Next week thousands of women from every corner of the world will converge in New York to share stories, build solidarity, and demand action to strengthen women’s roles, participation, and rights: the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 60) is almost here!
This year, the priority theme is “Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development” and the review theme is “The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.”
WILPF at CSW
WILPF is bringing over 40 women from around the world to participate in the CSW, and is holding and co-sponsoring a variety of events, including our March 15th Symposium on “Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: A Roadmap for the 1325 Global Study Recommendations.”
Members and partners are coming from: Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Syria, United Kingdom, and United States, as well as international staff.
We will be mobilising to strengthen accountability and to move from an economy of war to an economy of gender justice and sustainable peace. This means addressing the gendered impacts of the global arms trade and integrating gender budgets everywhere. As we have said before, there can be no development without disarmament and women’s full and equal participation and rights!
In a year where the focus is on implementing the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, it is critical to recognise that women’s economic empowerment is a means for conflict prevention. Moving the money away from arms trade and war and redirecting our resources to invest in gender equitable sustainable development is critical for women’s human rights and peace.
In our written statement, we call for “feminist foreign and domestic policy that ensures local action on demilitarisation and women’s human rights for transformative change” as well as for “a change in priorities that invest in women’s human rights, divest from militarism, and safeguard political economies of gender justice and peace rather than economies of inequality and war.”
How you Can Get Involved
There are many ways for you to get involved, whether you are in or out of New York:
Join us at our March 15th symposium or other events, share or learn about it on social media with our hashtags #UNSCR1325, #CSW60 and @WILPF @Peace_Women.
Ask your government to support WILPF’s demands for strengthening accountability and financing development with disarmament, and use our monitoring tools.
Will you participate in CSW or have you in the past? If so, feel free to share your experience in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.