, reexamine what we do have
● Use the same platform used during SDGs week - with 3 stages, each event has a stage.
One platform on the website.
● Considering regional challenges and advocacy
● UN Women to be more involved in the regional processes and facilitate more women’s
voices to be heard during the high-level sessions
● Need to continue conversation about climate and gender into all spheres of advocacy
● Have a CSO Agreed Conclusions document parallel to the official CSW one
Write a comment