Women and Girls in the Era of Technology
Every year the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) hosts a 10-day session in March, where UN member states (who send delegations to represent their country), civil society (citizens and organizations outside of the government and private sector), and gender experts gather at the UN headquarters in New York to discuss important issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The session tackles three themes that change annually: a priority theme, a review theme (this reviews the progress on implementing the agreed conclusions from an earlier year), and an emerging issue theme. They are based on one of the 12 issues of concern highlighted in the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995.
This year was the first time since the pandemic that the UN decided to open its doors once again to have the 10-day annual event with a hybrid option for those unable to be in New York to attend virtually for some of the side and parallel events. The priority theme this year is: Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
WFWPI Advocacy Training
In preparation for this, WFWPI invited 30 participants to come to New York for the WFWPI Advocacy Training from March 3-5, 2023 in preparation for the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 67 (CSW 67).
The goal of this advocacy was to equip WFWPI leaders and advocates with the necessary knowledge, tools, and strategic skills to create a culture of heart and foster a more peaceful world through practical and holistic initiatives that address the root causes of conflict and promote social transformation and to empower WFWPI leaders to drive change in alignment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WFWPI’s vision in their respective communities.
UN CSW On-site events
The first day of the UN CSW is the opening session which has the largest turnout of people. Although some of the rooms were full, we were able to follow the session via the UN Web tv as well as join the side events later in the afternoon. For the remaining days of the first week, we joined several side events hosted by UN Women as well as other UN-related and organizational events to better understand the theme for the year and the best practices from the leaders in the field. These side events were paramount as they allowed us the opportunity to network with these leaders as well as learn UN advocacy language. These side events included :
Gender based violence and technology: Risks, opportunities, challenges #endTFGBV
Using technology to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Myanmar
EU High level side event: A gender equal world with technologies, digitalization and AI-What is our roadmap?
UN Women: Open, Safe and Equal, Shaping a feminist digital future #techforequality
Morocco & UNFPA: The role of digitalization in the economic and social empowerment of women in difficult circumstances
Lift off: Space Technology and Innovation for Gender equality
DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. UN Observance of International Women’s Day
UNDP: Disrupting the gender digital divide: Using technology to mobilize a supportive ecosystem for women and girls in STEM
WFWPI Parallel Events
WFWPI was able to host a parallel event on the topic of “Partnership in equipping women and girls with technological resilience, discernment and protection from digital dangers” on Thursday , March 9 at 4 West 43rd Street in midtown Manhattan.
This program addressed current issues in technology as well as best practices and an interactive Q & A session from noteworthy speakers: Ms. Carolyn Handshin, WFWPI Director UN offices, Dr. Karen Judd Smith, Founder The NGO Academy and CEO Global Development Enterprise, Mrs. Adriana Gascoigne, Founder and CEO Girls’ in Tech, Ms. Attefeh Riazi, Senior Executive Vice President and CIO Hearst, Engr, and Christine Rose Bulayo, Regional Secretary General WFWP Asia Pacific 1. The session was moderated by Mrs. Merely Barlaan, Deputy Director of the WFWPI UN Relations Office, NY. Each speaker shared their expertise as well as offered key insights into the theme.
On the same day, WFWP Taiwan presented Gender-gap solutions in STEM from individual, organizational and state perspectives. This was a meaningful event as we could hear about best practices directly from Taiwan.
Moving forward
The week in New York provided a chance for the office team to meet and share with each other about the CSW as well as matters with regards to future plans for the year. Although we were only able to attend the first week of the UN CSW 67, it provided an opportunity for us to hear about what is being done in other countries and organizations as well as network with women leaders from different fields and build our partnerships. We look forward to all new partnerships and lessons learned thus far and are encouraged to continue working together for a better future.