Quote of the day

You have to make choices even when there's nothing to choose from

Syndicate content

Navigation

CSW 2008

Working the system, 007 style

Zohra Moosa, 26/02/08

I went along to the official NGO orientation session yesterday afternoon to follow up on my interest in reporting on how women's NGOs influence the CSW and global gender policy making. It was enlightening. I learned (pdf):

  • The basics, like the fact that there are 45 members on the Commission and that one third of them rotate every year
  • That the CSW was the second commission ever established by the UN and is now the oldest one running as the first one on human rights no longer operates
  • That the first week of the CSW is all about learning: governments learning about other governments' positions, NGOs learning about governments' positions, governments learning about NGOs' positions, etc.

Accordingly, it's the end of the first week, and really more like the second week, when the negotiations on the outputs get really intense. That doesn't mean that the recommendations (currently in draft (pdf)) are not being negotiated during this first week at all though. Not only are there 'informal' meetings, there are, apparently, 'informal informal' meetings where discussions and decisions are brokered outside of the published meetings and are even more 'unofficial' than the regular informal meetings.

I can't say I'm surprised that this happens, but I will admit my disappointment. It simply doesn't make sense to me to make such high level decisions in isolation from the NGOs and experts who have relevant knowledge about what women need in various contexts. Readers might enjoy hearing that there are also 'non-papers' that the member states use and circulate to inform their positions when in negotiations.

Between the informal informals, the non-papers, the misdirection from security staff (happened to me again this morning), and the endless queues, it's a wonder NGOs manage to participate and influence at all. Certainly requires a level of information gathering (pdf) and relationship leveraging that 007 would be proud of. Jane has begun tracking one NGO's attempts in her posts about Karama.

Trackback URL for this post:

http://www.opendemocracy.net/trackback/35892

50.50 blogroll

16 days contributors

CAADA
EVAW
Fawcett Society
Forward thinking
Hayah
Kubatana
International Women's Health coalition
One World Action
OWFI
Panos
Pathways of Women's Empowerment
Patricia Daniel
Scarleteen
The F Word
Ultra Violet
UNIFEM
WAITS
WomanKind Worldwide

Blogs

Bitch pHd
Feministing
Feministe
Feminist Law Professors
Girl Drive
I blame the patriarchy
Pandagon
Shakesville
The Margins
Radical Doula
Women of Color

Organisations

Afghan Women’s Network
Africa's women speak out
African feminist forum
AMANITARE
Amnesty Ireland

Brene Brown
BRIDGE

CAMFED
Center for Women’s Global Leadership

Democracy School
DemocraShe
Desert voices

Education for peace in Iraq center
Equality now
EVAW

FAIR Fund
Federation of African women educationalists
Femmes Africa Solidarite
FEMNET
Fundacion Rigoberta Menchu

Genanet
Gender and Media Southern Africa
Genderlinks
Green Belt Movement International

Iranian Women Cultural Center
Iraq Speakers Bureau
Irish Joint Consortium on Gender Based Violence
Isis
IKWRO

Jerusalem Center for Women
Just Associates

Kosova Women's Network
Kubatana
Kvinna till Kvinna

Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq

Parents Circle - Families Forum
Peacewomen Across the Globe

PEKKA - Women Headed Household Empowerment Program

Shirkat Gah - Women’s Resource Centre
Straight Talk
Stop Honour Killings

The Alliance for Arab Women
The Green Belt Movement

Uganda Women’s Network

V- Day Karama

WEDO
WIDE
WILPF representative
Womankind Worldwide
Women for Women’s Human Rights
Women Law and Develeopement in Africa
Women Watch
Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice (WIGJ)
Women’s League of Burma
Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling
Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice
Work of Women

Youthrive

50.50 Pictures

50.50 projects

Pathways of Women's Empowerment

Women UNlimited

16 days against gender violence

Nobel Women's Initiative

 women talk to the G8

World Social Forum

Resolution 1325

Renga