Thoughts from a novice attendee at CSW

by Liz MacNiven, AIWC Cologne

I have always thought that one of the benefits of being a member of FAWCO, and one thing that sets us apart from other groups I have been involved with, is our relationship with the UN. In previous years I have shied away from being part of the CSW delegation, mainly due to the expense of it all. So, this year when it was all online, it felt like time to jump into that world.

I didn’t have much clue what to expect and even before it started it was rather overwhelming. Having completed the registration process (you have to be approved for everyone’s security), we were told to look at three different sets of meeting lists and decide which to attend. But faced with an agenda lasting two weeks and multiple meetings every day, often at the same time, how on earth to choose?

Fortunately, My-Linh Kunst, an “old hand” at attending CSW, invited us to a CSW 101 meeting in which she took us through what it was all about, what to expect and how to choose what to attend.

So, armed with that, I sat down with the agendas and picked some meetings. So here is some information I got at the meetings I went to and my musings on it all:

Pre Day: Kick off session with NGO CSW Geneva

• “Only together can we achieve a better future for all”, Olga Algayerova
• What do these acronyms they keep using mean: VAW, GBV? Wow, I have a lot to learn. Good job I’ve got Google! (Violence Against Women, Gender Based Violence)
• Who is this Civil Society? (From what I can work out, it’s any group that isn’t a government organized one)
• How can I have that many WhatsApp notifications, I only left my phone on the side for an hour? (CSW65 FAWCO WhatsApp group had been set up for those attending)

Day 1: Welcome and Orientation Training

• 25,000 participants have signed up for CSW which is the largest audience in CSW history. 
• Wow, I’m part of something pretty cool!

Day 1: The Group of Friends for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls

• Discussion about the “shadow pandemic” which is the hidden cost to Women and Girls of the pandemic. 
• That’s a new term for me but an issue that I’ve read plenty about over the months especially with regard to domestic abuse.
• President of Estonia said that the move to more remote and digital working offers a real opportunity for women in particular if handled correctly. Doors have been opened to them that were closed before. 
• What a good point. It doesn’t have to be all bad. Good things can come if you are creative in your thinking. Phew!

Day 2: Ministerial Round Table - Getting to Parity

• A series of presentations lasting three minutes by individual countries, explaining what they have done.
• Fascinating to see presentations by countries I (perhaps naively) would not have expected to see, such as Iran and Afghanistan.
• Did you know that in a conference like this you can set your language to your own, so that even if the presenter is not speaking English you can understand via a translator? It sounds obvious but I had never really considered this issue before.

Day 2: Leadership During the Covid-19 Pandemic

• Fascinating presentation of research done at the University of Liverpool, on the outcomes for different countries during COV-19. Both mortality and economic outcomes are shown to be much better for countries where women are in positions of leadership such as New Zealand.
• I have seen this with my own eyes via the media, but it was especially interesting to see it set out factually. 
• These women are awesome. One of the presenters was breast feeding whilst making her presentation. That probably wouldn’t have happened unless it was on a virtual platform.

Day 3: Building Back Better for Women Post COV19 in the UK

• Need for flexible working to be built into the legal framework.
• Women spending 60% more time than men on unpaid work
• Women were front and centre in coping with the pandemic so need to be there when looking at recovery.
• Great to see British participation in CSW especially in a week where we had all been reeling after the abduction and death of a woman in London.

Day 3: The Gendered Effects of COV19 Pandemic (World Bank Group)

• The importance of childcare, legal help and health care for women
• For policy responses to work, women need to have a seat at the table
• How does anyone have the stamina for all this, especially in person where you have to physically make your way from one meeting to another?

Day 4: Road to Addis: Connect to include, include to connect

• Digital inclusion is vital for all. Everyone should have access to the technology and connectivity to succeed. Billions across the world are not connected and a vast number of these are women
• 190 countries closed schools but 2 in 3 children didn’t have internet access, so couldn’t access online schooling. Access especially critical for the disabled should be a right not privilege for them.
• Something I had never considered – one presenter was deaf and using sign language. There was a special interpreter to help the hearing members of the audience understand her. Also did you know there are telephones that enable deaf people to make phone calls?
• This was a really interesting topic and one I hadn’t really thought carefully about. 

Day 5: Civil Society Briefings

• A briefing to those groups not at the main UN meetings as to what was being discussed and an opportunity for them to ask questions and make points that could potentially be fed back into the main meetings.
• “Importance of the role of civil society in pressing their own governments to implement the CSW recommendations” CSW Chair and Armenian Ambassador.
• I’m now getting tired and rather overwhelmed especially with attending the FAWCO Biennial Conference at the same time. How does Laurie do it every year?

Day 7: Enhancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in COV19 Recovery

• COV19 has been a crisis with a female face especially with 76% of caseworkers being female.
• 2020 was supposed to be a turning point of women’s rights but it didn’t happen and inequalities were exacerbated in all areas. Has probably taken women’s rights back 25 years.
• Women need to be around the negotiating table for all discussions.
• I didn’t know how few women across the world had been involved in the recovery planning. Seems crazy to me.

Day 8: Gender Equity in the Vaccine Roll Out

• Important to work out the barriers for access for all, especially for women. Discussions with women and women’s groups to consider all the issues essential.
• Interesting to see how many aspects have to be taken into consideration to get as many people vaccinated. What a logistical task it is going to be.

I am now officially shattered. CSW has been a lot to take in. So much information and the WhatsApp group has been on fire with people expressing their thoughts about what they have been hearing. Some parting thoughts:

1. Getting to any kind of conclusions at the international level must take forever. There are almost 200 countries involved and they all have different views based on things like history, culture, religion and so on.  That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, but we should make sure we have realistic expectations of time frames for achieving things. 
2. There is a massive amount of bureaucracy involved in the UN. It’s probably inevitable but it can’t help. At least they do seem to listen to and use the information they get from Civil Society.
3. Attending the UN meetings via your FAWCO membership is well worth doing. It will open your eyes to things you had never even thought about and may just give your life a new direction.