About the Committee

“The NGO Committee on the Status of Women has been essential in breaking traditional frontiers and in changing the course of a complex and delicate debate on gender equality. It is in this Committee where one hears that in a society where a women has never been discriminated against, exploited or abused, denigrated, or subject to violence, she will give birth and life to communities and nations – and will construct a future – without violence, discrimination, abuse or denigration. It is also here in this Committee where one understands that the future debate on gender and development will not be located only at the surface of our needs or material desires (though essential) but at the most profound level of our existence and human transformation: a transformation that must not become a source of more gender inequality but become a human compass to guide the humanization of development thinking and practice.”

Alfredo Sfeir Younis,
Geneva Special Representative to the UN and the WTO, World Bank Geneva

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Committee Information

NGO CSW Geneva Members monthly meeting on 4th June 2012

NGO CSW Geneva – 5WCW Circle – Information Exchange, Strategic Thinking, Lobbying – Meeting on 25 May 2012

NGO CSW Geneva – 5WCW Circle – Information Exchange, Strategic Thinking, Lobbying – Meeting on 25 April 2012

NGO CSW Geneva Members meeting on Monday 7th May 2012

NGO CSW Geneva Members meeting on April 3, 2012



World Telecommunications and Information Society Day on May 17, 2012: Women and Girls in ICT

The theme of the 2012 World Telecommunications and Information Society Day (WTISD) will be “Women and Girls in ICT” .

The NGO CSW Geneva welcomes this initiative and fully supports the ITU Secretary-General’s Call for Action:

“Women are the bedrock of our societies. They are the pillars of strength in every family and community. Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched. Women and girls are denied access to basic health care and education and to equal opportunities at work. They face segregation in economic, political and social decision-making and often suffer violence and discrimination. [...]

Gender equality is a basic human right enshrined in the UN Charter, and it is one of the main objectives of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). ICTs are tools that can help accelerate progress towards achieving this target, and it is for this reason that ITU Council proposed that we focus our efforts this year on women and girls, using the power of ICTs to provide new digital opportunities to end discrimination and empower the female half of the world’s population to achieve their rightful place as equals in the world. [...]

ITU calls upon Member States, Sector Members and Associates as well as academia and citizens’ groups to pull together every conceivable resource to ensure that women and girls in every community around the world have full access to ICTs in order to empower them with information and knowledge, to know their rights, and to seize the digital opportunities available.”

The full statement is on www.itu.int/en/wtisd/2012/Documents/circular-letter.pdf.

Please see also the message from UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, on http://www.itu.int/en/wtisd/2012/Pages/ki-moon.aspx.

More information on  the WTISD can be found on www.itu.int/en/wtisd/Pages/default.aspx.

 

 


Other Advocacy News

Thematic Forum on Violence against Women – NGO Consultation on remedies – March 21, 2012

An NGO Consultation on Violence against Women and remedies, organized by Elly Pradervand (WWSF) and Marie Claude Julsaint (World YWCA) took place on March 21st, 12.30 – 14.00 at the Ecumenical Center, Geneva. Speakers:  Manon Boisclair, Second Secretary Human Rights, Permanent Mission of Canada Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, President-NGO CSW Geneva Nyambura Njoroge, Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa, WCC Downloads: Concept note [...]

International Women’s Day 2012

March 8, 2012 The NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, a Committee of CoNGO is a platform, a platform for women and other civil society organizations advancing the human rights and empowerment of women at the United Nations in Geneva. The Committee joins the world today in commemorating the 2012 International Women’s Day 2012. [...]

NGO CSW Geneva letter to Mrs Bachelet: Recommendation for proactive measures to address the access issues during the UN CSW

This letter, which addresses the issue of UN access during the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, can be downloaded here.  


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