Transcript Slide 1

IPA Educational Material on
Sr Marie Claude Naddaf at White House
Historical Overview: Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/
In 56 sessions since 1946 CSW consistently promotes
women’s advancement:
Recognizing women’s rights e.g. voting
Documenting reality of women’s lives in the world
Shaping global policy on gender equality/empowerment
of women e.g. equality of pay, consent to marry
Ensuring UN work incorporates gender perspective.
Plays critical role getting governments, UN entities, NGOs,
other international/regional organizations together to
promote women’s rights & advance gender equality.
Some milestones in UN Processes
1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
1976-1985 UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development & Peace
1994 Special Rapporteur on violence against women appointed
1994 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
1996-2006 Consolidating advancement of women & girls
1999 November 25 designated as International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women
2008 “UNite to end violence against women” campaign
2010 UN Women created, merged Division for Advancement of Women
(DAW); International Research & Training Institute for Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW); Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of
Women (OSAGI); UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Link to UN Resolution on the new entity UN Women: UN
Women
UN Women http://www.unwomen.org/
UN Entity for Gender Equality and empowerment
of women/girls. It advances the UN goals on
gender equality and empowerment of women &
girls. It was created as part of UN reform agenda, Lakshmi Puri,
bringing together resources and mandates for
Acting head of UN
Women
greater impact.
Main roles of UN Women are:
1. Support inter-governmental bodies, CSW, in formulating policies,
global standards and norms.
2. Help Member States implement standards, providing technical &
financial support where requested, and forge partnerships with civil
society.
3. Hold UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender
equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
The 57th Session of CSW (2013)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/57sess.htm
was two weeks of great energy and
passion from 2,888 registered
individuals, 550 organizations and 131
countries and 340 side events outside
Michelle Bachelet
Executive Director UN Women
the main UN meetings.
During CSW57
Ms Marjon Kamara - Chair of Bureau
Mr Ban Ki Moon - SG of UN
During CSW57 many
countries worked very hard to
achieve workable, acceptable
outcomes despite differences
of language, culture and
values.
Exposing violence against women
In late 1980s, early 1990s,
CSW and the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
and the then Human Rights Commission
brought the issue of violence against women
(considered private) to forefront of the
international agenda.
Violence
What
VIOLENCE
When
Who
Where
How
Thanks to Sr Winifred Doherty for reflections on violence
Let take a world
tour …
Psychological
Husband swears to kill
his wife and her son.
Thanks to Sr. Winifred Doherty for reflections on violence
Violence against Women/Girls
Facts and Figures
http://saynotoviolence.org/issue/facts-and-figures
• Femicide ─ murder of women
because they are women
• Between 40 and 50% of
• In Australia, Canada, Israel,
women in European Union
South Africa, US 40-70% female
countries experience unwanted murders were done by partners,
sexual advancements, physical
according to WHO.
contact or other forms of
• In South Africa, a woman is killed
sexual harassment at their
every 6 hours by an intimate
workplace.
partner.
• In United States, 83% girls
• In Guatemala, two women are
aged 12-16 experience some
murdered, on average, each day.
form of sexual harassment in
• In India 22 women are killed each
public schools.
day in dowry related murders.
• Sexual Harassment
More Facts and Figures
7 of 10 women experience violence in their lifetime.
Worldwide, up to 50 percent of sexual assaults are
committed against girls under 16.
Approximately 100 to 140 million girls & women
worldwide experience female genital mutilation, with
over 3 million African girls annually at risk.
More Facts and Figures
Violence against women & girls is not confined to a
specific culture, region or country, or particular groups of
women/girls in society.
The roots of violence against women/girls lie in persistent
discrimination against them.
Women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and
domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and
malaria, according to World Bank data.
Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married
before the age of 18. Violence and abuse characterize
married life for many of these girls.
Challenges and Contributions
During CSW57, Global NGOs discussed
violence against women & girls including social,
political, economical, cultural, spiritual &
psychological. See
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/57sess.htm
Many stories were shared; listening to victims’
stories stirred a deep sense of solidarity. See IPA
website for links to a number of stories and
resources on CSW57 in March and April 2013
Archives:
http://internationalpresentationassociation.org/
IPA Side Event
at CSW57
Swarna
Contributions from
Presentation people enabled
the children to share their story
Muthu
Zero Tolerance of Violence against Girls
Presented by:
Swarnalakshmi, Muthu Selva Ganesh & Gladys, Neighbourhood
Parliaments of Children, India
Lucy van Kessel, International Presentation Association, Australia
Julia Lee, Girls Learn International, United States
Edwin M John, Neighbourhood Parliaments of Children, India
Moderated by Ms Gaynel Curry, Gender and Women’s Rights
Advisor, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Zero Tolerance of Violence against Girls
Gladys PBVM, Muthu & Swarna spoke about
neighbourhood children parliaments and how they work to
eliminate violence against girls, e.g. protesting against a girl
child arranged marriage; asking police to protect girls
walking home against bullying by boys. Fr Edwin explained
how the parliaments work.
