25,000 Feminists to Meet in Civil Society Virtual Forum Parallel to UN Commission on the Status of Women

25,000 Feminists representing millions of women from around the world will participate in a virtual NGO Forum held in parallel with the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) meeting March 15 – 26. 

Sponsored by NGO Committee on the Status of Women New York (NGO CSW/NY), this forum will have more than 700 events on topics such as violence against women and girls, forced child marriage, femicide, women in conflict, increased vulnerability of women and girls under COVID 19 and the climate crisis. The two-week virtual meeting is the largest gathering of feminists since the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. 

“At a time when the world has witnessed global rise of authoritarian movements and far-right governments, and when the whole world has been disrupted by COVID 19, the women’s right activists continue to strengthen our base and grow our influence at the UN and with member states,” said Houry Geudelekian, Chair of the NGO CSW/NY.  “We are very reassured that the women of the world continue to organize and not be derailed by the backlash against women’s rights.  We never expected 25,000 participants to show up ready to mobilize. There is more momentum than we have ever seen.”

NGO CSW/NY facilitates the civil society events parallel to the UN CSW meetings to ensure an inclusive and safe space for dialogue, mobilization and action. The NGO CSW65 Forum runs parallel to the official session with heads of state and other governmental leaders taking place virtually with the UN. This provides the women’s movement the opportunity to engage with the UN CSW and the negotiated Agreed Conclusions on the Priority Theme “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”

“As we reconfigure our response to the new reality of the COVID 19 crisis, we must use the lessons learnt from the past year to identify opportunities for building back greener, equitable, gender-responsive and inclusive, said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. “ Working with our partners across civil society, we must turn the crisis into a metamorphosis moment to support the invaluable leadership and contribution of women to human development.”

This year, NGO CSW/NY is hosting more than 700 Parallel Events that inform, engage and inspire grassroots efforts and advocacy needed to empower women and girls.  Highlights from the agenda include: Consultation Day, UN advocacy training, morning briefings co-sponsored by the UN Commission on the Status of Women and UN Women, Civil Society regional caucuses, conversation circles, plays, and an artisan fair.

Due to COVID 19, the NGO CSW65 Forum will be entirely virtual.  In previous years, activists from around the world would travel to New York for these meetings.  This year, the Forum will be even more inclusive as people can join online 24/7 for two weeks from their homes and grassroots women’s organizations without having to incur the time and expense of traveling internationally.  Being virtual has opened up the doors to massive participation.

This forum is free and is open to all. To register please visit here. 

On 14 March, the Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN and the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women Mher Margaryan took part in virtual discussion organized by the NGO CSW/NY with the participation of the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. The discussion was moderated by the US State Representative of Michigan Mari Manoogian.

Reflecting on the disproportionate effect of humanitarian emergencies on women and girls, Ambassador Margaryan underlined that consolidated support of the international community is crucial for ensuring that women and girls are protected in situations of crises. “Needless to say, when it comes to instabilities, such as those in situations of conflict and humanitarian emergencies, women and girls are the ones who are affected most and who continue to be at increased risk of injustice and inequality, including in terms of access to essential services, resilience and livelihood opportunities”, Mher Margaryan noted. In this context, the Permanent Representative of Armenia recalled the dire humanitarian consequences of the hostilities in #NagornoKarabakh, which exacerbated the sufferings of women and girls affected by conflict, who were trapped between the war and the pandemic.

“I think we can all agree that the recent outbreaks of violence have clearly demonstrated that the #UN needs to reequip itself in addressing these challenges and delivering on the prevention agenda and on the pledge to achieve gender equality”, Ambassador Margaryan noted.

Attended by hundreds of representatives of #NGOs with thousands of membership across the world, the event was livestreamed, and the recoding is available at  here.