Womankind Worldwide statement in response to CSW68 Outcome

Womankind Worldwide welcomes the adoption of the Commission of the Status of Women 68th Session (CSW68) Agreed Conclusions on the priority theme: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. As an international feminist organisation and a member of the Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC), we are pleased to see the renewed focus and commitment on these issues, and fully support the WRC’s statement on them.  

We are encouraged by the progress made on tax, debt and care within the text, which were key priority issues that we raised with the UK government delegation. We appreciate emphasis on the meaningful participation of all women and of women’s rights organisations in decision-making. And we call for the recognition of their contextual expertise to avoid reinforcing power imbalances between the global north and south thus ensuring a decolonised approach to collaborations. 

Adopting new language on valuing care (both paid and unpaid) and providing universal access to social protections signals a firm commitment to addressing key barriers to women’s economic rights. We support recommendations for “equitable, high quality, inclusive, affordable and accessible public services”, and the ratification and implementation of the International Labor Organization conventions. These are key ways to support women to pursue decent work of their choice. 

It’s fantastic to see language on debt relief and cancellation, and we hope this is strongly encouraged to address the current flawed development finance landscape. The language on integrating a gender perspective into development finance is also a step in the right direction. 

As a feminist organisation that takes an intersectional  approach, we support the retention of language on “multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination”, as it’s crucial to reflect the specific barriers faced by women and gender diverse people with different identities. The acknowledgement of the disproportionate impact of climate change and other crises on women is critical , although we support the WRC’s position of wanting to see more on climate and its linkages to other areas. 

Further, we fully support language on universal access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive rights (SRHR). The text also effectively outlines the links between Gender-based Violence (GBV) and poverty, and we are glad to see the terms “GBV” and “SRHR” retained despite opposition during negotiations. 

The text encourages private sector support of women’s rights. However, more needs to be done on corporate accountability, through a UN Binding Treaty to stop violations, and the importance of combatting corporate capture—of State, international and UN decision-making processes. Multi-stakeholderism must not mean a greater voice for corporations over communities, civil society, and women and girls. While it’s good to see references to civil society’s contribution, visa justice issues mean many movement holders from the global south cannot attend CSW in person. We were concerned to see the prevalence of anti-rights actors at CSW and call on the UN to tackle these and not allow the roll-back of women and gender-diverse people’s rights.  

Although we had hoped for specific reference to a Gaza ceasefire, we are encouraged by the strong recommendation that urges States to “support and provide emergency assistance through mechanisms that provide vital services to women and girls living in situations of armed conflict.” In addition, we would have liked to see more of a commitment to addressing the root causes of armed conflicts. 

We look forward to the effective implementation and robust monitoring of these Agreed Conclusions towards ending gender inequality and promoting and protecting the rights of all women and girls.