Beijing + 25 “Generation Equality”: ECE Regional Review Civil Society Speaks
By Carolyn Handschin, VP NGO CSW Geneva /WFWPI
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from over 50 countries traveled to Geneva on October 28 with eager hopes of adding their unique insights and concerns to the government debates on implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA).
The Beijing + 25 Regional Review Meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was held on October 29-30 at the United Nations in Geneva. It had been a tradition of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGOCSW) in Geneva, to host a Civil Society Forum every five years, the day before the meetings of the governments of the region to appraise their progress since the BPfA was adopted at the 4th World Conference on Women in 1995. The commitments that were honed at that historic event remain relevant to this day.
The goal of the CSO forum has been to provide a platform to study the National B+25 Reports of the region, highlight current challenges and good practice models from civil society’s angle- and assemble a list of recommendations that governments could include in their Regional Review report. Each region’s submission would then contribute to the upcoming 64th Commission on the Status of Women and the landmark Global Beijing + 25 review at the General Assembly in September 2020. There was a palpable excitement to be a part of it.
Preparations began in early summer with Zoom meetings hosted by the Women’s Major Group, a body born of the Rio Earth Summit in 1982, with much support from members of the NGOCSW and others. Working Groups were created that covered each of the 12 Critical Areas of Concern identified in 1995. Members of NGOCSW Geneva lead four of those groups. In the name of WFWPI, Carolyn Handschin did so for the Working Group on Education, Training, Mentoring and Access to Knowledge through Technology (WGoE). Each group worked autonomously and diligently with their team of volunteers by email and video conferencing to assemble Factsheets on the topic, envisaging their use as a civil society resource for our governments.
Of the 19 members of the WGoE, we spanned 13 countries across the UN ECE, from Alaska in the west to Russia in the east. Very few knew each other before and were not even in the same line of advocacy, but with their common goal of “gender equality and the empowerment of women”, the participants respectfully negotiated through their differences.
Having researched the events through a collection of YouTube videos filmed during the conference in Beijing 25 years ago, the WGoE team felt that they had tapped into a similar solidarity and historicity. The choice modus operandi was to prepare a survey to scientifically collect data from throughout the region, answering 3 main questions. 1) What are the structural barriers and negative trends concerning education in your nation? 2) What progress do you see in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action? 3) What are the recommendations to governments beyond Beijing + 25?
The WGoE team worked together to assemble the findings into a factsheet in a very consensus- bound way. They also had five minutes to present their conclusions at the Beijing + 25 UNECE government forum on October 28.
There were a few stumbling blocks, in particular on sexuality education. Not having enough time to study the information and analyze the various strong opinions on the topic, the team decided to say less. However, they also decided to continue the heated discussion leading up to CSW64 because of the importance of the issue and the clear need for mutual understanding and wise decision-making. There was certain exhilaration in participating in the process of shaping the content of such important issues, each sacrificing some of their concerns for the sake of a unified appeal, strengthened in our solidarity and numbers. Not only was a very good document was produced, but great friendships were also created.