On the occasion of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA77) GWL Voices has prepared an intense agenda, don’t miss anything.
PROGRAM :
Events :
Cross-Scale and whole of Society Responses to Gender Based Violence
GWL Voices, together with the Ford Foundation have organized a side event to UNGA titled “Cross-scale and whole of society responses to Gender Based Violence” on Friday, September 16th from 5pm to 6:30pm in the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice (320 E, 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017)
Peaceful and equitable societies will only be possible if women and girls enjoy the same rights and opportunities and live in safe and violence-free environments. Evidence shows that empowering women and girls and countering gender based inequalities and discrimination is not only a moral imperative and a human rights essential, but is also the foundation for more peaceful and humane societies.
We have learned that to build societies that are more successful in countering GBV bring the voices and agency of victims, grassroots, feminists and all sectors to the places where decisions are taken. And we need to use multilateral spaces to work on norms, standards and policy to create enabling institutional and normative environments. In short, there is a need to work across scales and to reconcile international law and policy with local struggles and needs. And inversely, we need to use global norms to transform and boost national and local decisions and action against GBV.
The United Nations is a critical platform to ensure that this cross-scale and cross-sector efforts happen. There is a vibrant process of retooling and rejuvenating the UN deriving from Our Common Agenda, that includes a call for a New Agenda for Peace where GBV must play a central role. The shaping of this New Agenda is certainly a window of opportunity to address the structural causes of GBV and to reassert the vital role that women and youth play as enablers of peaceful societies.
Against this backdrop, this proposed dialogue will aim at contributing to shape more granular yet holistic policy and normative responses to GBV. During the dialogue panelists will highlight good practices and experiences from civil society, government,indigenous women’s organizations and the international community in addressing this issue and provide insights on how to boost action on GBV at all levels.
It is time for action, it is time for deeds not words!
UN Reform through the lens of women’s rights and gender equality
And, we know that any reform, any improved version of the UN will require a profound rethinking of the gender and women and girls’ rights architecture of the Organization. Our Common Agenda calls for: “undertake a review of the capacity of the United Nations system—staffing, resources, architecture—to deliver on gender equality as a core priority across all entities”. This review is currently ongoing , and will examine how the UN System is organised to deliver on gender equality and provide recommendations on how to uplift its operations and effectiveness as we accelerate pace for the implementation of SDG5 and the overall Agenda 2030.
Against this backdrop, this side event aims at contributing to the ongoing dialogue about the need to put gender equality and women’s rights at the center of the UN reform and the implementation of Our Common Agenda. This will of course beyond the needed retooling of the organization, its operations and priorities, through a gender sensitive system-wide architecture, but also to identify the key structural challenges in the agenda and priorities set up by member states as they address the three pillars of the UN mandate: peace and security, sustainable development and human rights and deliver on their commitments enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
It is time for action, it is time for deeds not words!
Her Turn with New School
From our event with @GWLvoices to discuss @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres's project to reform the UN. In the pic Peter Hoffman (Director of GPIA), @SusanaMalcorra, Irina Bokova (former @UNESCO), @sfparr (also GPIA), @AlsoswaAmat, and @mfespinosaEC. (Photos via GWL Voices) pic.twitter.com/YlsUKd7SXG
— Graduate Program in International Affairs (@NewSchool_IA) September 21, 2022
Press Release :
GWL Voices for Change and Inclusion, a group of women leaders in multilateralism raises the voice of women at UNGA 77
An intense agenda in New York will feature two in-person events, strategy meetings and an intergenerational dialogue with the participation of GWL Voices members Ms. Amat Alsoswa, Ms. Bettina Tucci, Ms. Carol Bellamy, Ms. Ertharin Cousin, Ms. Irina Bokova, Ms. Jessie Rose Mabutas, Ms. Margot Wallström, Ms. Maria Elena Agüero, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ms. Rachel Kyte and Ms. Susana Malcorra.
New York, 13 September 2022
GWL Voices will be present to address and contribute with solutions to the major challenges of multilateralism placing women’s rights and gender equality at the center. Members of GWL Voices will have an extensive agenda during the United Nations General Assembly in NY.
On Friday, September 16th from 5pm to 6:30pm in the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice together with the Ford Foundation, a side event to UNGA titled “Cross-scale and whole of society responses to Gender Based Violence” will take place with the participation of Ms. Susana Malcorra, Ms. Fatiha Serour, Ms. Melanne Verveer, Ms. Mirian Masaquiza, Ms. Monica Aleman and Ms. Erica Levenson.
On Monday, September 19th from 9:30am to 11:00am in the Baha’i International Community together with the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), side event to UNGA titled “UN Reform through the lens of women’s rights and gender equality” will take place with the participation of Ms. Helen Clark, Ms. Susana Malcorra, Mr. Danilo Turk, Ms. Soon-Young Yoon, Mr. Dan Perell and Ms. Nudhara Yusuf. On the same Monday, Her Turn! will take place with New School an intergenerational dialogue moderated by Ms. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr on the United Nations Reform and “Our Common Agenda” with the participation of GWL Voices members Ms. Irina Bokova, Ms. Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Ms. Jessie Rose Mabutas and Ms. Susana Malcorra.
On Tuesday 20th September an informal dialogue on Feminist Foreign Policy will bring together Ministers of Foreign Affairs -current and former- and high level officials that have adopted Feminist Foreign Policies, FFP, or are interested in exchanging information, identifying challenges and opportunities of foreign policies that place gender equality and the rights of women and girls at the center.
Wednesday 21st September the GWL Voices members who will be in New York will meet for exchange and on Friday 23 rd September, a breakfast with Ms. Amina J. Mohammed Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations to strengthening partnerships on strategic issues.
+ info
GWL Voices for Change and Inclusion is an advocacy group for multilateralism and gender equality made up by the voices of 62 Global Women Leaders founded by Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and Director General of the United Nations Development Program from 2009 to 2017, Irina Bokova, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria and Director General of UNESCO from 2009 to 2017, and Susana Malcorra, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Argentine Republic from 2016 to 2017 and Chief of Staff of the Secretary General of the United Nations from 2012 to 2015.
GWL Voices creates synergies, strengthen the networks and call attention through the voice of its members, the organization of public events, the mentoring of younger women, and the active involvement in initiatives around the world in support of multilateralism and gender equality, we collectively call attention to the outmost importance for the wellbeing of women and girls in particular, and for society in general.
[ Media contact / Natalia Pastor Aguirrezabal / 00.34 679.622. 634 /media@gwlvoices.com ]
