UN REGIONAL UPDATE :The COVID-19 Outbreak and Gender:  Key Advocacy Points from Asia and the Pacific

The COVID-19 Outbreak and Gender:  Key Advocacy Points from Asia and the Pacific

Authors/editor(s): GiHA WG

Emerging Gender Impacts

  • Exacerbated burdens of unpaid care work on women and girls: Where healthcare systems are stretched by efforts to contain outbreaks, care responsibilities are frequently “downloaded” onto women and girls, who usually bear responsibility for caring for ill family members and the elderly. The closure of schools further exacerbates the burden of unpaid care work on women and girls, who absorb the additional work of caring for children.
  • Meeting the needs of women healthcare workers: Women constitute 70 per cent of the workers in the health and social sector globally, and are on the frontlines of the response. Within this sector, an average gender pay gap of 28 per cent exists, which may be exacerbated in times of crises. Women healthcare workers have called attention to their specific needs beyond personal protective equipment, including to meet menstrual hygiene needs. Psychosocial support should also be provided to frontline responders.
  • and more…

To full report click here 

National Parallel Report on Beijing + 25 – Nepal

This report is the product of the inclusive participation of over 1,108 people from all over the country with the support of the government, non-government organisations, and UN agencies, particularly UN Women. It gathers feminist perspectives, adopting the NGO CSW/NY Guideline for Beijing +25 review. It consists of eight chapters, including separate chapters on ‘The Girl Child’, ‘ The Youth’s SRHR & She Decides’ and ‘A Feminist Position Paper’.

This report attempts to acknowledge the efforts made towards achieving Gender Equality, Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) in the last five years and highlights desired actions under every theme of the Beijing +25 review through the “Kathmandu Call for Action”, in order to fulfil the task of GEEWG as set by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and as obligated by the CEDAW and CRC for achieving Generation Equality. It is a means to advocate for the achievement of generation equality in all levels of the government in Nepal.

Read report here National Parallel Report Beijing+25 – Nepal 

 

Asia Pacific Civil Society Forum on Beijing + 25 (23 – 26 November, 2019)

 Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW) was one of 10 Organising Regional Networks who came together to coordinate and facilitate input and participation of civil society organisations into the Beijing +25 regional review process (and the SDG+5 review processes where there is convergence).

The Civil Society Forum, compiled of over 300 women’s rights and feminist organisations from the Pacific and Asia.  The Forum was three days of panels, parallel sessions and conversations organised around a framework of Anger (Day 1), Hope (Day 2) and Action (Day 3). The topics covered included women’s leadership, progress since Beijing in 1995, sexual and reproductive health rights, violence against women and how to do intersectionality, among others. There was an incredibly powerful network of disability justice activists present, who platformed the issues of women with disability and advocated for their full inclusion throughout the forum.

The Forum produced a Civil Society Statement from the Forum and further inputs from an on-line survey to the  Beijing +25 Review Intergovernmental Meeting following the CSO Forum.

Click here for The Civil Society Statement on Beijing + 25

Vica Larasati Speaks At Beijing+25 Review Intergovernmental Meeting/Photo:Ya Gan

 

The Young Feminist Forum which preceded this event shared their position in the opening remarks.

Click here for the Asia Pacific Young Women Call for Action B25 Statement

The CSO Forum Declaration Statement will be circulated for comment and finalised by end February, 2020 to be presented at CSE 64th Session in New York in March, 2020.

 

Young Women’s Feminist Forum on Beijing +25

The Young Feminist Forum was a day two event held in Bangkok, Thailand from the 21-22 November, 2019, directly  preceding the B+25 CSO Forum (23 – 26 November, 2019)  and the Intergovernmental Forum on Beijing +25 (27 – 29 November, 2019).  Over the 2 days of   The Young Feminist Forum  consisting of 75 young women from the Asia and Pacific region worked for the two days in  working group conversations on the 12 Critical Areas of the Beijing Platform  as well as other issues facing young women in the region.

Major discussion points included trade and development justice, climate change and LGBTIQ+ issues, and it was interesting to see that there was a shared language for LGBTIQ+ identities and shared challenges across the Asia-Pacific. The outcome of the Young Feminist Forum was a statement which I’ve attached for this email in case you’re interested in what young women have identified as their shared issues through the region.

