MenEngage Alliance at the 63rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women
Participation and advocacy of a global network for engaging boys and men in gender equality and the rights of all women and girls
11-22 March 2019
1 What is CSW?
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global Contents intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Every year, CSW is Advocacy successes and a pivotal opportunity for activists, civil society progress...... 3 organiszations (CSOs) and others working for gender equality around the world to come Challenges and opposition...... 6 together with governments to take stock of progress made towards gender equality, and What is Beijing+25?...... 7 collectively identify ways forward. The theme of 2019’s CSW was ‘Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable Youth Participation...... 8 infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls’. MenEngage Alliance caucus Each year there is a specific theme, meetings & capacity building...... 13 and governments negotiate an outcome document known as the ‘Agreed Conclusions’, UN Reform Process...... 17 in which they make commitments to advance gender equality. Every year, governments also evaluate the implementation of agreed MenEngage Alliance member side conclusions from a previous session. events...... 18 This year’s review theme was ‘Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (Agreed Conclusions of the Sixtieth Session)’.
2 Advocacy successes and progress
A long and arduous process, the negotiation of governments made commitments to improve the Agreed Conclusion require the sustained social protection systems, public services and advocacy of thousands of activists from sustainable infrastructure to advance gender around the world, in both supporting and equality, the first time this theme had been putting pressure on Member States for the considered. successful adoption of a progressive outcome For the first time the Agreed Conclusions document. MenEngage Alliance compiled the recognized the right to universal access to technical inputs of 12 members, participating social protection and that women’s access to in 4 rounds of language negotiations and social protection is often restricted due to high coordinating language submissions to various levels of informal employment. The document allied governments. acknowledges that budget cuts and austerity Additionally, the Global Secretariat measures restrict women’s access to social of MenEngage Alliance participated in the protection, public services and sustainable Women’s Rights Caucus in order to engage infrastructure, and recognizes the link meaningfully in the broader feminist/women’s between gender responsive social protection rights activism of the session, striving for and the prevention of gender-based violence. accountable advocacy throughout our Governments also committed to ensuring that engagement. levels of protection previously achieved are In this year’s Agreed Conclusions, not reversed.
Advocacy successes
1. Gender Based Violence
Despite several governments opposing language that articulated the gendered nature of violence against women and girls, the final document is clear that gender is often the underlying factor and that violence against women and girls is “rooted in historical and structural inequality and unequal power relations between men and women” (Paragraph 13)
2. Sexual and reproductive health
After much opposition from various governments, language around sexual harassment and sexual and reproductive health is included in the Agreed Conclusions. The theme of CSW63 focussed The text notes language from CSW62 which on access to social protection calls on governments to “ensure universal systems such as pensions, access to sexual and reproductive health and healthcare, family planning, and welfare. reproductive rights in accordance with the
3 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population” (Paragraph 47(uu)) The Agreed
3. Civil society and women human rights Conclusions of defenders CSW63 call on Language was adopted on the importance of supporting civil society and women governments to human rights defenders (paragraph 47(ooo)) – another strong gain amidst continued fully engage men pressure to have this language removed. and boys as agents 4. Engaging men and boys and beneficiaries When it comes to engaging men and boys, the UN conclusions include several of change, and as impactful statements around eliminating stereotypes and dismantling patriarchal power inequalities. Encouragingly, these strategic partners and had strong support from most governments and drew on language from Human Rights allies in promoting Council Resolution 35/10, which calls for men and boys to be engaged in preventing and women’s and girls’ responding to violence against all women and girls. The Alliance also lobbied successfully access to social to avoid the inclusion of regressive language around the stereotypical role of the men as protection systems, the sole provider in the family. Such framings serve to reinforce an imbalance in gendered public services power relations and the Alliance will continue to advocate for gender-transformative and sustainable language. infrastructure.
