Advocacy IFUW participate at NGO CSW Geneva Forum: Beijing +20 On 3–5 November, NGO CSW Geneva organised a three-day forum held at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Switzerland, to review the progress made and identify the persisting challenges since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) in 1995 (”Beijing +20”). Following the Forum, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) convened for the regional review meeting for Beijing + 20. IFUW was strongly represented throughout both events by staff and UN representatives. Several members of IFUW’s national federations and associations (NFAs) travelled to Geneva to participate in the Forum, including members from Armenia, Bulgaria, Canada, Great Britain and Russia. Numerous roundtables were held during the event, which corresponded to the 12 critical areas of concern from the BPfA. IFUW’s Executive Director Danièle Castle moderated the session on “Education and Training”, while IFUW UN Representative Professor Manjit Dosanjh convened the roundtables on “Women and Health” and “Science, Technology and Innovation for the Advancement of Women”. Professor Dosanjh was also on the Forum’s editorial committee; she drafted and presented the outcome declaration and recommendations on the final day of the Forum and at the opening of the UNECE regional meeting. Zoya Apevalova, from the Federation of University Women Russia and member of IFUW, was a panel speaker at the roundtable on “Science, Technology and Innovation for the Advancement of Women”. IFUW’s recommendations permeated the official outcome document, including the express inclusion of the critical role of providing migrant women with lifelong education and training. Jeanne Sarson and Linda McDonald from the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) achieved a remarkable result in having the criminalisation of non-state torture included in the recommendations. Jeanne and Linda have been advocating for over 21 years on the issue of non-state torture against women and the need for its expression recognition as a particular form of violence against women. The full declaration and list of recommendations can be read here. Further information as well as pictures are available on IFUW’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:47:21 +0000