World YWCA at the Commission on the Status of Women
A World YWCA delegation will head to New York City to participate in the fifty-fifth session of the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) from February 22 to March 4, 2011.
World YWCA General Secretary, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Hendrica Okondo, Global Programme Manager SRHR and HIV and AIDS, and World YWCA Board member Jessica Notwell, will lead the delegation of over 28 women and young women along. The theme for this 55th session is 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. Since it was founded, the World YWCA has been involved in education and training of women all over the world. In 1947, the Organisation lobbied for the inclusion of women in the reconstruction programme for Japan and, since then, the YWCA movement has played a key role in advocating for equal opportunities for women and girls in education and training, as well as family-friendly labour market policies.
The World YWCA will submit a joint statement which calls for the recognition of education, skills development, and training as key to women's empowerment, rights and especially to the prevention of violence against women and HIV. The World YWCA will call on the Commission on the Status of Women to:
- Increase investment in education for women and girls, including comprehensive sexuality education, as key to addressing poverty and promoting the social and cultural empowerment of women, particularly in the context of HIV.
- Involve women and girls in policy dialogues on education to create safe and inclusive educational approaches that will empower young women and will create equal learning opportunities and access to technical trainings and job markets in science and technology.
- Include a rights perspective in education policies to address the gender disparity between women and men and the protection of girls, since education is an enabling right that will give women and girls a voice for claiming their human rights.
- Demand the right to productive employment and access to decent work for young women.
- Promote vocational and non-formal educational programmes that reach out of school girls in a safe and inclusive environment, and include their right to comprehensive sex education and information on HIV.
World YWCA events at CSW
The YWCA delegation will first meet on February 21 for a Pre-CSW Advocacy Training, which will include the use of the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell , a documentary film produced by Abigail Disney, which tells the story of a small group of Liberian women who - armed only with white T-shirts and the courage of their convictions - came together in the midst of a bloody civil war, took on the warlords, and brought peace to their shattered country.
In partnership with Y Global of the YWCA-YMCA of Norway and FOKKUS (Norway), the World YWCA will convene a session on "Women, Education and Peace Building: Implementing UNSCR 1325" on March 3. This event will bring women from the YWCAs of Palestine, Sri Lanka and Sudan to share their experiences and knowledge of conflict settings. The session will draw out lessons that cut across regional and cultural contexts.
Coordinated by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and the World YWCA, the Young Women's Caucus at CSW 55 will team up with the newly established Mentoring Caucus, which was initiated by young representatives from the International Federation of University Women, Women in Development Europe and the International Alliance of Women, to foster intergenerational dialogue and provide support to new NGO representatives. While the Mentoring Caucus will serve as forum for capacity building, general information exchange, mutual empowerment, and intergenerational dialogue, the Young Women's Caucus will serve as working group meetings that focus on policy discussion, advocacy action and networking with decision makers.
The World YWCA will also bring an intergenerational approach by hosting an Intergenerational Learning and Conversation on Education for girls, in collaboration with Age Esteem, on February 28, 2011.
The World YWCA will also participate in the launch of UN Entity for Gender Equality and Women (UN Women), a celebratory moment for women and girls. The World YWCA is one of the many organisations in the GEAR Campaign, who have been lobbying for a structure with adequate status and funding to advance women's human rights. Other important events include an ecumenical women's gathering and a World Service Council reception for the YWCA delegation.
As part of the CSW 2011, YWCA Canada will host a session on February 24 entitled "Mentoring Young Women for Leadership through Partnerships," and the YWCAs of Australia and Finland will also be organising events.
The World YWCA has participated at CSW since the start of the Commission in 1946. As the leading international platform for advancing women's human rights, CSW continues to be an important key strategic event for the World YWCA.
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