Tuesday March 22
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka attended the NGO Briefing at CSW this morning. She wanted to give us her impressions of the CSW work to date, and to hear from us about our priorities and concerns.It was a great honor to be invited to speak at this session. FAWCOs statement on protection of women and children refugees human rights follows.
Good morning. My name is Laurie Richardson, I am the UN Liaison for FAWCO, a global women’s organization with local chapters in 35 countries, and I represent the NGO CSW in Vienna. We strongly support the language in the draft Agreed Conclusions of CSW60 on the rights and needs of women and girls affected and displaced by humanitarian emergencies, natural disasters, and armed conflicts. Many of our members are working with refugees fleeing armed conflict, and are acutely aware of the full range of human rights challenges confronting displaced women and children. In a world where 1 in 122 people are currently displaced, we call upon UN Women to take a strong position to ensure that the human rights of these particularly vulnerable women and children are protected, and to include a gender perspective in the deliberations of the World Humanitarian Summit. Thank you.