Townhall Meeting of Civil Society and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
4 Specifically, the conclusions call on the labour market; recognize the social governments to: significance of maternity, paternity, motherhood, fatherhood and the shared Call for the elimination of all forms responsibility of parents in the upbringing of violence and discrimination against of children; and provide appropriate women and girls, in both public and private assistance to parents and legal guardians spheres, by understanding and addressing in the performance of their child-rearing the root causes of gender inequality, responsibilities through the development such as unequal power relations, gender of universal and affordable services and stereotypes and practices that perpetuate facilities for the care of children, including discrimination against women and girls; breastfeeding facilities in the workplace. designing and implementing national policies and programmes that address Despite this progress, several key feminist the roles and responsibilities of men issues remain absent from the Agreed and boys, including the equal sharing of Conclusions. Governments failed to responsibilities between women and men commit to integrating sexual orientation, in care and domestic work; ensuring the gender identity, and gender expression enforcement of child support laws; and into the design of social protection, public transforming, with the aim of eliminating, services, and infrastructure systems, and, negative social norms that condone as in previous years, the Conclusions violence against women and girls and fail to acknowledge the ‘rights’ in sexual attitudes by which women and girls are and reproductive health and rights. The regarded as subordinate to men and boys. Conclusions also fail to acknowledge Guarantee access to maternity corporate accountability and the role protection, and promote, inter alia, paid and responsibility of the private sector in maternity, paternity and parental leave promoting women’s human rights. and adequate social security benefits for both women and men, taking appropriate steps to ensure they are not discriminated against when availing themselves of such benefits and promoting men’s awareness and incentivizing their use of such opportunities, as a means of enabling women to increase their participation in
5 Challenges and opposition
Rights Caucasus is support to Ms. Muli which Visa Denials noted that she had been targeted in order CSW63 continued to experience strong to stifle efforts to advance women’s sexual activism in response to ongoing issues and reproductive rights during CSW. This is surrounding visa denials for activists seeking occurring in the context of other tactics meant to attend the session from around the world. to intimidate meeting participants, including The US is obligated under a 70-year-old the presence of an anti-abortion bus outside treaty not to restrict the participation of any the UN headquarters. person to a conference at the United Nations Once again this year saw the US take a regressive stance on key issues such as sexual Headquarters. However, for many consecutive and reproductive health and rights, joining years in a row, over 50 participants (by civil countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain society estimation) have had visas denied, and the Holy See, and on climate change and particularly young and rural women and migration. girls and women and girls from geopolitically sensitive regions. MenEngage Alliance collectively signed onto this statement put forward by NGO The Role of the Holy See as CSW in response to visa application denials to attend CSW63. As a delegation, we also a UN Permanent Observer disseminated a joint mapping in order to make note of all our members who were also This CSW session saw an advocacy effort arise excluded from joining the session due to visa seeking to revoke the Holy See’s Permanent denials. Observer status at the UN. Through their problematic engagement in this year’s session, this sign-on was based on an official complaint Increased Opposition filed with the Secretary General (pointing towards several critical considerations Backlash including: The 2019 session saw a marked increase in targeted anti-rights groups. As the • Three failures of the Holy See to comply negotiations unfolded, the facilitator of with treaty obligations the Agreed Conclusions Koki Muli Grignon • Inconsistent and worrisome levels of from Kenya, was targeted by opposition support for women’s and girls’ rights groups. In a coordinated malicious effort, Ms • Ongoing clerical sex abuse scandals Muli’s email inbox and personal cell phone was flooded with anti-abortion and “anti- These three issues bring into serious gender” messages. Civil society mobilized question the alignment of the Holy See to to unequivocally condemn this effort to gender justice. In addition, and perhaps intimidate Ms. Muli, noting that women most worryingly from a governance and human rights defenders, including those who accountability perspective, the Holy See is not work within the UN system, are harassed in all a ‘state’ in any normal sense of the term. regions of the world. MenEngage Alliance collectively signed MenEngage Alliance collectively signed onto this complaint and petition. onto a statement put forward by the Women’s
6 Discussions at the MenEngage Alliance ‘On The Spot’ side event organised in partnership with ATHENA Network
Laxman Belbase, Networks Manager and acting Global Director for MenEngage Alliance Global Secretariat speaking at the UN Women event, ‘Making Gender Parity a Reality’
What is Beijing+25?