By the end of the two days – the Young Women’s Forum on Beijing + 25 presented their political Statement . To read the Political Statement click Asia Pacific Young Women Call for Action B25

 

Carole Shaw

23 November, 2019

Working Together for Equality : NGO Beijing +25 Review 2019 – AUSTRALIA

The Working Together for Equality Beijing + 25 Review 2019 : Australia is part of the ongoing Australian Civil Society monitoring and evaluation fo women’s rights commitments made by the Australian Government and Civil Society for the advancement of women through use of the agreed strategies from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) and the Beijing +5 Outcomes Document.  The purpose of this document is to measure Australia’s progress in the last 5 years (2014-2019) against the BPFA.

This report builds on the findings from the B+20, B+15, B+10 and B+5 civil society Australian reviews.

Full document can be found here

 

Civil Society Advisory Group to the Core Group 
for Generation Equality Forum 2020

At the end of August, the 21-members of  Advisory Group to the Core Group (Advisory Group) were chosen by UN Women for the Generation Equality Forum.

Huge congratulations to APWW SC member  Sivananthi  Thanenthiran  from ARROW  (Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women) who will serve on the Core Group.

The Civil Society Advisory Group to the Core Group (Advisory Group) will serve as the representative of civil society’s priorities for the Generation Equality Forum by guaranteeing participation on a co-equal basis of civil society with the other members of the Core Group.

The Advisory Group will champion civil society’s vision, inputs and expected outcomes of the Beijing+25 process by channelling information & opportunities from the Core Group. The Advisory Group will represent the diverse global women’s rights movement by consulting with the Advisory Working Group regularly.

Click here to see the names and bios of the 21 Advisory Group members 

Update on Beijing + 25

CSW64 / Beijing+25 (2020)

In 2020, the global community will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). A five-year milestone will be reached towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 2020 is therefore a pivotal year for the accelerated realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere.

The sixty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women is planned to take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 20 March 2020. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs)from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.

Themes

The main focus of the session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Bureau

The Bureau of the Commission plays a crucial role in facilitating the preparation for, and in ensuring the successful outcome of the annual sessions of the Commission. Bureau members serve for two years. In 2002, in order to improve its work and ensure continuity, the Commission decided to hold the first meeting of its subsequent session, immediately following the closure of the regular session, for the sole purpose of electing the new Chairperson and other members of the Bureau (ECOSOC decision 2002/234).

The Bureau for the 64th session (2020) of the Commission on the Status of Women comprises the following members:

  • H.E. Mr. Mher Margaryan (Armenia), Chair (Eastern European States Group)
  • Mr. Mohammed S. Marzooq (Iraq), Vice-Chair (Asia-Pacific States Group)
  • Ms. Jo Feldman (Australia), Vice-Chair (Western European and other States Group)
  • Ms. Nora Bellout (Algeria), Vice-Chair (African States Group)
  • Vice-Chair (Latin American and Caribbean States Group) – to be designated

Preparations

  • National-level reviews: States are called upon to undertake comprehensive national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered.
  • Regional 25-year review processes: The regional commissions of the United Nations are invited to undertake regional reviews and convene regional intergovernmental meetings. These will feed into the sixty-fourth session of the Commission.

National Civil Society Reports on Beijing + 25 – Sri Lanka

The report provides a sustained, participatory reflection on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in Sri Lanka over the past five years. It notes that while steps forward have been taken, many challenges still remain. Some of these are long-term issues, while others, such as the impact of the Easter 2019 bombings and the rise in cyber violence are noted as emergent challenges. Overall, the report notes that while there are several policies, national action plans, charters and initiatives in place to address the discrimination faced by women and LBT persons in Sri Lanka, weak political will in pushing for the achievement of gender equality, as well as recurrent disputes at the level of political leadership, overshadow the goal of comprehensive implementation of these policies and programmes.

