Post CSW68 Reflections: Eliminating Poverty by Investing in Women

A Comprehensive Guide to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, by Marsha Castello.

It has been both an honour and a privilege to serve as a voluntary UN Women UK delegate to the 68th session on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. This is the second year I have been bestowed this honour, having been appointed as a delegate to last year’s CSW67.

As you will know, the United Nations (UN) is the international body founded in 1945, on the heels of a devastating World War II. Following the global mass casualties and destruction of this war, the UN aimed to keep global peace and security, and in doing so prevent a World War III.?

The UN was designed to promote human rights, foster social and economic development, protect the environment by addressing climate change, and provide humanitarian aid and assistance in all instances of famine, natural disaster, and armed conflict around the world.?

In addition, there are a plethora of specialised agencies, programmes, funds, and organisations within the UN ecosystem, including UN Women, ECOSOC, UNESCO, UNICEF, the WHO and more.??

The UN’s mission statement is “Peace, dignity, and equality on a healthy planet”. Find out more about the UN here.

UN Women used to be known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, which describes its function and remit perfectly, but as you will agree was quite a mouthful. It was established by the UN General Assembly in 2010 and is a UN body designed to promote and accelerate global gender equity and self-determination for women. Find out more about UN Women here.

UN Women UK is the United Kingdom’s national committee of UN Women. Much like its parent organisation, UN Women UK is a non-profit organisation charged with the mission to work with governments, civil society, the private-sector (businesses), and individuals to realise gender equity and empowerment of women and girls, worldwide. Their mission statement is to provide women and girls around the globe with safety, choice, and a voice. Find out more about UN Women UK here.

Founded in 1946, the Commission on the Status of women (CSW) is the largest annual gathering on gender equity and the empowerment of all women and girls. It is the functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and consists of a series of several hundred negotiations, discussions, events, panels and plenaries with world leaders, civil society, experts, and activists, on the agreed theme for that year.?

Themes usually centre on a range of gender issues from general women’s rights to gender-based violence, economic empowerment, and increasing women’s involvement in decision making. Find out more about the CSW here. ?

CSW68 – the 68th session on the United Nations Commission on the Status of women, took place between 11 – 22 March this year and centred on the 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.”??

The CSW68 theme is in direct alignment with UN Women’s 8th March 2024? International Women’s Day call to action: “Invest in Women: Accelerate progress”.

The 5 key areas of UN Women’s call to action are:

• Approaching Investing in women as a human rights issue
• Ending global poverty
• Implementing gender-responsive financing
• Shifting to a green economy and care society
• Supporting Feminist change-makers

After sharing details on the CSW, I was moved to see the increase in volume and diversity of allies this year from every race, gender, and age group, swelling the UN Women UK community to over 6000!

I see my role in my capacity as a UN Women UK delegate to the CSW, to increase and share my knowledge in this sphere, to participate in and raise awareness of both UN Women UK and the CSW and to advocate for and actively contribute to gender equity and the empowerment and self-determination of all women and girls.?

One of the ways I seek to do this is through articles like this one and through volunteering my time as a Women in Data? & Tech Ambassador, GTA- Black Women in Tech Research Support Brand Ambassador, STEM Ambassador and STEM Mentor. To date I have mentored over 20 girls and counting, have worked with a range of social mobility organisations, and am an engaged member of race, gender and social mobility networks at my place of work. To stay up to date, connect with me on LinkedIn here. ?

When it comes to investing in women and accelerating the progress of gender equity, there are some key facts and figures to consider (source: UNWomen.org ):

• By 2050, 158 million women and girls face being pushed into poverty.
• It is estimated that it will take up to 286 years to close legal chasms and remove gender discriminatory laws.
• 140 years for women to be represented equitably in positions of power and leadership at work.?
• At least 40 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.
• Women are also expected to spend 2.3 more hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men, decreasing time and reserves for formal employment. The data shows that men also have less propensity towards domestic violence when they participate in childcare.
• A woman's earnings also plummet by 25% when they experience intimate partner violence.
• Data drawn from 48 “developing” economies illuminates that an additional $360 billion is required to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment across key global goals including ending poverty and hunger.?
• Over 100 million women and girls could be freed from poverty if governments coordinate and prioritise: education and reproductive choice, fair and equal wages, and expand the scope of social benefits and public services.
• Up to 300 million jobs could be generated by 2035 by investing in care services.
• Closing gender gaps in employment has the potential to boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita by 20 per cent in all regions across the globe.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres,’ opened CSW68, with yet another powerful speech and call to action.? The most poignant and revealing excerpts for me were:

“…globally, poverty has a female face. Women have less access to land, natural resources, and financial assets.? They suffer the impacts of climate change more than men. And they are more likely to be food insecure…”

"The International Labour Organisation estimates that?— worldwide?— women, as an average, earn just 51?cents for every dollar earned by a man.?Economic sectors dominated by women are undervalued, underpaid?— and even, in some cases, unpaid.?Women’s invisible domestic labour is a subsidy to the entire economy."

This speech was bolstered by a series of inspiring speeches by dignitaries from around the world and sessions involving member states and NGOs, calling for ceasefires in regions of conflict, and emphasising the need to centre women at the heart of peace building initiatives.?

