UN 58 Commission on the Status of Women: advocacy document of the Europe/North America NGO caucus, 13 March 2014
[New York, 13 March 2014] The Europe/North America NGO caucus met today to discuss its joint recommendations on the draft conclusions of the 58th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
You will find below and here our main policy issues, and here the latest version of the draft conclusions (of 10 March) with our amendments.
Recommendations of the Europe - North America NGO caucus, 13 March 2014
Commission on the Status of Women 58th session, 10 – 21 March 2014
With regards to the priority theme of CSW 58, “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”, the Europe-North America NGO caucus asks Member States to take into account the following important issues:
The Caucus asks all Member States to strongly reaffirm and strengthen their commitment to all existing international and regional instruments, ratify CEDAW, its protocol and the General Recommendation n°27 for countries which haven’t done it yet, and implement them in national legislation, including documents related to the Beijing Platform for Action and process, the ICPD programme of action, Conventions on the rights of the child and on the rights of persons with disabilities, Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, UNSCRs on Women, Peace and Security, core ILO conventions.
The Caucus calls on all Member States to stop invoking and condoning any custom, tradition or religious considerations to undermine women’s and girls’ rights, and ensure a consistent protection of women’s human rights throughout the world, with no exception, and stop harmful practices that erode universally recognised international human rights. The realisation of the commitments cannot be conditioned to the sovereignty of Member States and their various cultural and religious backgrounds.
The Caucus stresses that the full integration of women and girls’ multiple identities through a intersectional perspective including factors such as gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health (including pregnancy and HIV/Aids), civil status, citizenship, nationality, housing, migration status, age (taking into account every stage of life), disability, class, income, language, geographical location (rural areas, conflict zones), sexual orientation and gender identity, is a crucial condition for addressing the multiple forms of discrimination and violence that many women face.
Women and girls should have equal participation and leadership in the elaboration, negotiation, policy development and evaluation levels of all policies, and equal decision-making and leadership in all sectors, including political parties and unions.
The Caucus wants to see the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls as a key priority.
The Caucus calls on all Member States to acknowledge the diversity of families.
The Caucus urges Member States to fully include the concept of women’s sexual and reproductive rights, in conformity with agreed language (including ICPD). Universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights should continue to be a policy priority. This includes no negotiation on access to sexuality education, free access to all means of safe contraception and safe and legal abortion.
Access to free equality education and lifelong learning and decent work needs to be a priority for all.
The Caucus stresses the need for well-funded, sustainable, accessible and non-discriminatory multisectoral public services and for social protection floors.
The Caucus wants to see strong commitments to end gender stereotypes which need to be countered and fought in multiple areas: in languages and vocabulary, laws and practices, mind-sets of people, justice systems, media and education, in different organizations and public authorities, in enterprises and in individuals.