Sri Lankan CSO Report on Beijing + 25

 

 

 

Update on Beijing + 25 and Generation Equality Forum

 

On behalf of  the UN Women Civil Society Division, we are writing to update you on the status of the Beijing+25 review process(es). As you know,  2020 will be a critical year for the gender equality and women’s rights agenda, marking not only the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action but also the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; the 5-year milestone of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs; the 10th anniversary of the creation of UN Women – all this in the context of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations.

We must take full advantage of these milestones to drive accelerated action and progress for women and girls.  And UN Women is committed to ensuring civil society is at the forefront of this work.

 Intergovernmental process and outcomes

National reviews are well under way, based on the guidance note that had been developed by UN Women in collaboration with the regional commissions last year. So far, we have approximately 100 reports submitted. These reports will inform the regional syntheses prepared by the Regional Commissions ahead of regional meetings later this year. They will also feed into a global synthesis report of the Secretary-General, prepared by UN Women, which will form the basis of deliberations at CSW 64 in March 2020. It is expected that the CSW will adopt a short, action-oriented Political Declaration.

In addition, the General Assembly has decided to hold a High-Level Meeting on Beijing+25 during the UNGA high-level week in September 2020. Member States are currently discussing modalities for the meeting, under the leadership of the Permanent Representatives of Qatar and New Zealand.

More information on the intergovernmental process can be found on this page.

Engagement of civil society and other stakeholders

As noted above, the active engagement of civil society and other stakeholders is a critical component of our efforts for Beijing+25. The guidance note for national reviews highlighted the importance of participatory reviews, which include multiple stakeholders. Further,  all regional intergovernmental meetings will be preceded by a preparatory multi-stakeholder meeting to capture the voices of civil society. The Civil Society Division at UN Women, working in partnership with our regional offices, is providing technical and financial support for the preparatory meetings.

The engagement of civil society and other stakeholders will be further highlighted in the Generation Equality Forum, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by France and Mexico, with the leadership and partnership of civil society. Building on the Beijing+25 national and regional reviews and CSW64, the Forum will kick-off in Mexico in May 2020  (7th-8th May, likely) and culminate in Paris on 7th-10th July 2020.

The Forum is envisaged as a global public conversation for urgent action and accountability for gender equality.  It will celebrate the power of activism, feminist solidarity and youth leadership to achieve transformative change. At a moment when the pushback on multilateralism and women’s rights is strong, the unique democratic and multi-stakeholder approach of the Forum will be a necessary counter response. This new model for accelerating the achievement of agreed goals on women’s rights and gender equality, through its outcomes –  the setting up of Action Coalitions – results oriented hybrid partnerships among civil society, business, member states and other stakeholders (parliamentarians, mayors, trade unions etc.), is needed at a time  when many of the existing models are vulnerable to the current backlash against women’s rights in some contexts, and to the way that multilateral forums are subject to the changing political preferences of their members.

On 27-28 June, UN Women convened France, Mexico and some members of civil society in the first planning meeting for the Generation Equality Forum. We had an excellent workshop and arrived at a common understanding of the vision, outcome, format of the Forum; its legacy; its governance structures; workstreams, timelines and next steps. More information on that can be found in the attached presentation. One of the crucial next steps is to identify the ways civil society can engage with the planning and execution of the forum. As such, we have proposed the following structures where civil society will be involved:

  • Core Group (decision making) – 4 members comprising 1 each from UN Women, France, Mexico and Civil Society. Civil Society to designate 1 member from the Civil Society Advisory Group  who may rotate.
  • Civil Society Advisory Group to the Core Group (supporting Core Group decision making) – 10-15 civil society members representing regional (and thematic) diversity.  This structure to be established by August 2019; membership of this group will be determined by civil society through a consultative process. The advisory group will nominate one representative to the Core Group (above). We have requested NGO -CSW New York to convene all our civil society partners (including youth partners) to consult with each other and agree on the membership of this group.
  • Multi-stakeholder Steering Group (supporting design, planning and implementation) – approx. 25-30 members comprising  civil society, Member States, private sector and  other stakeholders who are contributing to the Forum and its outcomes. To be established by end-August 2019. This structure will be established by the Core Group in consultation with partners.

In addition, UN Women will continue to update civil society, through email and also  through periodically scheduled webinars, on the status of the Forum, to ensure wide reach and participation.

[source UN women July 2019]

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