In 2020, the global community will celebrate be held, led by UN Women, civil society and the 25th anniversary of the signing of the co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a France. This will not be an intergovernmental landmark global agreement on women’s rights forum like previous world conferences on and gender equality. This pivotal year also women, although the outcomes from the marks the 5-year point of the implementation forum and CSW64 will be considered by the of the Sustainable Development Goals, the general assembly in September 2020 at a one- 20th anniversary of UN Security Council day high-level meeting. Resolution 1325 on women, peace and Throughout this review process it will be security, and 10 years since the creation of UN crucial for civil society to be actively engaged Women itself. and hold their governments to account. Over the next year, all states must The dates for the regional consultation are: undertake comprehensive national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges • Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), encountered in the implementation of the Geneva – 29-30 October 2019 Beijing Platform for Action. There will also be • Economic Commission for Latin America a regional level review and intergovernmental and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Santiago, Chile review in each region. These process will – 4-8 November 2019 feed into the sixty-fourth session of the • Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Commission (CSW64) in which governments Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – November 2019 will review progress towards gender equality • Economic and Social Commission for Asia over the last twenty-five years. and the Pacific (ESCAP), Bangkok, Thailand In June 2020 a Global Gender Forum will – November 2019
7 Youth Participation
Panellists at the CSW63 Youth Dialogue
At CSW63, MenEngage Alliance increased Youth dialogue, in which they shared the its focus on youth participation, with 5 challenges they face and stories of activism, youth delegates from the Alliance attending and had an intergenerational dialogue with the event from Uganda, Kenya, Nicaragua, policymakers and experts on social protection, Sri Lanka and Lebanon. The Alliance was public services and sustainable infrastructure. a member of the organizing task force of MenEngage Alliance youth delegate Kapila the CSW Youth Dialogue, along with 17 Rathnayake facilitated a session and presented other NGOs and networks, coordinated by his experience using last year’s youth policy UN Women. The Alliance also coordinated recommendations to hold a dialogue with his a youth-led side event on sexual and local government. reproductive health and rights, organized an The event resulted in the development of accountability dialogue with young feminists a set of Common Minimum Standards – policy from the Athena Network, and held a youth recommendations for governments to ensure caucus meeting. that social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure meet the needs of young people and advance gender CSW Youth Dialogue equality, and for increasing meaningful youth participation in policy-making processes. The The CSW Youth Dialogue took place over 3 recommendations were presented to the events during the first week of CSW. On 9 Chair of CSW, Geraldine Byrne Nason and the March, over 300 young people from around Deputy Director of UN Women Ăsa Regnér. the world came together for a pre-CSW
8 leadership and decision-making processes Highlights from the at all levels, including by reducing the recommendations: minimum age to hold public office and fostering intergenerational dialogues and Introduce education on human rights, partnerships; gender equality and healthy relationships Provide support, protection and into school curricula from a young age, resources to young advocates, human including comprehensive sexuality education rights defenders, youth-led and youth- and education which seeks to transform serving organisations and networks to harmful gender norms and stereotypes; participate fully and equally in international Invest in public awareness campaigns policymaking fora and address barriers to that address unequal power relations and meaningful participation, including visa harmful stereotypes of masculinity and refusals; femininity. Ensure stricter regulation of Formally initiate meaningful youth media that features stereotypical gender delegate programmes where delegates roles and hold media accountable for the are selected through a transparent negative impacts that they have on the process to represent youth-led networks body image of women and girls; and organizations, as well as national Implement measures to ensure youth interests, at United Nations forums, young people in all their diversity are including the Commission on the Status of meaningfully consulted and represented in Women;
