MU @ UNCSW June Butler Blog: Day Four

There was less pounding the pavements of New York on Thursday as I attended fewer events and those I did seemed to be located closer together. An early reflection on UNCSW – there is SO much of interest and value happening, with so many people around, you can become overwhelmed and even “lose the plot” (to use the vernacular) as to where you have been and to whom you have  spoken and listened. I think I got to that stage on Thursday afternoon and retreated to my hotel bedroom to “regroup” my thoughts and impressions. In the end I spent a considerable period there on-line dealing with matters related to the “day job” of Provincial President for Ireland! C’est la vie….

I had a number of meetings on Thursday as well as attending several side events. All proved to be enjoyable and helpful. The first of these was the routine NGO morning meeting hosted by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women and chaired by Lopa Banerje, the Director of the Civil Society Section of UN Women. I believe we learned more about the process underway for negotiation and review, as well as future engagement, in the twenty minutes she spoke than we had found out in the entire CSW until that point!  Some of the key points were that 2020 will be the 75th anniversary of the UN, the 10th anniversary of UN Women and, as far as UNCSW is concerned, a critical year as it will be “Beijing plus 25”; this will serve to focus attention on the progress which has been made in that 25 year period.

However, she believed we must also remind ourselves of the successes of the last 25 years, especially the level of mobilisation achieved across issues and across countries. She also spoke about the need to accelerate change towards global equality if we are going ultimately to meet the targets set for 2030. She explained about the national and regional frameworks for review which would occur before CSW64 and we were informed about the Global Civil Society Forums which would be held in France and Mexico in mid 2020, prior to a full peace and security week scheduled at the UN in October 2020. There was also some discussion on general issues of concern for NGOs and, in particular, the feeling that they were being given increasingly less space at each UNCSW.

After several one-to-one discussions with other delegates, using time constructively as some of the events I wanted to attend were over-subscribed, I attended one about Sierra Leone’s trajectory to women’s empowerment. It began with a poem performed by a girl called Vicky who, although only 12 years of age, has wonderful acting potential. The poem was about the talents and skills embedded in every women and was a very powerful introduction to the session. We then learned from all the speakers about various aspects of Sierra Leone’s National Action Plan which showcased the pathway to promote gender equality and the progress which had been made in healthcare, education, public and financial services, public appointments and sport. There was also reference by several of the speakers about dealing with sexual crimes towards women, the current focus on recent legislation covering domestic and other sexual violence, and the critical need for the country to have a proper forensic laboratory so that evidence would be available when cases came to court. 

The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Mrs Fatima Maada Bio, ended the event by speaking about her focus on girls’ education, the need for women not to take any journey in life determined only by men, her abhorrence of child marriage, and how in her position of power she strove at all times to promote the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign. At the end of the event she was presented with an award for her work in this field. 

Later in the afternoon I was invited to attend a meeting at the Anglican Communion Office where I met not only Jillian Abballe, the Advocacy Officer and Head of Office at the ACO at the United Nations, but also a group of around ten Anglican ladies, some ordained, from across the world (Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Ghana, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, South Africa, America, England) who are attending UNCSW63. It was great to be able to spend time with them, learn what they had been doing that week and also just get a feel for their work and passions in their homelands. We also discussed the narrative of the draft of the final conclusions of this CSW and the need to lobby for proper wording on faith based organisations.   I learned something about the work of the ACO in New York and in the United Kingdom and hope that we in Mothers’ Union can continue to forge strong links with them in the future.