Doing so has been found to ensure peace endures longer, is more sustainable and accelerates the recovery of countries and economies.?

Participants envisioned rebuilding countries and economies after a ceasefire and all that this may encompass, including the rebuilding of schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and other institutions of knowledge to ensure that all have access to education, and by doing so, granting women and girls (who are often excluded) choice and access.?

Effective rebuilding also ensures that vital infrastructures for populations to thrive are restored. Such as healthcare and amenities, and that safe spaces for women equity advocates and organisations to meet, collaborate and organise the delivery of services for women, exist. It also involves ensuring equitable participation in the political process for women as both voters and electees.?

A popular session from day 1 involved Nordic countries joining forces to illustrate the progress they had made on investing in women policies ranging from affordable childcare to adequate paternity leave and their aspirations to lead by example in raising the bar even further by encouraging other countries to always centre gender.?

Doing so has been found to positively impact communities, and the economy.?

The UK government also reinforced its commitment to gender equity through investing in women as welcomed by UN Women UK who look forward to supporting these initiatives in the future.

Day 2 saw the continuation of several inspirational, harrowing and moving panels amplifying the stories and plight of women and girls, living in abject poverty around the globe, and the suggested solutions and current initiatives which require urgent investment.?

Popular highlights included a panel reiterating the urgent need for a coordinated approach from world governments to support women and girls.?

Another worthy highlight was a panel which focused on the tremendous risks and sacrifices of women journalists on the ground to bring us first-hand accounts of the plight of women and girls trying to survive in conflict zones such as Afghanistan.?

A further panel of note, called for the centring of indigenous women in policy making, and bringing awareness to the barriers they face.

One of the talks that I attended and would particularly like to amplify is the session, entitled, Eliminating Poverty: Structural Interventions through Education, Culture and Science, which took place on 13th March.

I feel this session really exemplified the themes of CSW68 and captured the essence of its objectives. It brought together renowned experts, policy makers, civil society, activists, and representatives from the private sector originating from different regions of the world.

All with the aim of moving us further towards a common appreciation of the positive impact of investment in women and girls to achieve:

• Gender equity in education,?
• Empower women in science for environmental action,?
• Support the economic agency of women through culture and heritage and?
• Bridge the gender digital divide.?

These interconnected elements form the core of the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) mandate and have been unanimously recognised for decades as imperative and definitive interventions known to accelerate the realisation of gender equity, placing women and girls at the forefront as problem solvers and change makers to map out a clear path forward for the welfare of society as a whole.

Ringing the alarm, the data shows the dire fact that if current trends persist:

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• Over 342 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030.?
• Progress needs to be 26 times faster to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 as pledged.
• 1 in 5 girls are out of school (that’s 122 million girls), some countries lose in excess of US$ 1 Billion per year, by failing to educate girls to the same standards as boys.
• There is therefore an urgent need to invest in universal education to empower each and every girl.
• Green jobs of today and the future require STEM skills, yet in 30 out of 121 countries less than 20 per cent of graduates in Engineering are women.?
• To ensure our global response to climate change is both effective and inclusive we must invest more in women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
• In countries where 9 out of 10 men and women hold fundamental bias beliefs against women, that led to gender inequalities and discrimination, culture has been found to hold a unique role and power to tell untold stories, overturn stereotypes, and mould ethical approaches on the role of women in society.
• There’s a fundamental need to invest in living heritage to transform harmful gender norms and to promote economic empowerment of all women, especially indigenous women.?
• It is acknowledged that there is an urgent need to mitigate the risk associated with gender related violence, values and discrimination facilitated by Generative-Artificial Intelligence, which is an acute global problem.? Yet women still only represent 22 per cent of the AI professions.
• We must invest in women’s leadership in the digital space to facilitate an inclusive, safe, and diverse digital environment and halt the perpetuation of inequity both online and offline.?

(Source: Begona Lasagabaster, Director - División Gender Equality, UNESCO, Eliminating Poverty: Structural Interventions…CSW68)

This was a powerful discussion, and CSW68 continued in this vein, amplifying the harrowing plight and courage of women and girls from around the world.?

Underscoring the devastating extent to which women’s rights are being repealed and pushed back, internationally, a prime example is the reversal of Roe and Wade.

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The number of women and girls disproportionately affected by war, and climate crises, (subject to sexual violence and trafficking when at their most vulnerable) and the grave need for immediate support, investment, and solutions.

It was not all doom and gloom, however and the energy, efforts, commitment, and ideas of an expanded, diverse, and largely unified delegation at this year’s CSW inspired hope for accelerated progress and enduring sustainable change. In my experience these are the aspects CSW never fails to deliver and galvanise and is the fundamental essence of every CSW. Hope, energy, efforts, commitment and ideas!

Look forward to an even bigger CSW and International Women’s Day next year! In the meantime, get involved in gender equity efforts by answering the calls to action below:

Calls to action:

Sign up to the CSW newsletter here.

Join the UN Women UK community here.

Join Safe Spaces Now to support safe and inclusive public spaces for all, here.

Male allies join HeforShe here.

Donate to UN Women UK’s Emergency Appeal: Sudan here.

Donate to UN Women UK Women’s Emergency Fund here.