9 promised to create more youth councils in Government local governments and advocated for lowering the minimum age to hold public office to 18 ministers were put years. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director for UN Women, told the young in the ‘hot seat’ in people present that she would ensure the Beijing+25 commemorations center young the second Youth people’s voice and leadership. Click here to watch the event. Finally, on 15 March, youth at CSW came Dialogue event, in together to develop a youth-led strategy on how young people can be mobilized and which young people engaged in the lead-up to the Beijing+25 commemorations. Participants discussed had the opportunity innovative approaches that can be used to engage young people in the lead up to 2020 to ask high-level and beyond and participated in a range of creative workshops including on the power panellists about of the music influencer, gaming as a way to tackle gender inequality, digital storytelling, how they planned and the power of dance. to implement the Youth empowered to common minimum demand universal access standards. to SRHR
On March 13, youth leaders had the This youth-led side event focused on young opportunity to question representatives of people’s sexual and reproductive health and several governments. Marta Lucía Ramírez, rights (SRHR). Vice President of Colombia committed to Nadege Munyaburanga spoke about the creating entrepreneurship opportunities for challenges facing youth, and in particular young people, supporting young people to youth living with HIV in Rwanda. She argued enter politics and ensuring young people have that youth need affordable, stigma-free and access to quality education. non judgemental SRHR services and that civil Nadine Gasman, Head of the National society needs more support from the state Institute for Women of Mexico shared that her to implement such services. She also drew government would create policies that include attention to the failure of governments in her indigenous women, Afro-Mexican women region to implement international agreements and women of diverse sexual orientations and they have signed to ensure LGBTQI rights and gender identities. access to services. Adriana Salvatierra, the youngest person Madelynn Bovasso spoke about how US to be elected President of the Bolivian Senate domestic and foreign policy affects the SRHR
10 Panellists discuss SRHR at the MenEngage Allianceyouth-led side event
Youth Caucus Meeting
of youth and key populations around the MenEngage Alliance held a youth caucus globe. She argued that the Global Gag rule is a meeting on 13 March – a dedicated space massive overstretch of US power, affecting not where youth representatives from the Alliance only abortion services but also limiting what got together to discuss their experience at NGOs can do with their own money and the CSW and strategize on strengthening youth kind of counselling they can provide youth, leadership and engagement within the robbing youth of their autonomy and creating Alliance. Some key points included: distrust withint the medical field. She also Participants enjoyed the experience at shared how the US policy the Anti Prostitution the pre-CSW Youth Dialogue, but felt that Loyalty Act is preventing people affected there were too many high level speeches, by HIV/AIDS to recieve the counselling and instead of real intergenerational dialogue with services they need. policymakers about concrete ways to advance Kuriash Mubiro spoke about gender youth’s demands. Participants felt the venue based violence and its impact on young in a high school infantilized participants and people’s SRHR and the importance of a venue in a university, professional space or engaging young men to prevent violence and within the UN building would have been more HIV/AIDS, as well as other stakeholders such appropriate. as parents and law enforcement officials. He Young people felt disappointed that the highlighted the importance of comprehensive questions in the ‘Take the Hot Seat’ event sexuality education, adult-youth partnership were pre-prepared, resulting in the high- approaches, and peer-to-peer education level speakers present using the event as an programmes designed implemented and opportunity to congratulate themselves on monitored by young people. measures they are already undertaking, rather Cynthia Cordero spoke about how than truly being held to account. patriarchy and harmful social norms of More young people are needed on panels masculinity affect young people’s SRHR, by throughout CSW, but these must be the right encouraging men to engage in risky sexual young people – those that are most affected behaviour. She stressed that engaging and by the issues being discussed. educating boys and men around their own Participants discussed MenEngage and their partners’ SRH is essential to reduce Alliance’s plans to strengthen youth leadership the burden of SRH on women and girls, and and engagement in the lead up to the 3rd prevent STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
