Women’s Refugee Commission at the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women
March 11 – 22, 2019 | New York City
Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls
WRC at CSW63
The 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 11 – 22, 2019.
The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It promotes women’s rights, documents the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shapes global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. As such, it is an important forum for WRC as we promote displaced women and girls’ equality and resilience.
Each year, CSW has a priority theme and a review theme. This year, they are:
- Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls
- Review theme:Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world will attend the session.
WRC will be hosting two parallel events during CSW. These are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis and do not require UN ground passes. We will also be participating in several events as speakers and moderators.
Join WRC and our partners at the following events:
Voice & Choice: Using Evidence to Support Girls in Emergency Settings
Tuesday, March 12 | 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Population Council, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 3rd Floor, New York, NY
Janna Metzler, WRC’s senior advisor, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Program, will speak on this panel.
Please check back for details.
Our Partners: Pop Council, IPAS
Social Protection and Cash Transfers:
Women’s Economic Empowerment and Conflict
Wednesday, March 13 | 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
4 West 43rd Street
Dale Buscher, WRC’s senior director for programs, will speak on this panel.
Please check back for details.
Our Partners: Women for Women
Empowerment and Rights of Refugee Women and Girls:
Essential for Peace and Development
Friday, March 15 | 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza, Tenth Floor*
Hosted by WRC, in partnership with Women’s Learning Partnership, Women with Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF), Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights.
In December 2018, more than 180 UN Member States endorsed the Global Compact on Refugees, an international agreement that builds on existing international law and standards and calls on stakeholders to “implement policies and programmes to empower women and girls from refugee and host communities, and to promote full enjoyment of their human rights.
This event will explore existing frameworks and initiatives to improve the lives and rights of forcibly displaced women and girls and hear from practioners from Bangladesh and Lebanon.
Speakers: Kathryn Paik, Women’s Refugee Commission; Ashrafun “Misti” Nahar, Women with Disabilities Development Foundation; Leslie Archambeault, Save the Children; Lina Abou-Habib, Executive Director of Women’s Learning and steering committee member of the Equal Nationality Rights Campaign.
The event will be moderated by Joan Timoney, Women’s Refugee Commission.
RSVP: First come, first served.
Our Partners: The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, WDDF, and the Women’s Learning Partnership.
* The UN Church Center is accessible and has accessible restrooms located on the 6th and 11th floors. During CSW, elevators and rooms can get crowded, so please allow extra time. If you require assistance, please contact WRCevents@wrcommission.org.
Gender Equality in Humanitarian Action:
No More Excuses
Friday, March 15 | 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.
Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza, Tenth Floor*
Hosted by WRC, with Plan International and Rehabilitation, Empowerment and Better Health Initiative (REBHI).
Globally, more than 133 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, with women and girls constituting over half of the affected population. Despite some progress, humanitarian actors and donors have not fully lived up to their commitments on advancing gender equality.
Considering this year’s CSW’s review theme on “Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development,” addressing gender equality during humanitarian response is a necessary precursor to bridging the humanitarian-development divide and sustainable development.
This event will discuss progress in areas such as access to livelihoods, access to sexual and reproductive health, ensuring the inclusion of women with (dis)abilities as equal partners, and responding to the needs of adolescent girls.
Speakers: Boram Lee, Women’s Refugee Commission; Francesca Fraccaroli, GenCap Adviser; Fatima Iman, Network of Civil Society Organizations in Borno State (NECSOB) and FIDA Nigeria; Anne-Marie McCarthy, Plan International Ireland.
The event will be moderated by Stephanie Johanssen, Women’s Refugee Commission.
RSVP: First come, first served.
Our partners: PLAN, Rehabilitation Empowerment and Better Health Initiative
* The UN Church Center is accessible and has accessible restrooms located on the 6th and 11th floors. During CSW, elevators and rooms can get crowded, so please allow extra time. If you require assistance, please contact WRCevents@wrcommission.org.
Launch of Strategy on Equality in Law for Women and Girls by 2030: A Multistakeholder Strategy for Acclerated Action
Wednesday, March 20 | 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.
UN Headquarters, Conference Room 12
More than 2.5 billion women and girls around the world are affected in multiple ways by discriminatory laws and the lack of legal protections. Discrimination in law is commonplace, spanning different domains such as unequal standards for women and men in applying for a passport, choice of employment, transferring nationality to a child or foreign spouse, participating in court proceedings, receiving inheritance, and deciding when and whom to marry.
The elimination of discriminatory laws is inherent to the achievement of gender equality—a requirement for realizing the transformative ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Equality in Law for Women and Girls by 2030: A Multistakeholder Strategy for Accelerated Action provides a framework for a concerted and multistakeholder approach aimed at fast-tracking the elimination of discriminatory laws and documenting experiences and lessons learned for scale up and replication.
On March 20, the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, housed at WRC, joins UN Women for the launch of the Equality in Law Strategy.
NOTE: This is a side event, held within the UN. You must have a UN pass to attend.
Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies
Wednesday, March 20 | 1:15 – 2:30 p.m.
UN Headquarters, Conference Room D
In line with this year’s CSW themes—social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls—panelists in this event will explore how the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies (Call to Action) is helping to strengthen the protection of women and girls during humanitarian crises. The Call to Action is a groundbreaking initiative of states and donors, international organizations and non-governmental organizations committed to ensuring that gender-based violence is effectively addressed from the onset of an emergency. Panelists will discuss the concrete actions they are taking under the Call to Action to advance this goal.
The panel will be moderated by Joan Timoney, the Women’s Refugee Commission’s Senior Director of Advocacy. The WRC is a founding partner of the Call to Action.
NOTE: This is a side event, held within the UN. RSVP to rsvpnewyork@iom.int by March 11 and let the organizers know if you have a UN grounds pass so that they can ensure your entry.
Our Partners: Canada, European Union, IOM, Nigeria, GBV AoR, UNFPA