On the 10th of April 2024, WWDA’s Policy Officer, Clare Gibellini, arrived in New York to attend the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68). CSW is the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This year’s two week event is under the priority theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”.
Learn more about CSW68 on the United Nations website.
Clare Gibellini’s CSW68 Update!
“So it’s been a busy week here at CSW, started off on Sunday at a reception with Minister Gallagher at the Permanent Mission to the UN where I met lots of great people from across Australia and South Korea.
Monday was the opening day which was challenging as the first five speakers were men! However there were some good quotes, read the transcript (DOC).
On Tuesday I attended language training run by Helen Dalley Fischer from ERA, which was fantastic as it gave me some great information about our purpose here at CSW. We as a delegation are supporting the Australian Government in working towards agreed conclusions of the Committee. At each CSW, after extensive negotiations, the primary outcome document, known as the “agreed conclusions”, is approved. The agreed conclusions will guide action by governments, the UN system, civil society, private sector, and other stakeholders. They provide a blueprint to promote the full, equal, and meaningful participation and leadership of women and girls in processes that fulfill the human rights and needs of women and girls.
On Wednesday I spent time at the artisan market, where I met some women from Venezuela who were making a blanket that anyone could add to, to show their support for the political voices of women in Venezuela. I added WWDA’s support on behalf of our members. I also attended two side events. Hosted by the Global Forum on the Leadership of Women with Disabilities (GFLWD), the All Means All: Accelerating Gender Equality Takes Real Inclusion
Event investigated gaps in the full inclusion of women with disabilities as the international community acts to accelerate progress on gender equality and the empowerment of women (GEEW) and girls. The second event hosted by the Women’s International Peace Centre looked at how women led innovation can disrupt traditional models of community recovery that have often added to the trauma in a post-conflict environment. I found this one particularly interesting as there were a lot of correlations with the disaster recovery space.
On Thursday and Friday we spent time looking at the draft revision of the agreed conclusions, and I focussed on ways to ensure women and girls with disability were represented wherever possible. I also went to a side event by the LBTI Caucus called ‘Eradicating poverty and Advancing Economic Inclusion for the LBTI community’. We heard from the speakers about the challenges they face in their country and recommendations for the future. I especially love one quote about funding: If you want us to win you have to fund us to win!
Today the tough work begins as the second revision is out and there’s less than two days to have meaningful input. Yikes!”
– Clare Gibellini, WWDA Policy Officer and CSW68 Delegate.
