Reflections on CSW69#

My reaction to the two weeks of CSW69 was bittersweet: such positive energy, many  excellent NGO parallel events and side events by Member States, hopefulness, friendships. but also, a franticness, a quickness to anger, a realization that we had not made progress in furthering the rights of women and girls, but at least countries reached a kind of consensus with countries allowed to append disagreements. [The US added disagreements to the original Beijing Platform of Action.] After 30 years reproductive rights, which are so essential to women’s health and lives, are still not permitted in Political Declaration 69. There is an increasing backlash against women and girls with much violence.

IFBPW had many excellent parallel events. The What’s App listserv was exhausting with chat! I participated in Carol Hanlon’s excellent UN CSW69 Forum which featured many IFBPW speakers with diverse backgrounds and accomplishments. [Pictured Right: Susan in the green sweater] The other two parallel events I helped organize with Beth Deighton and moderated were “Women & Armed Conflict” with speakers from Iran, Ukraine, Syria, and Palestine and the second event “Post-Beijing Widows Face Even Greater Challenges for Rights” with widows from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, UK, Nigeria, and a report from China. I was in tears at both of these events.

The backlash against women has been increasing for several years. You may read about this at the UN Women website. At the Millennium Hilton across the Street from the UN Church Center, CFam, a conservative women’s NGO, was holding forth with the audience not allowed to ask questions. They supported eliminating the Department of Education and public schools with children being home schooled and abolishing DEI which means banning teaching the struggles of the Women’s and Black movements.

At the last UN CSW69 briefing for NGOs on March 21, the Women’s Major Group spoke of the pushback for women in the Political Declaration 69 that had reproductive rights deleted at the last moment and hoped progress might be made at the High Level Political Forum in July. The session ended with powerful statements from two women in the audience: “We need women’s rights from conception” and from Queen Mother, “We can’t wait any longer.”

Susan O’Malley
United Nations Representative