The Tribune

THE 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is now in its second week in New York City. The Commission on the Status of Women is an annual meeting held to discuss the progress toward gender equality and includes official events and side events held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and parallel events held in other locations in New York City.

Every year, there is a theme that focuses events and their contributions on a particular area. There is also a review theme, selected to encourage reflection on commitments made years before as well as continued commitment. Every year, there is significant attention to the priority theme, and the review theme tends to get less attention in the media.

This year, the priority theme and the review theme are closely linked. The priority theme for 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women is “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”.

The review theme for this year is “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls” — the priority theme of the 63rd CSW session. Social protection systems are critical to addressing the structural issue of poverty, and the provision of public resources and services along with the eradication of poverty are required for the achievement of gender equality. In reviewing a theme of a previous CSW, it is useful to look at the agreed conclusions— the outcome document that lays out everything the Member States were able to agree on and commit to during the session.

In the agreed conclusions of the 63rd session on social protection systems, the Commission set out policies and actions to be undertaken by governments in the following five areas:

1. Strengthen normative, legal and policy frameworks.
2. Strengthen women’s and girls’ access to social protection.
3. Strengthen access to public services for women and girls
4. Make infrastructure work for women and girls
5. Mobilise resources, strengthen women’s participation and improve evidence

These agreements came one year before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which both highlighted the need for follow-through on the commitments and exacerbated the situation for women and girls who did not—and still do not—have appropriate access to social protection.

The agreed conclusions of the 63rd session included recognition of “progress made in women’s and girls’ access to social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure, particularly in the areas of health and education”. It noted gender gaps and the challenges caused by budget cuts and austerity measures undertaken by government. These cuts represent a reversal of protection that was, in some cases, achieved before. Instead of rolling back access to social protection, there needs to be attention to and resources invested in “addressing the remaining gaps that constrain equal access for women and girls to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure”.

It was also noted that unequal power relations between women and men and the resulting restrictions in ownership and control of resources not only slow, but impede progress toward gender equality. Issues that continue to impact women and girls on a daily basis, due in part to lack of access to social protection, include “universal health-care services and education, gender-based violence, discriminatory laws and policies, negative social norms and gender stereotypes and the unequal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work”. The Commission acknowledged in the agreed conclusions that structural barriers must be eliminated in order to achieve gender equality.

Not only did the Commission address the need for social protection for women and girls, but it noted that the design, implementation, and evaluation of those systems with public infrastructure needed to be in direct response to the specific needs of women and girls. It also spoke directly to the unpaid care and domestic work undertaken by women and the need to recognize its value. The Commission said it is necessary to “enable the mobility of women and girls, strengthen women’s participation in public and political life, as well as their economic opportunities, in particular their full and productive employment and decent work and equal pay for equal work or work of equal value, and strengthen their resilience to shocks”.

In recognising the disproportionate amount of unpaid, undervalued care and domestic work undertaken by women, the Commission noted that the needs of caregivers have not be adequately addressed by social protection systems, public services, or infrastructure which is a glaring gap. It also stated that the failure to share care and domestic responsibilities is “a significant constraint for women’s completion of, or progress in, education and training, on entry and re-entry and advancement in the paid labour market and on their economic opportunities and entrepreneurial activities, and can result in gaps in social protection, pay and pensions”. It must be noted that it significantly affects women’s employment experiences and opportunities for advancement, not only because of the care and domestic work women do, but because of the assumptions made by coworkers and managers who often decide not to extend offers at all.

Importantly, the Commission, in its agreed conclusions, made mention of the need to create an enabling environment for all women and girls at household and community levels, recognizing that gender stereotyping and harmful gender ideology lead to women and girls being considered less valuable than and subordinate to men and boys. It made the connection between this and the distribution of unpaid care and domestic work, noting that provision of care services, child care, parental leave, and other social services would be an effective intervention. The agreed conclusions also noted that “sharing of family responsibilities creates an enabling family environment for women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work, which contributes to development, that women and men make a significant contribution to the welfare of their family, and that, in particular, women’s contribution to the home, including unpaid care and domestic work, which is still not adequately recognised, generates human and social capital that is essential for social and economic development”.

An often overlooked area that was included in the agreed conclusions was the need for transport systems to have features that ensure they cater to people in situations vulnerability and increase safety. The Commission noted the issues of inaccessible bus stops, crowded vehicles, and inadequate lighting at bus stops. The agreed conclusions said, “The Commission reaffirms the importance of safe, affordable, accessible, age-, gender- and disability-sensitive and sustainable land and water transport systems and roadways that meet the needs of women and girls[…]”

It is particularly important to note that, while the Commission referenced and reiterated international mechanisms and agreements including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), it acknowledged “the important role of national mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the relevant contribution of national human rights institutions, where they exist, and the important role of civil society in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. It is not enough, then, that States ratify conventions and sign agreements. Domestication of international law and transformation of systems and attitudes are required. A national gender machinery and a national human rights institution, for example, are critical entities that need to be established, properly resourced, independent, visible, and truly functional.

The agreed conclusions acknowledged that all women are not the same, and all girls are not the same. Intersections of identity directly affect the ways that women and girls access or do not access social protection systems and the ways that these systems do or do not meet their needs. It noted that “while all women and girls have the same human rights, women and girls in different contexts have particular needs and priorities, requiring appropriate responses.”

The Commission, of course, came to the issue of financing, reaffirming “the importance of significantly increasing investments to close resource gaps for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls through, inter alia, the mobilisation of financial resources from all sources, including domestic and international resource mobilisation and allocation[…]” Recalling one of the themes for International Women’s Day this year, “Invest in Women,” we see that money is, indeed, a major issue. Social protection does not exist without investment, and the investment must be with a view to the specific needs of women and girls and the effects of gender discrimination and the disproportionate amount of unpaid work we undertake. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but we do know that meeting the needs of the most marginalised and people in the most vulnerable situations ensures that all needs are met. We have to start with the greatest need rather than the easiest activities, and the investments must be substantial, targeted, and sustained.

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