A new development paradigm post-2015, a comprehensive goal for health that includes sexual and reproductive health and rights, and another for gender equality

An important part of the discussion about the MDGs is Sexual and Reproductive Health for women and girls. What will a new paradigm on health look like?

Here is an editorial from Reproductive Health Matters that brings home the point -

These are our bottom lines… We are counting on all governments to have the courage to champion the ‘controversial’ issues by addressing the difficult realities, many of which are related to the root causes of inequalities… 1. Keep your Promises. 2. Champion our Sexual Rights. 3. We Demand Economic Justice. 4. Leave us a Healthy Planet. 5. We are Stakeholders, not a Target Group.” (Post-2015 Consultation Youth Statement, October 2013)¹

What a wordstorm the ICPD Beyond 2014 and Post-2015 Sustainable Development agendas have unleashed! What a tsunami of consultations, meetings, reports, statements, shopping lists of wishes and demands, and overflowing expectations has been pouring in from every corner of the globe! I don’t know how the UN Secretary-General deals with it, but my inbox can barely cope. On the other hand, this storm has brought in a treasure trove of comments, policy analysis and critiques, which I’d like to share with you. And the same is true of the excellent papers in this journal issue.
There are two issues I want to emphasise in this editorial which, together, reflect the crux of what this journal issue is about and what I think is going on in the world beyond the verbal explosion:

•We have the opportunity to articulate sustainable development goals which avoid the many limitations of the MDGs and broaden the remit of responsibility and commitment to improving global health and human rights. These must of course include health, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. There is strong evidence, however, including in these pages, that efforts to implement gender equality are only barely succeeding, and many governments are grossly under-funding health in spite of existing, long-standing commitments, particularly in Africa,² though Africa is far from alone. The new goals need to be configured in the recognition that they are inter-dependent and must be based in a human rights approach, which means no one can be left out. Until this commitment can be achieved in principle, a new development paradigm and with it new goals will remain an aspiration that cannot be expected to succeed.

The MDGs on health scuppered the focus on comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) articulated officially for the first time in the ICPD Programme of Action, and MDG5 pretty much narrowed the agenda to reducing maternal mortality, to the detriment of almost all other SRHR issues. Maternal mortality has fallen but not enough and not at all in the poorest countries, while skilled attendance at birth has not risen concomitantly. We SRHR advocates are faced with a number of urgent problems. Specific aspects of health will not become goals, SRHR certainly not. So how can we ensure, this time around, that sexual and reproductive health and rights as a whole get included in the post-2015 sustainable development goal for health, along with all the other pressing health and development issues being championed by others?

Who is taking the leadership in our movement this time round? Do we have a plan? A strategy?
Some of these issues/questions are immediately outward-looking. They demand global, national and local action from the inter-governmental, governmental, donor, health system and health policy communities, as well as civil society, ultimately looking for solutions at country level. Others are initially inward-looking. We in the SRHR advocacy community are brilliant at articulating our issues and what is needed to achieve them if only…. But we sometimes seem to get stuck there. The opposition to our issues is not getting any weaker. What will be included under all the goals is being debated and negotiated at all levels, right now, within a complex network of players, and those of us who are expert at this work need to be in there as the list of goals and their details are drawn up, negotiated and re-negotiated, every day between now and 15 September 2015. Even more of us should be negotiating at country level with our national leadership. Are enough of us doing this right now? How do we get a consensus among us as to what, besides SRHR and gender equality, our community supports and is fighting for in the wider arena? ICPD was anything but a doddle, but it looks like child’s play by comparison to this.

Watch the live webcast: Millennium Development Goals – what have they brought for women and girls? -

The 58th Session of the Commission on Status of Women to be held in March 2014 will focus on the "Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls". -

Background: As the 2015 target date for their achievement approaches, efforts to accelerate implementation of the MDGs are intensifying. Simultaneously, the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being discussed. Since 2015 also marks the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, implementation of the commitments made towards women's rights and gender equality nearly 20 years ago has taken on new urgency. At the Stakeholders' Forum, sessions include a civil society panel focusing on women's life cycle which will explore how the MDGs affect women and girls from across the age spectrum. Another session will spotlight approaches to champion women's voice, leadership and rights and the lessons learned from experiences on the ground. For more information: Programme Concept note with detailed panel information -

See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/12/millennium-development-goals-what-they-have-brought-women-and-girls#sthash.9KQZMpVM.dpuf

Don't Forget!

