Local CFUW member to attend United Nations discussions

Sandy Thomson, a member of the Kincardine Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) will be a delegate to the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York from March 11th to March 22nd.

The CSW is the principal global inter-governmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The discussion at this year’s session will primarily focus on:

  • Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infra-structure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
  • Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (the agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session);

The active participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is a critical element in the work of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).  NGOs have been influential in shaping the current global policy framework on women’s empowerment and gender equality (the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action). They continue to play an important role in holding inter-national and national leaders accountable for the commitments they made in the Platform for Action.

As an NGO with Consultative Status with the United Nations, the CFUW delegation will be actively participating in the discussions at CSW63.  It is the hope of CFUW that States will reach an agreement on how developed and developing countries can work together to accelerate progress and ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment remain central to the post, 2016 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as both standalone goals and an Inter-sectional theme.

CFUW is a non-partisan, voluntary, self-funded organization with over 100 CFUW Clubs, located in every province across Canada. Since its inception in 1919, CFUW has been working to improve the status of women, and to promote human rights, public education, social justice, and peace.