Oxfam at the UN Commission on the Status of Women
New York, March 2nd-13th

Oxfam International’s Gender Justice team will, for the second year running, be participating in this year’s session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to be held in New York, March 2nd-13th. The CSW is one of the few explicit women’s rights bodies at UN level. It meets annually to discuss progress on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (1995). This year’s priority theme for the CSW is “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care-giving in the context of HIV and AIDS”.

Oxfam GB is sending a team of nine people to join with delegates from Oxfam America, Oxfam NOVIB and Oxfam Canada. The OGB team will include women community activists and partners from South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria, and be led by the Pan Africa team with the support of the Programme Policy Team from Oxford. This will be organized as part of Oxfam GB’s ‘Raising Her Voice’ (RHV) programme on gender and governance which is co-funded by the UK Department for International Development and UNDP.

On Tuesday March 3rd 10-12am Oxfam GB will be running a side event at the CSW on the 10th floor of the Church Centre opposite the UN building. The event is entitled “Red ribbons and women’s rights: Raising the voice of African women on realizing continental freedoms and rights in the context of HIV and AIDS in Africa”. This will be a platform for women leaders and community activists from across Africa to raise the voices of poor and marginalised women, including women living with HIV and AIDS, on the obstacles they face in exercising their rights as enshrined in the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the unequal burden of responsibilities they face in contrast to men. The event will publicly launch the Pan-Africa element of the global ’Raising Her Voice’ (RHV) programme, which is being implemented by Oxfam GB and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR) .

The OI delegation will participate during the first week of the conference, and focus on lobbying the various government delegations present to include our policy priorities on women’s rights in the Agreed Conclusions of the CSW.

Toward the end of March/April we hope to organize a post-CSW event in Oxfam House, Oxford, where community activists and partners from the OGB delegation will present the insights and experiences they shared at the CSW, the policy outcomes of the CSW, and why this global women’s rights gathering is relevant to Oxfam. Contact Oley Dibba-Banda, odibba-wadda@oxfam.org.uk, Programme Policy Team, Oxford, if you are interested in attending this event.

For more information on the CSW participation contact Irungu Houghton, Pan Africa Director, irunguh@oxfam.org.uk  or Fiona Gell, Programme Policy Team, Oxford fgell@oxfam.org.uk.