What will people say 25 years from now say about what happened in 2020? With over 600 people from around the world joining an online Town Hall Meeting on October 19, 2020, Lopa Bannerjee, Director of the UN Women Civil Society Division, opened with this thought-provoking question.
The first speaker was Asa Regner, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women. Ms. Regner first acknowledged the crucial role civil society organizations (CSOs) are playing, and the work they are doing to protect and advocate for women's rights: working in shelters, upholding services and support for women in spite of the COVID-19 complications. She thanked CSOs for their perseverance in the face of limitations on space for women's organizations due to COVID-19 restrictions. She then reflected on the high-level meeting celebrating Beijing+25 that took place during the UN General Assembly. She reported that the General Assembly Hall was very empty, as it was a mostly virtual event with video reports from Member States, most related to the COVID-19 situation, recognizing the impact on women's lives and livelihoods. The event was a “stock-taking and accountability session” with UN Member States. Advancement of gender equality has mostly come to a halt.
The 1995 agenda adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing (the Beijing Platform for Action) was very ambitious, driven by a will to shift power relations, but this power shift has not happened. Pre-COVID-19, there have been improvements in girls' enrollment in schools, lower maternal mortality rates, more legislation on violence against women (VAW), more parental leave, and some discriminatory laws have been removed, but funding is not adequate. Implementation is lacking and governments need to do much more. Our goal now is to find ways to work together with CSOs to increase pressure on governments to push for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Participants in this lively meeting brought several critical issues into the discussion via the Chat, including climate justice, technology, intersectionalities, resources for women's organizations, racism, marginalized women/gender non-conforming people, women in conflict, equal pay and equal opportunities, and the rise of far right around the world.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile's Mlambo-Ngcuka offered reflections on the ongoing Beijing+25 review. She said that we could not have made the progress we have if civil society was not so resilient. Governments have not moved far enough, though, and we need to close the gap between CSOs and governments. We need women's leadership and participation in decision making – a “greater feminist thrust.” We also need a critical mass of countries who are pushing forward – champions and allies – a more united front in the fight for gender equality, with coalitions, partnerships, and new forms of solidarity.
Leila Hessini, Vice President of the Global Fund for Women, the largest grant-making organization strengthening women's grassroots movements for over 30 years, talked about their priorities. As a feminist fund, they listen to and trust women and girls, reallocate resources, get money into the hands of grassroots organizations to advance change in communities, invest in collective action, and work to transform philanthropy. COVID-19 and other interlocking economic and climate crises demonstrate that we are deeply interconnected and interdependent. As Ms. Hessini put it, “Movements matter.” We need more alignment and better coordination to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to make the changes we want to see in our communities.
We in civil society are essential partners with UN Women, working towards the same goals: addressing poverty, gender equality and climate justice, recognizing that poverty and the climate crisis have disproportionate impacts on women.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's concluding comment was very wise: “Every time I think I know the answer, the question changes.”
Lopa Bannerjee ended the Town Hall Meeting with the words: “May our sisterhood carry on.”