This arrived from the IWHC …

On the day we would have gathered for IWHC’s Annual Dinner, join us online for a special film premiere celebrating our 2020 Joan B. Dunlop Honoree: Noelene Nabulivou. Be the first to see Noelene’s story and learn about her work advancing the health and rights of women, girls, LGBTQI people, and those most marginalized during times of crisis. While we can’t gather in person this year, we hope you’ll join our community online and celebrate the power and importance of women’s movements at this critical time.

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IWHC Joan B. Dunlop Award 2020
Noelene Nabulivou, Fiji

Françoise Girard
President, IWHC

2020 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development ramps up response to COVID-19 – Virtual meeting

WHEN:  10:00 A.M., 23 April 2020

WHERE:  Virtual Meeting (Live on webtv.un.org)

ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development will hold an informal virtual meeting, at 10 a.m., New York, 23 April 2020

The President of ECOSOC will convene a high-level virtual meeting to advance bold and concerted global action to address the immediate socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 and finance a quick, inclusive and resilient recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to immense suffering for people across the globe. No nation is being spared by its devastating multi- dimensional impacts. The global health crisis has triggered economic and financial shocks, exposing and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities and inequalities.

Over the past two weeks, the entire UN membership has come together under the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development to chart a programme of action to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, restore sustainable growth and put the global economy on a more sustainable path.

The programme of action (also serving as the outcome of the Forum), if adopted, represents the first universally agreed UN set of policies to finance COVID-19 response and recovery. The policy package aims to boost concessional finance for the most vulnerable countries, reduce debt vulnerabilities, facilitate smooth flows of essential goods and supplies, and align the massive relief investment with the 2030 Agenda.

The April 23 meeting, held under the auspices of the FFD Forum, will provide an opportunity to acknowledge these efforts as well as the solidarity and resolve of the entire UN membership in addressing the financing needs due to the COVID-19 crisis.

WHO:

• President of ECOSOC Mona Juul
• UN Secretary–General António Guterres
• UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
• Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Board Chair, GAVI
• Ms. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Board Chair, Action Aid International
• Mr. Jay Collins, Vice Chairman, Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory, Citigroup

Background:

The FfD Forum, now in its fifth year, is a global platform for policy and action to finance the SDGs, convening Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development and Central Bank Governors, along with the heads of UN agencies, the World Bank and the IMF. The Forum has universal participation of 193 UN member states and permanent observers. The Forum’s outcome document contains policies and commitments to finance the SDGs, taking into account the trends and progress in development finance outlined in the latest Financing for Sustainable Development Report.

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 

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 

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

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 

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.

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