11 Global Symposium and beyond. Key elements strategy. of this plan are the strengthening of a Youth The Alliance should identify youth Reference Group to anchor this work, the networks to potentially connect with at all organization of a youth consultation, and the levels, taking into consideration diverse collective development of a MenEngage Youth groups of young people, including LGBTQI Strategy. youth, and youth with disabilities. Strengthening youth representation in MenEngage Alliance is committed to the governance structures of the regional strengthening meaningful youth leadership networks was identified as a key priority. The and engagement at CSW and throughout our structure of MenEngage Africa was identified activities at all levels in the coming years. We as a model for others to follow, which has look forward to continuing our partnership a Youth Advisory Committee, whose Chair with UN Women and the Youth Dialogue sits on the regional Steering Committee. The task force to ensure the Youth Dialogue is regional MOU also mandates the inclusion more meaningfully connected with larger of youth and LGBTQI representatives on all CSW processes, that more diverse groups of country and regional Steering Committees. youth can participate, and that the process is A pre-consultation or survey of all inclusive and transparent for CSW64 and the Alliance members on youth leadership and Beijing+25 commemoration. engagement would be useful in advance of the youth consultation to feed into the youth
12 MenEngage Alliance caucus meetings and capacity building
MenEngage Alliance held an interactive women’s rights and the challenges and capacity building dialogue for its delegation opportunities involved. on 11 March, the first day of CSW63, in which experts within the Alliance shared their Key points from the discussion included: reflections on current trends and how to engage with this important space. Space for civil society to engage directly with and lobby policymakers at CSW is becoming more restricted, creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’ structure. WILPF have been advocating for a Accountability and plenary session with governments and civil meaningful allyship society in the main hall of the United Nations for several years but this has not happened. to women’s rights and In many cases, states have civil society on their delegations to legitimize what they are feminist organizations at doing and give them respectability, instead of CSW meaningful engagement. Often, civil society is siloed on the outskirts of the main session. Madeleine Rees, Secretary General – WILPF This shrinking space is aggravated further by increasing visa denials for civil Madeleine Rees spoke about how feminist society participants. Two years ago WILPF leaders have been engaging in CSW as a did not attend CSW and instead organized an strategic space for the advancement of alternative event in Geneva on reforming the
13 Humberto Carolo, MenEngage Alliance Global Co-Chair
to put men and women in opposition through a hierarchy of harms, which undermines the agenda. In recent years, WILPF has been saying that the international community does not need any further resolutions, rather it needs to focus on existing resolutions including the Beijing Platform for Action which has been implemented poorly across the world. The UN system as it currently stands – and in the current political climate – is not working, but civil society should not give up on it. It is important to hold the line and ensure language and agreements do not regress until governments realize once again that they need a multilateral system. UN system. However, CSW continues to be a valuable space for networking among civil society The evolution of The UN Human Rights mechanisms in Geneva are a more impactful space, and MenEngage Alliance at have recently been able to pass progressive CSW resolutions. The issue of transgender rights is an Bafana Khumalo, Co-Director - Sonke Gender Justice important faultline in the feminist movement at the moment, with pushback from some Bafana Khumalo spoke about the evolution of feminists claiming trans women are taking activism of MenEngage Alliance at CSW and over the agenda. Fear of violence is the the many roles and opportunities that civil supposed primary reason for this non- society organizations have. acceptance of trans women, although it has When MenEngage first came to CSW it many other dimensions related to stigma was a difficult space, for good reason, and against trans people more broadly. Family is another contentious area, Bafan Khumalo speaking about the the evolution of which is being used by states such as Russia advocacy of MenEngage Alliance and China as a pretext for the inclusion of regressive language. The language of gender is also under attack from conservative forces worldwide and is gradually being forced out of the UN lexicon. ‘Men’s rights’ language has been creeping into the Women, Peace and Security agenda through an increased focus on sexual violence against men. These groups are wrongly using the gender binary
