The IAW delegation observed the workings of the Commission on the Status of Women government delegations from the NGO gallery.

CSW Letter from the President

Many international commitments over the years have been made in view of the necessity of providing adequate resources focused specifically on women’s empowerment and achieving gender equality (main theme of CSW52). The reality, however, speaks a different language. Only modest progress, if any, can be seen when it comes to turning these commitments into real action.

On the other hand, since 2002 world leaders have been engaged in the Financing for Development processes (FfD) into which the agreed conclusions of CSW52 are supposed to feed. As Commission chairperson Olivier Belle (Belgium) put it, they might pave the way towards instilling a “gender reflex” in the development financing debate. (Unfortunately your president did not get the possibility to ask Ambassador Belle about the meaning of a “gender reflex”. Am I completely wrong in guessing this is a pure “diplomatic” phrase for something of major importance to women: namely taking gender equality into consideration in the context of FfD?)

The review theme of this year’s Commission, “women’s equal participation in conflict prevention, management and conflict resolution and in post-conflict peace building” unfortunately did not receive adequate attention given the importance of the financing issue. In addition to the business as usual treatment of the two major themes, two events marked CSW52: the launch of the Secretary-General’s Campaign to end violence against women on 25 February and an interactive expert panel on gender perspectives on climate change as an “emerging” issue (What could be “emerging” in the context of the sustainable development process since UNCED 1992 escaped the understanding of your president!)

As far as the 2008 Agreed Conclusions on the financing theme are concerned women from around the world present in New York remain deeply concerned that there are few meaningful commitments in the text related to financing for gender equality, with no concrete targets or timetables and no strong mechanisms for effective tracking or monitoring of financial resources spent on gender equality. Moreover, the Agreed Conclusions fail to address the need for adequate resources and funding mechanisms to support women’s organizations in their indispensable role as the driving force for gender equality and the empowerment of women at all levels. Finally, it has to be noted with concern that neither unpaid work done by women, nor reproductive rights of women is mentioned in this very conservative and un-inspired text.