The opening session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) meeting in New York this month heard that “misogyny is on the rise.”
Sima Bahous, the Executive Director of UN Women, said women and girls are bearing the brunt of multiple crises and conflicts around the world. It was a message echoed by the UN Secretary-General
António Guterres who said the “poison of patriarchy” is apparent, while women’s rights are currently “under siege”. “The masters of misogyny are gaining strength,” he added, pointing to the “bile” hurled at women online and leaders who “are happy to throw equality to the wolves”.
Two weeks after those comments, the CSW adopted a declaration urging full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was agreed 30 years ago and outlines 12 critical areas for improvement in the status of women: poverty alleviation, education and training, health, elimination of violence against women, an end to armed conflict, economic development, more power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, the media, the environment, and the girl child.
The CSW called on the United Nations system to continue to support implementation of the Declaration and Platform “through systematic gender mainstreaming, multi-stakeholder partnerships, the mobilisation of resources to deliver results and the monitoring and assessment of progress with
disaggregated data.” However, there were reservations. The United States said several aspects of the texts “make it impossible” to support the Declaration, including lapses in using clear language that recognises that “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male”.
“We also cannot accept references to a purported right to development,” the US representative said, while he rejected the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Pacific voices at CSW
Pacific government and civil society representatives in New York took a range of issues to the meeting and side events, from climate justice to violence.
Pacific Island nations consistently record some of the highest levels of violence against women and girls in the world.
In New York, Laisa Bulatale of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, noted: “Violence against women and girls is reinforced by community acceptance, deep-rooted gender stereotypes, harmful social norms and practices, and impunity for perpetrators.
“Violence against women and girls is never acceptable, never excusable and never tolerable,” she added.
Palau’s Director for Domestic Affairs, Eunice Akiwo, spoke to the economic participation and education pillars of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
She emphasised the promotion of the Palauan language and parenting values to foster inclusive family structures. “We are enabling both parents—fathers and mothers—to actively participate in shaping our children’s futures,” she stated, reframing traditional gender values within the family unit.
The Pacific also has low levels of political representation by women when compared to global norms.
But Kiribati’s Women, Youth and Social Welfare Minister, Ruth Cross Kwansing, noted her own entry into politics and appointment “as evidence and intent of our progress as a nation.”
Kwansing reported how behavioural change initiatives are fostering positive shifts, enhancing a national response to violence against women, and said that an operating protocols system called SafeNet provides survivors with a dedicated and meaningful support system.
“Our determination is clear in the government manifesto, and we are actively addressing emerging threats like technology-facilitated violence, prioritising prevention, economic empowerment, and legal protection for women and girls,” she told the CSW69 plenary session.
In New York, Nauru made a clarion call for climate action and resourcing to recognise the women on the frontline of the global crisis.
Ambassador Lara Daniel, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Nauru to the United Nations, spoke of climate change as “the single greatest threat to our security and livelihoods, undermining stability and resilience across our Blue Pacific.”
Nauru has introduced a new Gender-Responsive Climate Change Policy to integrate gender equality in climate action, disaster risk management, and pandemic response. “Rising sea levels, extreme weather, and environmental degradation create severe security implications, particularly for women and girls.
Women, central to community resilience, must be empowered with the necessary resources to drive sustainable solutions.”
Ambassador Daniel called for enhanced international cooperation “to ensure gender-responsive climate policies are prioritised and adequately funded.”
And Samoa’s CEO for Women, Community, and Social Development, Loau Donina Va’a, urged delegates to CSW to CLAP. Speaking at a Commonwealth Secretariat-hosted event in New York, she said: “Collaboration must drive solutions. Leadership must make gender equality an expectation. Action must turn commitments into impact. And progress must be measured by results. CLAP—Collaboration, Leadership, Action, and Progress—to champion gender equality!”