14 there was a lot of mistrust among feminist organizations who feared the Alliance Moving towards radical would take over the space. Over the years inclusion at CSW and the Alliance has had to prove itself and its partnership approach and learn to listen beyond: Taking a more. It has not always got it right, but there is more willingness among the feminist transversal approach movement to collaborate with the Alliance to Youth Leadership/ and some appreciation of our interventions. A lot of this initial hostility was due to Engagement and the fact that engaging men and boys work was new and appealing to donors and was individuals with diverse receiving funding when women’s rights SOGI/LGBTQIA+ persons in organizations were having to close. The Alliance needs to keep challenging funders all our efforts on this issue and emphasize that it is not a Preston Mitchum, Senior International Policy Advisor - case of ‘either/or’ between work with men Advocates for Youth and women, but a case of ‘both and’, and that engaging men and boys work is just one Preston Mitchum spoke about the barriers part of the broader contribution to achieving that need to be dismantled at CSW in order to gender justice. guarantee the radical inclusion of marginalized It is exciting that there are now more voices, as well as integrating the voices that progressive men on CSW delegations, but the are systematically excluded such as youth, UN remains a patriarchal institution. In the LGBTQI, people with disabilities and other negotiation rooms there are still few women. marginalized voices. How can we ensure that the men in those Through a dialogical exercise, with rooms are transformed men? Q&As he led a conversation about important Activism is missing at CSW in recent issues. He explained how the binary logic years, and civil society have become too that organizes our narratives often manifests comfortable with the space. A new phase of itself in disguise. Through exclusion and revolutionary thought is needed to unsettle silence it reinforces the accepted norm that the space. ‘human rights’ are the rights of those with a voice, which puts in question the humanity of others, those who have been disenfranchised. MenEngage Alliance membership Whose rights are being protected and Caucus meeting promoted in the CSW resolutions? Whose rights are being questioned? Are sexual rights inclusive of LGBTQI rights? In denying LGBTQI people the right to social protection, the narrative exposes itself as a non-LGBTQI voice, and most likely as a white, adult, male, heterosexual voice. In this polarized environment, to advocate for LGBTQI rights can be perceived
15 Panellists taking part in the session, ‘Advancing Gender Equality: Integrating Social Protection and Sexual Gender-based Violence (SGBV) to Create Safer Spaces for Women and Girls’ organized by SAfAIDS
as asking for special protection for a special right to freely choose who and when to group of people, rather than being included as marry? What about young people’s right to equal human rights. access sexuality education and sexual health Binarism appears as a hyper polarized services? view of the world that assumes a normative The ‘rights’ in sexual and reproductive role and voice. The polarized understanding health and rights continues to be qualified of sexuality and gender relations is limited to or removed from the Agreed Conclusions. male/female where female is viewed in the ‘Rights’ are accepted as long as they do not negative - less than, lacking, in need of help challenge the mainstream binary logic. Not and support, defective, superfluous. only regressive states, predominantly religious The same polarized logic applies to nations with no separation between religion perceptions of health and harm, norm and and government, but also countries with exception. When it comes to SRHR, women a rising nationalistic form of government and girls have their ‘rights’ limited and can question the legitimacy of the ‘human only make decisions and choices within rights’ of all people. The ‘R’ in SRHR is often the frames of the official narrative. Are seen as synonymous with LGBTQI issues, reproductive rights inclusive of a women’s but it also implies the right to access sexual right to choose to end a pregnancy in her and reproductive health services, which is own body? Do girls enjoy protection of their fundamental.
There is a need for the Alliance to build long term, non-transactional relationships with youth and LGBTQ groups and to break down the binary in how it engages with people who fall outside of the binary in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity.