Lucy PBVM addressed
sharing of responsibilitties
between women & men, Julia
read a statement from girls’
groups to CSW57 and
Ms Curry linked all talks with
human rights.
Modeling Partnership
In the side event IPA modeled partnership by
including governments, UN agencies, NGOs,
students and friends with international, intercultural,
interfaith and intergenerational connections.
It was inspiring to see the good work done by the
UN in partnership with others and to hear the
courageous women and girls from many countries
speaking against violence.
Outcomes of CSW57
CSW57 Agreed Conclusions
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.6/20
13/L.5&Lang=E
 reaffirms many prior international commitments, e.g.
CEDAW - Convention on Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination Against Women, CRC - Convention
on the Rights of the Child, and UN Security Council
Resolution, etc. It calls for ratification and
implementation of existing commitments.
 It has a number of recommendations to further the
advancement of women and girls.
Salient points: CSW57 Agreed Conclusions
 This agreement is one more step towards realizing the
rights and dignity of women and girls.
 By adopting this document, governments have made
clear that discrimination and violence against women and
girls has no place in the 21st century.
 The Agreed Conclusions adopted by CSW57 condemns
the pervasive violence against women and girls in the
strongest terms.
 The document calls for increased attention and
accelerated action for prevention and response.
Salient points (Cont’d)
 An important focus is on prevention, including through
education and awareness-raising, and addressing gender
inequalities in the political, economic and social spheres.
 Governments have reaffirmed their commitment and
responsibility to undertake concrete action to end
violence against women and girls and promote and
protect women’s human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
 The document highlights the importance of putting in
place multi-sectoral services for survivors of violence,
including for health, psychological support and
counseling, social support in the short and long term.
Salient points (Cont’d)
 The document draws attention to the need for
services to protect the right to sexual and
reproductive health.
 It emphasizes the need to improve the evidence
base and availability of data to inform an
effective response.
 Punishment of perpetrators is also highlighted as
a critical measure to end impunity.
IPA Commitments
 To intentionally name and claim the work of Presentation
people wherever they minister as essentially the work of
IPA.
 Explore ways of “widening the tent” to further the IPA
mission and identify specific elements which could be
enhanced by strategic partnerships with people with
similar values.
 Form international working groups to assist in bringing
information/experience from those engaged in grassroots
ministry to IPA personnel at the UN.
Call to Action
In relation to our IPA Commitments,
the following could be our call to action:
 Debriefing : Some UN countries hold debriefings on
CSW57. Could we enquire about and participate in it?
 Could we make it a point to study the Agreed
Conclusions of CSW57 and monitor the
implementation by our governments?
Call to Action
Join in Campaign
http://saynotoviolence.org/
Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence is a
global call for action.
Say NO records what individuals,
organizations, governments are doing to
end violence against women. Every action
counts.
Your voice matters.
Tell your government to make ending
violence against women a top priority.
More than 5 million people have signed
on to Say NO. Add your name to this
powerful call to take one action now and
stay informed.
Call to Action
Be informed of the role of:
Special Rappoteur on Violence against Women, Rashida
Manjoo
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/SRWomen/Pages/SRWomenIndex.aspx
Special Rappoteur on Trafficking, Mrs Joy Ezeilo
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Trafficking/Pages/contact.aspx
Special Representative of the Secretary General on
Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais
http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/contact
See Individual Complaints mechanisms
to raise issues related to women and girls.
Use these opportunities to speak and act with
women and girls to advance gender equality
Call to Action
Know about UN Human Rights Treaties:
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx
UN Security Council Resolution 1325
on women and peace
http://peacewomen.org/themes_theme.php?id=15&subtheme=true
Call to Action
The CSW in 2014 will focus on the theme:
“ Challenges and achievements in the implementation
of the Millennium Development Goals
for women and girls”
An informative preparatory panel discussion on the theme is
available in UN Webcast in this link: Archived Webcast
The theme relates to current national and international discussions
‘the Post 2015 Global Development Agenda’
Presentation People’s participation in local and national
consultations is of great importance
in promoting gender equality.
‘…Energized by this
evolving consciousness we
engage in expansive
partnerships that move us to
personal and systemic
transformation’
(IPA Direction Statement 2012)