MARCH 2003

ICSW Supports our Global President, Qazi Faruque Ahmed

In the next issue of the Social Development Review, Bushra Gohar, Vice President of ICSW, has drawn attention to several instances where NGOs, their leaders and representatives have been targeted and victimized for their positions on human rights issues. In extreme cases attempts have also been made to discredit and deregister these organisations. The recent coercive actions of the Bangladesh Government against ICSW's Global President Qazi Faruque Ahmed are very concerning. Mr. Ahmed, who led a voter education campaign during last year's national elections, is presently under threat for his activism in Bangladesh. He has been unable to leave his country to attend important meetings and the restrictions imposed on Mr. Ahmed impede the democratic functioning of ICSW.

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women 47th Session

Felicity Daly, Project Officer in ICSW's London Global Office, attended the 2003 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) along with hundreds of delegates from around the world. Currently women's rights activists are concerned about moving their agenda forward to a proposed 5th World Conference on Women in a global environment that has become more conservative and within a UN system that has a problem with implementation of global conference outcomes. Many delegates feel that the next global conference (which would normally be scheduled for 2005) should be postponed and that regional conferences should be prioritised.

Prior to the opening of the Commission, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women hosted an NGO Consultation attended by over 500 delegates. The keynote speaker, Carol Bellamy the Executive Director of UNICEF, commented that she personally does not support continued global conferences but feels that advocates should look toward working to move women's agendas forward at regional gatherings that can devise specific action plans. She echoed the sentiment that there is now a risk of rolling back the accords on the advancement of equality, development and peace for all women set in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

The CSW's focused on two main themes; participation and access of women to the media and women's human rights and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the first UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on Violence Against Women, discussed the achievements made during the last decade. Her appointment began in 1994 when there were no international standards about how to respond to women in the context of war and when many cultures did not have language to use to discuss violence against women. Now not only has regional awareness of these issues been achieved but also there will be now regional rapporteurs to the Commission on Human Rights. Despite these successes within the UN system, little has changed on the ground and the achievements in terms of standard setting must now move to effective implementation, which can be pursued at the regional level.

The CSW hosted a high level panel in observance of International Women's Day, which looked at the crucial links between gender equity and the achievement of all of the Millennium Development Goals. These eight commitments form a targeted and time-bound blueprint for building a better world wherein gender equity is not only a goal in its own right but critical to the ability to reach all the others. Panel speakers from various sectors of the UN system spoke about how they are working to take up this commitment in all development work. You can view the panel proceedings here.

The ICSW members present at the CSW included The International Council of Jewish Women and The Federation of Cuban Women. They were very pleased about ICSW's enhanced presence at CSW and will be working to create a more collective presence and organize a panel for the 48th session in 2004. ICSW forged new connections with women's rights activists from around the world who we can draw upon to take these issues up in our regional and global advocacy campaigns.

• Address the project goal of strengthening the capacity of developing countries to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable development through cooperation with each other at intra-regional and inter-regional levels on relevant economic and social issues.
• Potential for tangible 'outputs' or 'outcomes'.
• Commitment of ICSW members to take an active leadership role in developing the forum.
• Availability of suitable leaders and other key participants from outside our network.
• Appropriate and/or 'open' channel within a given regional body.
• Availability of focal events or processes (eg summits, commissions, anniversaries.)
• Assess the value ICSW's involvement adds in the relevant region or thematic area.
• Potential to grow membership network in the region.

In 2002 The North-South Institute Ottawa, Canada, undertook a survey of civil society engagement with the UN Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The survey inquired as to whether civil society advocates considered the MDGs adequate and thought they would be achieved and what organizations were actually doing that relates to the achievements of the goals. The results were made available through a report from the World Federation of United Nations Associations, which is available here in English, French and Spanish. The Institute is now renewing the survey for a report to be launched at the UN in September. If your organisation would like to participate in the survey please reply to: Aysen Kumser, at the North-South Institute

The content of Global Cooperation may be freely reproduced or cited provided the source is acknowledged. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily the policy of ICSW. If you have any questions or need further information on any of the activities or issues mentioned in this newsletter, please contact: Felicity Daly, Project Officer, at the Secretariat in London, or reply to this email. icsw@icsw.org.