Photo Credit: Jacqueline Burgoyne
By Marney Cuff; MRT(R),MSW-POLICY, VOW Lead for the UNCSW67
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Earlier this year (March 6 to 17) women from across the globe came together for the first in-person Commission on the Status of Women 67 at United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan since 2019. During COVID pandemic years the CSW was held as a completely virtual event. While we learned during COVID that virtual platforms can be very inclusive and broaden participation, in-person events and meetings continue to be much more energizing and productive, with networking opportunities much broader, and relationships developed much deeper. All this held true for delegates returning to in-person participation at this UNCSW.
This year, VOW had in attendance 15 delegates – a powerful team of a diversity of experience, culture, and generation. It was especially wonderful to this year to have strong delegates from Quebec bringing with them a deeper understanding and interest in global Francophone issues. VOW as an ECOSOC accredited organization, is allotted 20 delegate spots for this important event. Across the globe there are many many organizations that continue, unsuccessfully, to lobby for their own organization’s accreditation. In an effort to broaden inclusivity of those more significantly marginalized, several civil society groups offered a portion of their delegation spots to these other important organizations. VOW was happy to share 5 such spots with delegates of the yet to be accredited Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP). GNWP has its headquarters in Manhattan, and office in BC, and close ties with Senator Marilou MacPhedron.
It may be said there are three ways that VOW and VOW delegates participate in CSWs. (In the near future VOW will be holding an event during which further details of the this participation in 2023.) Firstly, individual delegates self-direct participation in events of the CSW: official UN events, UN side events sponsored by participating States and their civil society organizations, parallel events, and more. It is the official UN events and side events that require official passes of ECOSOC organizations. I (as Lead of the VOW delegation) will be reporting back on the key document of the UNCSW – Security Resolution 1325 – as well as the recently created Generation Equality (GE-2019). GE brings together change makers of all generations and genders in efforts impacting the empowerment women through a new, ground breaking, multigenerational campaign. Thirdly, I will provide details of the annual meetings with like-minded organizations during the CSW; the meeting with UN Official, Undersecretary Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations Office of Disarmament; and Canadian Official, Ambassador to the United Nations, Robert Rae. Meetings with like-minded civil society organizations included: Sarah Clarke of Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO); Ariana Smith of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP); Seth Sheldon of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN); and Ray Acheson of WILPF’s disarmament department, Reaching Critical Will.
I look forward to sharing a fuller story of the UNCSW67 in the near future. We live in an era when participation in the CSW is ever more important – Secretary General Antonio Guterres himself stressed that much has been lost in terms of our progress for gender equality; Houry Guedelekan, Chair of NGOCSW/NY, concurred as she pushed the importance of understanding that much of our past progress and wins have been diminished due to the impacts of global conflicts. The NGOCSW/NY is pushing even further for “diplomacy with dignity”, a very empowering approach that could further VOW’s efforts.
I look forward to hearing there is even greater interest in VOW membership to actively participate in actions related to issues of the UNCSW, whether in person at the UN or at home.