Subject: [fem-women2000 608] Onsite Report from 45th Session of the UNCSW - No. 1
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2001 18:41:17 +0900
Seq: 608
---------------- Original message follows ---------------- From: kathy clarin <kathy@isiswomen.org> To: apwomen2000@isiswomen.org Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2001 15:23:36 +0800 Subject: [apwomen2000] Onsite Report from 45th Session of the UNCSW - No.= 1 -- Distributed by Isis International-Manila - linking women, sharing knowledge, engendering change -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Onsite Report from 45th Session of the UNCSW - No. 1 source: Mavic Cabrera-Balleza <mavic@isiswomen.org> <fgballeza@yahoo.com> date: 03.07.01 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 06 March 2001 Onsite report from the 45th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. The 45th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) opened today at the UN Headquarters in New York. Ms. Dubravka Simonovic of Croatia was elected as Chair of the Session. The four Vice Chairpersons are Kirsten Geelan form Denmark; Loreta Leyton from Chile, Mankeur Ntiaye from Senegal and Otsuko Nishimura from Japan. Ms. Nishimura will also serve as the Session=92s Rapporteur. Ms Angela E.V. King addressed the event. She credited the UN General Assembly Special Session for the Review of the Beijing Platform for Action that took place in June 2000 for providing a forum for governments, international organizations and civil society to review progress and reaffirm their commitment to finding effective and lasting solution to the problems women and girls face. Ms. King asked the delegates to think in terms of finding strategic entry points for integrating gender perspective into the work of the UN and its member states. According to her, this can be done by linking gender equality with the main intergovernmental expert events such as the General Assembly Special Sessions on Habitat + 5; HIV/AIDS; and on children which are all taking place within the year. The other events include conferences such as the one on the Least Developed Countries in May; on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Kight Weapons in July ; and on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in August/September, the= Commission on the Status of Women. The other way through which strategic entry points for integrating gender perspective into the work of the UN and its member states may be done is by= incorporating gender into the critical themes with which the UN is concerned such as development, globalization, poverty, HIV/AIDS, and peace. Ms. King stressed that one factor which plays a critical role in development is the escalation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the developing world. According to her, 36.1 million men, women and children around the world were living with HIV or AIDS by the end of 2000 and 21.8 million had died from the disease. She cited a study conducted by the International Labour Office (ILO), that points out that if women are economically vulnerable, so are those who depend on them, from the household to the national economy. =93The economic vulnerability of women to HIV/AIDS disproportionately more than men, is a matter of serious and urgent concern= in addressing the economic impact of the epidemic,=94 Ms. King added furthe= r. In addition, Ms. King drew attention to a report by Femmes Africa Solidarite that illustrates the connection between women=92s increased vulnerability to the virus, and the prevalence of violent conflicts in many= African countries and the diversion of much needed funds from basic preventive health measures to the purchase of arms. The others who addressed the opening of the 45th CSW Session were Ms. Yakin= Eturk, Director of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Director of UNIFEM. The delegates made their presentations according to blocks such as G77 + China; European Union, Latin America and Africa. The opening session took place despite some anxieties on the part of some government and NGO delegates caused by bad weather conditions in New York. A number of delegates were unable to come because of this. The other events that took place during the day were the NGO orientation organized by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women aimed at providing NGO participants particularly those who are attending the CSW Session for the first time, with information on how to participate fully; and the launching of the books =93With an End in Sight: Strategies fro UNIFEM Trust= Fund to Eliminate Violence Against Women,=94 =93Engendering Peace: Reflecti= ons on the Burundi Peace Process=94 and the =93Chrysallis=94 gender training ma= nual published by Winrock International. - 30 - Prepared by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza Isis International-Manila 06 March 2001, New York =3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d= =3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d= =3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d=3d APWOMEN2000 is a general announcement list created to facilitate information and resource sharing for the NGO review process in Asia and the Pacific for the Beijing Platform for Action. Send postings to <owner-apwomen2000@isiswomen.org>. APWOMEN2000 is archived at: http://www.isiswomen.org/womenet/lists/apwomen2000/archive _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem