59th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
The fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 20 March 2015. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world attended the session.
The main focus of the session was on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including current challenges that affect its implementation and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission also undertook a review of progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 20 years after its adoption at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. The review (Beijing+20) also included the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, the first five-year assessment conducted after the adoption of the Platform for Action, which highlighted further actions and initiatives.
This year’s CSW was much different from all the previous sessions as the outcome document, the Political Declaration, had been adopted already at the opening of the session. The UN Member States negotiated the text behind closed doors weeks before the CSW and the civil society had been removed from the process. The Declaration’s language is watered down and not as strong as the international SRHR and women’s human rights defenders community expected. There is no mention of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (as stated in the BPfA) and the document also fails to appreciate women’s human rights defenders. There is however mention of women’s health, empowerment of women and girls and the realization of their human rights. It also welcomes the contributions made by civil society, including non-governmental organizations, women’s and community-based organizations. In response to the content of the Political Declaration and the process of adopting the document, almost 1000 women rights advocates and organisations signed onto a statement critising the UN and Member States for their lack of political will and commitment to women’s human rights.
The second outcome document of the 59th CSW, the Future organization and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of Women <http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.6/2015/L.5> , intended to review and enhance its methods of work for the future, but again, civil society voices were largely excluded from the process. As a response the civil society gathered at the UN issued a public statement Nothing About Us Without Us: Statement on the Commission on the Status of Women Methods of Work Resolution <http://www.astra.org.pl/repronews/348-nothing-about-us-without-us-statement-on-the-commission-on-the-status-of-women-methods-of-work-resolution.html> : “we do not come to the CSW to attend side events. We come to the CSW to hold our governments to account to the commitments they have made to guarantee gender equality, eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against us and achieve the full realization of all of our human rights”.
Additionaly young women gathered at the CSW came forward with a Young Feminists’ Statement for the 59th Commission on the Status of Women <http://www.astra.org.pl/repronews/349-young-feminists-statement-for-the-59th-commission-on-the-status-of-women.html> which was launched during a Twitter chat on Thursday on the last week of the CSW. ASTRA too issued a public statement voicing its disappointment with the entore process and urging Member States to commit to advance the achievement of the entire Beijing Platform of Action and recognise civil society as a significant actor within the works if the Commission on the Status of Women.
ASTRA statement directed to UN Missions at 59th CSW: EU countries <http://www.astra.org.pl/pdf/onz/ASTRA_CSW59_stmt_EU.pdf> I Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Caucasian countries <http://www.astra.org.pl/pdf/onz/ASTRA_CSW59_stmt_eebalkancaucasus.pdf
Source: UN Women <http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw59-2015#sthash.rQrSy49G.dpuf> , International Women’s Health Coalition <http://iwhc.org/> , ASTRA Network <http://www.astra.org.pl/>
ASTRA CEE Bulletin on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, No 4 (141) 2015
Извор: 03.04.2015 –ASTRA Network
