Reflections at the start of CSW68

At the end of last week we observed International Women’s Day, which got me to wondering. What might it feel like if every day was International Women’s Day? What if women actually received equal pay for equal work? What if all women and girls everywhere felt safe in marketplaces? On public transit? In our own homes? What if all girls everywhere received an education and support to follow their dreams and deepest curiosities?

Instead of our incessant focus on war and militarism, what would it feel like to know my tax dollars were being spent on supporting social protection for girls, who tend to be affected first and worst by any type of disaster? What if women were seen as wise enough to have autonomy over our own bodies? What if women’s healthcare was researched and supported in an equitable manner?

We had a brief glimpse of such a future at the teen orientation sponsored by the Working Group on Girls (WGG). As we prepared to start the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW68) over the next two weeks, the WGG event gathered over 60 teens and 25 adults to learn about advocacy in the U.N. setting.

The theme of this year’s CSW centers on the feminization of poverty and the need for new and creative financing to support women and girls. Our keynote speaker Winifred Dougherty, Good Shepherd sister, has been active at CSW for a decade and a half, and shared stories of the intense violence perpetrated upon women and girls each day. She shared about situations in Ethiopia, where she worked for many years, as well as the current areas of conflict and genocide today. She also urged everyone present not only to engage at CSW68 in New York, but also to “bring the CSW agreed conclusions home” by sharing the ideas for systemic and structural change and thinking through how they could be applied at schools, churches and in cities. We considered ideas like addressing corporate tax evasion, enacting debt cancellation and exploring innovative financial tools to ensure equitable access to material resources.

We’ve welcomed nearly 30 folks to CSW68 this year through Loretto / BVM at the UN. As the photos show, there was networking, sharing of experiences with the BVM sisters, group photos and pizza. We are very excited to continue to learn from each other, share visions of the world we want and then work together to bring that world into being.

CSW68 priority theme:

Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.

Watch the CSW orientation video online.