Overheard at CSW62: Five voices from the UN’s largest meeting on women’s rights
Did you know that more than 4,300 women and men from 170 different countries came together in New York to participate in the UN’s largest gathering on women’s rights issues, the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62)? This year, the overall theme focused on rural women and girls. From ending violence against women to mitigating the impacts of climate change and promoting gender-parity, hundreds of side events to the official meetings covered the varying experiences of women all over the world and gave a platform to the advocates who are speaking out in their communities.
We asked participants why they’ve come to CSW, and what women in their communities really need.
1) Purity Soinato Oiyie, Kenya
“I was only 10 or 11 years old, when my father decided to circumcise me. I talked to my class teacher and she informed the police chief. Just two hours before the cutting ceremony, the police came and took me away. Today, I work with World Vision and the Kenyan anti-FGM Board to help raise awareness among people in the villages. It’s difficult to convince people to stop FGM because it’s a cultural practice. I go to the schools and talk to the girls and the teachers, I talk to the Masai people in our language…I tell them about the importance of education. What we need is free education for girls. The Masai are pastoral people and many parents don’t have money to send their girls to school.”
2) Sohini Shoaib, India
“I am here for two things — to learn and to hear stories — Stories of struggle, of inspiration and of solidarity. I am amazed at the number and vast range of people who have come from various struggles, various realities and the sense of solidarity that we are all feeling, and the sense of hope that things can and will change and we can change them together. This is my first time at the CSW and I’m learning a lot about what the international discourse is around issues of women, why it is the way it is — the politics behind it all. How some of the international lobbying and policy shifts work [on the ground]. It makes you think of how you can democratize the process further, how you can decentralize the process more, how you can make sure that no one gets left behind.”
3) Marija Andjelkovic, Serbia
“In our part of the world, the government listens more when there are recommendations from the UN, the EU, or the US State Department report on trafficking. For example, for years now, we have been advocating for compensation for victims of trafficking. Only two out of all identified victims (500 identified in Serbia) have received a decision of compensation in their favour. We have submitted a draft law on compensation for victims of violent crime, and included trafficking. Then, the Council of Europe and the CEDAW Committee adopted the recommendation for compensation for victims. That helped us. Now the government is working on a strategy for victims of crime and have said they will look into compensation as part of that. These recommendations, such as the CSW (agreed conclusions) give us tools to advocate with our own government. We produce shadow reports before CSW, and provide our own recommendations, and then we see if our recommendations are included.”
4) Helda Khasmy, Chair of SERUNI, Indonesia
“Most members of SERUNI are in rural areas, and one of their biggest challenges is access to land and ownership of land. There’s a monopoly of land ownership by big corporations in Indonesia. Women don’t inherit land as equals to men, but now their men too have very little or no land. This makes women even poorer. They go on to become low-wage workers in the palm oil, sugar or tobacco plantations, where they often work in poor conditions, for low wages, and are exposed to harmful pesticides that affect their health. When women menstruate, they can ask for holiday, but the plantation officials ask them to take off their pants to prove that they are menstruating.”
5) Zoneziwoh Mbondgulo, Cameroon
“Among several challenges, one is access to credit. They are not talking about petite grants or microcredit, but macro credit…Rural women also want better sexual and reproductive health services, with better access to contraceptives and family planning products. Even basic education in these areas will help them.”
For more voices from CSW, visit UNWomen.org
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s rights. It brings together governments, women’s rights, gender experts and other actors to build consensus and commitment on policy actions to advance women’s rights. Learn more about what happened at the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