16 earmarked funding. UN Reform Process There is also a plan to have a system-wide Deputy Director of Programmes, strategic document, a kind of megaplan that UN Women all UNDAFs will be aligned to. This process is moving slowly and there are different views Daniel Seymour from UN Women presented among member states regarding how loose or on the reform process the UN is currently prescriptive it should be. undergoing, how it is ensuring that the There are conflicting views of the process is gender responsive and its relationship between the UN, governments implications for civil society. and civil society. There are those in the UN The UN reform process aims to make who believe the primary responsibility of the the different agencies of the UN work more UN is to serve governments, while others coherently together and to improve financing believe that the UN cannot promote human mechanisms. rights and be the servant of governments. Under the new system, the UN The new guidance states that governments Development Assistance framework (UNDAF) are important partners but that civil society serves as an overarching plan for each country is fundamental too. While UNDP funding that all agencies must align themselves to. It is primarily though governments, UN is important for civil society to engage in the Women mainly funds NGOs. UN Women is UNDAF process and ensure they address on most effective when it is connecting both gender equality. governments and civil society, although this is The reform process aims to strengthen challenging in some countries. the focus on norms and values, rather than The current funding system favours large the UN being merely a service provider. NGOs and disadvantages smaller and youth- The process seeks to establish the UN as led organizations. The reform process aims the inequality people, emphasizing that to create mechanisms for providing smaller development does not count if some people grants to small NGOs with lighter reporting are being left behind. This will be the basis for mechanisms. deciding which parts of the UN stay in country and which do not. The position of Resident Coordinator, which used to always be a representative of UNDP, will be more powerful under the new system and will report two steps from the Deputy Secretary General. This person will be an important interlocutor for civil society and will be key to the extent to which gender equality gets addressed. It will be headed up by a new office, the Development Coordination Office. There will be a new funding compact under the new system in which the UN commits to reporting better and donors commit to providing more predictable and less
17 MenEngage Alliance member side events
being for all at all ages) and 5 (achieve gender MenEngage Alliance equality and empower all women and girls). Advocacy working group It was highlighted that women and girls suffer disproportionately from the meeting privatization of health care, and that health services need to be youth friendly, non- Members of the MenEngage Alliance judgemental, affordable and involve young Advocacy Working Group met during CSW people in their design. They emphasized to strategize around key upcoming advocacy that social protection does not simply mean moments for the Alliance. health and child services but encompasses a The group agreed that the upcoming wide range of interventions including violence regional Beijing+25 consultations are a key prevention and the prevention of child opportunity, particularly in regions where marriage. there are no regional advocacy mechanisms, To be transformative, it is therefore and agreed to track the process in their important for social protection schemes to respective regions. It was also agreed that a look within the family environment and at more coordinated Alliance-wide mobilization family dynamics. One panellist also spoke was needed in advance of CSW64 given its about the need to engage with faith leaders, significance of Beijing +25. despite their problematic positions on some issues to gently push them towards gender norms transformation. Advancing Gender The panel stressed that longer term Equality: Integrating Social projects and more flexible funding are needed in order to bring about gender norms Protection and Sexual transformation and evaluate the impact of Gender-based Violence such programmes. (SGBV) to Create Safer MenEngage Alliance on the Spaces for Women and Spot: Critical dialogue with Girls, 12 March young feminist leaders on This session, hosted by SAfAIDS, MenEngage accountability issues 12 Zimbabwe and MenEngage Alliance explored the influence of evidence-informed social March protection working models on the SRHR of adolescent girls and young women, This session, co-convened by MenEngage with a specific focus on preventing sexual Alliance, the ATHENA Network and the and gender-based violence. Panellists Equality Institute, was a reflective dialogue on shared experiences if integrating a gender the role and responsibility of those working transformative approach into social protection to engage men and boys in gender justice systems, in order to advance gender equality on strengthening accountable practice at all and achieve sustainable development goals levels. 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well- The objective of this session was