Deadline for registration to attend the CSW is January 27th!

Parllel Event Deadline is December 12, 2013.

Final Alert!

 

The deadline to apply for parallel events at the
NGO CSW Forum is this Thursday, 12 December 2013

After sending your application, you will be notified about the status of your event by 31 December 2013

The NGO CSW/NY organizes NGO CSW Forum Parallel Events as a volunteer-based service to NGOs. Participation at these events is open, free of charge to the public from 10-21 March 2014.

However, if you wish to organize a parallel event, fees apply ($125 USD) to help cover costs.  Priority will be given to events that address the UN CSW priority theme of “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls” and the review theme of “Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology.” However, all topics are welcome.

Please note:

1. Due to a severe limitation of space, NGOs cannot be assured of more than one time slot each.
2. New events cannot be scheduled on site.
3. NGOs are strongly encouraged to co-sponsor events in groups. This encourages more people to attend your event.
4. We cannot accept cash payments.
5. The NGO CSW/NY reserves the right to accept or reject all applications received.

In order to register, please create or log-in to an existing account. From there, you will be prompted to enter payment information and can register.

The NGO Forum is a good way to start the meetings of the CSW.

Registration for the NGO CSW 58 Forum Is Now Open! The NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY (NGO CSW/NY) organizes an NGO CSW Forum that includes NGO CSW Forum Consultation Day, Reception, Conversation Circles   and NGO CSW Forum Parallel Events during the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting in New York.  NGO CSW Forum Consultation Day will be held on 9 March 2014 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Cooper Union Great Hall, New York.  NGO CSW Forum Parallel Events will be held from 10-21 March 2014. ECOSOC accredited NGOs can pre-register for the 58th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Registration Now Open!

All accredited Non Government Organizations (NGOs) can now register delegates to attend the 58th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. 

The number of representatives who can attend open official meetings can be contingent on the availability of space. Live webcasts of meetings will also be provided via United Nations Webcast, so everyone can at least hear and view the proceedings.

Registration is open from November 11th to January 27th, 2014. The maximum number that each accredited NGO can register is 20, although depending on volumes of registrations, this could be reduced, or the time period for registration could be shortened.

It is sometimes a challenge to attend the session that you want to. If for example, the session takes place in the North Lawn Building, participants will need a secondary pass to gain access. One or two such secondary passes per/organization will be distributed at or near the registration site. Organizations should also be aware that, in this context, entry into official meetings can still not be guaranteed to all who wish to attend. But the good news is that there are lots of events off site, but close by. NGOs organize their own events, and there are lots to chose from.

Watch this blog for more information about what opportunities there are for you to participate.

Welcome to the NCWC Blog for CSW 58!

Welcome! 

Since 2010, the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC) has done a blog leading up to and during the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). It provides a way of keeping in touch, and a way of sharing information, all in one easy to use space. If you send comments, I will receive them, and try to respond to questions. Attending the CSW is sometimes confusing, and not always easy to find what you are looking for.

Note the dates are March 10th to the 21st, a bit later then usual. 

This year's CSW promises to be an important one for many reasons. The theme for one thing. The Millennium Development Goals, which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. Of what benefit have they been for women will be the question discussed at the CSW. And what are the goals and objectives following the MDGs - The World We Want.

Priority theme for 2014:
Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls
Review theme for 2014:
Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work (agreed conclusions from the fifty-fifth session).

NCWC has ECOSOC status, and generally has a delegation of 5 members attending the CSW. We have had delegations with students, and with long time members from across the country. We have put on an NGO side event which promotes NCWC, and has generally attracted interest. We have made a point of working with other Canadian NGOs to bring focus to the needs of women locally and globally. We work extensively with the International Council of Women and their delegation. If you are interested, please contact NCWC.