CALL FOR CSW64 POSTPONEMENT

 The 64th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW64), 9-20 March 2020, New York, United States could be scaled-down for coronavirus outbreak

 The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the most important annual international review process on progress and challenges towards achieving women’s human rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As such, the CSW brings together governments, UN agencies and global civil society to discuss, debate and collaborate on ways to accelerate progress and commit to actions that will achieve these joint goals.

This year’s Session of the Commission is auspicious because it is supposed to reaffirm the commitments made in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.

We recognize the seriousness of the health concerns due to the new coronavirus - COVID19 – and the fact that the World Health Organization has classified the outbreak as a ‘level 4 international health emergency’. The global priority must be to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all.

We have also taken note of the letters from the UN Secretary General and the Chair of the CSW urging Member States not to send delegates from capital cities to New York City, suggesting a scaled-down, shortened Session with the participation of New York-based delegations only, or postponing the session to a later date.

The Chair of the UN CSW will meet with Member States in New York City in just a few hours (at 10h00am today, Monday March 2nd) to make a decision on what to do about CSW64.

We are writing to ask you to lobby your governments and ask them to push for postponement of CSW64: the CSW is a mechanism that is accountable to all women and girls in all their diversity around the world, and it cannot be held without safe, meaningful, informed and broad participation of civil society.  This is especially true in the year we are to review implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

We call on Member States to:

Postpone CSW64 to later in 2020; we suggest holding a reduced one-week Session the week of July 27, when the President of the General Assembly is holding a multi-stakeholder dialogue on Beijing+25, or to after the GA, when celebrations around Resolutions 1325 on Women Peace and Security will take place.

 Please inform us of any news on your lobbying efforts by email to veronica.montufar@world-psi.org

In solidarity,

Rosa Pavanelli

General Secretary