18 to review and obtain feedback on the actions they took, including a survey of Nordic Accountability Initiative led in partnership men which revealed that while men reported by MenEngage Alliance with the ATHENA changing their attitudes about the extent Network and The Equality Institute for of the problem of sexual harassment, the updating the MenEngage Alliance Core movement had not caused them to examine Principles, Code of Conduct and Accountability or change their own attitudes. MÄN shared a Standards and Guidelines. Participants methodology and reflective guide they have stressed the importance that producing the developed to hold group discussions among Accountability Standards document is not men about the issues raised by #MeToo which an end goal in itself, but that the process involves a combination of ‘big room’ and generates meaningful discussion and ‘small room’ discussions, and participants had understanding of accountability among the a chance to try out the methodology. Alliance and the standards are truly owned and implemented by members and network at all levels. UN Women side event: “The Road Ahead: Making Conversations with men Gender Parity a Reality”, about men’s sexualized 18 March violence against women in This official side event brought together the #MeToo era: Launch of senior UN officials, civil society and Member States to discuss how to expand the a reflective Group Guide momentum for gender parity in the UN. for Men, 12 March The event highlighted that while progress at senior management level has been Organized by MÄN Sweden together with steady, achieving gender parity at middle MenEngage Alliance, this side event focused management level has been more difficult, on the #MeToo movement and its implications and the need for cultural transformation for organizations working with men and boys within the institution. Participants called for for gender equality. Participants engaged in significantly increasing the number of women a dialogue about their experiences of MeToo peacekeepers and police, and for building in their contexts and highlighted that the an enabling environment through measures movement is important for this field not only such as family-friendly policies, flexible because it drew widespread public attention working arrangements, as well as standards of to the issue of sexual harassment but also conduct. because it highlighted that harassment and Laxman Belbase, Acting Director of abuse can happen in our own circles and MenEngage Alliance, spoke about the encouraged self-reflection and action in this importance of gender analysis in countering regard. the backlash against gender parity MÄN shared their experience of a surge efforts. “The pushback comes from this in interest in men wanting to engage in these misunderstanding that gender is only about issues and become part of the solution after women. When you talk about gender, it’s not the movement started and shared some of the only about women, it’s also about the lives of
19 men and boys who are part of the system,” he retains patriarchal ideas of what it means to said. “We need to look at how can men play be secure in all decision making, from arms a role in dismantling the system that’s part of trade to investments, and that sense of power the problem.” is linked to violence. Abigail Ruane, PeaceWomen Programme Director, talked about the need to revisit the Patriarchal Masculinity, transformative goal of the UNSCR 1325, which Militarism, and the WPS is to end the war – rather than adding women to war – and asses where we are at based on a Agenda higher standard. Henry Myrttinen, Head of Gender ABAAD – Resource Center for Gender Equality, and Peacebuilding at International Alert, in partnership with the Women’s International talked about the need to integrate a gender League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and perspective in peace building programs to MenEngage Alliance held this expert panel start bringing men and masculinities into discussion that explored the concept of our world. ‘’To address patriarchy, we must security on the international level and the address masculinity’’, he stated. Panelists patriarchal ideals that it retains. The topic of concluded by reiterating the importance to the day aimed to answer the question: How push for higher standards when it comes to is addressing masculinities connected to the WPS agenda that would bring a feminist institutional change and what does this mean lens, which must be more realistic and for the ‘women, peace and security’ (WPS) correspond to realities on the ground. A full agenda? report highlighting the main points discussed Anthony Keedi, Masculinities Technical during the side event is available at here or Advisor at ABAAD, emphasized that at the abaadmena.org. international level, the concept of security
Published July 2019
Various images are reproduced here from UN Women under Creative Commons ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs’ licence. Original images are available at flickr.com/unwomen 20