WEP At The Sixty-third Session Of The Commission On The Status Of Women (CSW63) In New York
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11th to 22nd March 2019. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world attended the session. This event holds yearly and the theme for 2019 focused on Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
Women Environmental Programme (WEP) as an outgoing organizing partner of the Women Major Group (WMG) was ably represented by Nguavese Tracy Ogbonna who served as a panelist of the WMG side event themed “Challenges & successes – using Agenda 2030 to realize women’s rights”. The event had representation from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. The panelists were asked to discuss their country context, social structure challenges as well as the work they are doing in their various countries. WEP talked about the religious, political and traditional context of Nigeria making emphasis on patriarchy as a barrier to women’s development even though the constitution enables women, actualizing spaces for women especially is elective and appointive positions is challenging. She also talked about the work WEP is doing in the area of environment, climate change, peace and governance.
