Baha'i Activities at the 2008 CSW

52nd Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women: Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Bahá'í delegates from 15 countries convened in New York from February 23 – March 7 for the 52^nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Among them was noted economist, Dr. Augusto Lopez-Claros, formerly of the World Economic Forum. Delegates came from Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, Slovakia, Japan, Malawi, Uganda and Switzerland and seven other countries.

This year’s Session addressed “Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women” marking the first time that the Commission focused specifically on resources for gender equality.

BIC organized a number of side events and collaborated with the European Bahá’í Business Forum and the UK National Association of Women’s Organizations (the president of which is a Bahá’í) to organize events titled, “Global Issues - Local Voices” and “Empowering Women through Meaningful Work.”  One of the delegates, Dr. Lopez-Claro - former chief economist at the World Economic Forum and co-author of “Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap” - spoke at the Commission’s High Level Roundtable. Dr. Lopez-Claros was also a panelist at a discussion titled “Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women: Leadership for a Sustainable Future.” The latter was co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Paraguay and Canada to the UN, the BIC and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization.

BIC issued a statement to the Commission titled “Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality.” The statement recommended: (a) the adoption of a long-term perspective to guide short and medium-term efforts to finance gender equality; (b) the use of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to evaluate national budgets; and (c) the engagement of religious perspectives and institutions.

Noted Economist Addresses UN High Level Roundtable discussion at CSW

Equality between the sexes can have a real world economic effect, potentially improving the economic performance of nations and corporations.

That was among the ideas offered by noted economist Augusto Lopez-Claros yesterday, speaking on behalf of the Bahá’í International Community at the United Nations. More...

“Sources and Resources for Resolution 1325: A day-long dialogue on peace initiatives”

Sovaida Ma’ani Ewing, author of Collective Security Within Reach (George Ronald, Ltd.), was one of the invited speakers at a seminar held during the 52^nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women sponsored by the International Women’s Tribune Center and Isis Women’s International Cross Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE Uganda) and hosted at the Bahá'í International Community offices. At issue was women’s participation in the peace-building process and Security Council Resolution 1325 which was passed unanimously on 31 October 2000. This resolution is the first resolution ever passed by the Security Council that specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. More...

Global Issues, Local Voices: the Role of NGOS in Building Sustainable Capacity

This parallel event of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)sponsored by the Bahá'í International Community and supported by FATIMA Women’s Network, the National Alliance of Women’s Organizations and the UK National Committee of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) titled “Global Issues, Local Voices: the Role of NGOS in Building Sustainable Capacity” considered ways that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can be influential in holding governments accountable for the international agreements they commit to at the United Nations. More...

Empowering Women Through Meaningful Work

In a well attended side event co-sponsored by the European Bahá'í Business Forum (EBBF), the Bahá'í International Community, and UNIFEM-UK, NGO delegates to the 52^nd Commission on the Status of Women crowded into the 10^th floor auditorium of the Church Center for the United Nations to discuss “Empowering Women through Meaningful Work.”  More...

 Faith and Ethics Network for the International Criminal Court:  Preventing Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls

Jagoda Paukovic

In a parallel event for the CSW held at the BIC offices, Jagoda Paukovic, senior policy advisor for Justitia et Pax Netherlands, presented a manual titled "Preventing Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls". More...

“Financing Gender Equality in Education”

 Connecting the priority theme of this year’s 52^nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women with last year’s focus on the girl child, a workshop titled “Financing Gender Equality in Education” and sponsored by the NGO Committee on UNICEF’s Working Group on Girls addressed the need to promote funding for programs specifically aimed at improving conditions for girls. More...

Carolyn Hannan, director of the UN’s Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), who had addressed the NGOs at the Consultation Day (Feb. 24th) spoke on the need for greater collaboration between the UN and NGOs on inplementing the agreed conclustions.  (See her statement on UN-NGO collaboration.)

Financing for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women: Leadership for a Sustainable Future

Empowering women is a good economic investment with far reaching benefits to the development of civilization.  This was the message delivered by a panel of experts at a parallel event for the UN Commission on the Status of Women. More...