Welcome to the United Nations
The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 March to 23 March 2018. The priority theme for CSW62 is challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls and the review theme is participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women (agreed conclusions of the forty-seventh session). Several side and parallel events will include and address issues related to women and girls with disabilities.
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are welcome to attend the session.
CSW62 Side Events and Parallel events related to women and girls with disabilities:
Monday, 12 March 2018
Event Title: CSW62 Brownbag Series: Meet our new grantees
Organizers: UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women
Time and Location: 12 March, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM; CR 21-00 Daily News Building 220 East 42nd Street New York
Additional Information: Accelerating towards Equality: Stories from a Chinese GBV initiative that is inclusive of LBTI and HIV+ women, and women with disabilities. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKYzazWB
Event Title: Empowerment of Women and Girls with Disabilities Through Access to Education and Technologies
Sponsor: Rehabilitation International
Co-Sponsoring Organization: Shanta Memorial Foundation - India
Time and Location: 12 March, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM; 4 W 43rd Street, Aqua Room
Additional Information: https://www.ngocsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Rehabilitation-Internationals-event.pdf
Tuesday, 13 March 2018
Event Title: Achieving Gender Parity in UN Human Rights Bodies
Organizers: International Development Law Organization (IDLO), GQUAL, Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), International Disability Alliance (IDA), International Disability and Development Consortium and others Member States TBC
Time and Location: 13 March, 8:15 AM-9:30 AM; Conference Room D - Conference Building (max. capacity: 53)
Contact: newyork[at]idlo.int
Event Title: Disability, Violence and Survival of Rural Women Globally
Sponsor: UN Women National Committee Australia
Co-Sponsoring Organizations: Blur Projects International, Oxfam International, European Disability Forum
Time and Location: 13 March, 12:30 PM; 4 W 43rd Street, Social Hall
Event Title: Women and Girls with Disability in Rural Areas
Organizers: Republic of Korea
Time and Location: 13 March, 3:00 PM-4:15 PM; Conference Room 11 - GA Building (max. capacity: 131)
Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Event Title: accountABILITY: Advancing the Rights of Historically Excluded Women and Girls
Organizers: Women Enabled
Time and Location: 14 March, 12:30 PM ; 4 W 43rd Street, Gallery Room, New York City
Additional Information: Promoting the voices of historically excluded women and girls—including women with disabilities, older women, and LGBTI individuals—is essential to ensuring that international human rights standards, recommendations, and policies reflect their unique experiences. Panelists will discuss how effective engagement with the UN human rights system can elevate the voices of excluded populations to promote and protect their rights. This event will also introduce Women Enabled International’s new, innovative accountABILITY Toolkit, a resource consisting of three briefing papers designed to facilitate effective civil society participation in the UN human rights system to advance women’s rights, hold States accountable to their human rights obligations, and ensure that the voices of all women and girls are being heard.
CART interpretation will be provided and this event is open to all.
Thursday, 15 March 2018
Event Title: Leaving No One Behind For Planet 50-50 By 2030: Every Rural Woman and Girl Everywhere
Organizers: UN Women and Civil Society Partners
Time and Location: 15 March, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM; Venue TBC
Additional Information: Invitation; Concept note; RSVP here to reserve a ticket
Friday, 16 March 2018
Event Title: Empowering Rural Women and Girls – Disability Inclusion
Organizers: Ghana, SightSavers
Time and Location: 16 March, 3:00 PM-4:15 PM; Conference Room D - Conference Building (max. capacity: 53)
Saturday, 17 March 2018
Event Title: Youth Dialogue
Organizers: Youth Dialogue Task Force, UN Women
Time and Location: 17 March, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM; To take place outside of UN premises, downtown Manhattan tbc, NYC
Additional Information: Registration for the Youth Dialogue at CSW62 ended on 9 February 2018. Participants will receive a Youth dialogue confirmation email that they need to present before entering the event.
Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Event Title: No Room in Rural Villages, Cities or Homes for the Disabled? Are Girls and Boys with Down Syndrome Left Behind?
Organizers: Holy See, Pujols Family Foundation, Jerome Lejeune Foundation, Center for Family and Human Rights, A Summer in the Forest
Time and Location: 20 March, 1:15 PM-2:30 PM; Conference Room 12 - GA Building (max. capacity: 129)
Additional information: Concept Note; Poster; RSVP (Mandatory for Everyone)
The lives of children who are diagnosed with Down Syndrome are in grave danger. In many countries, it's there's a 90 percent chance that children with this diagnosis will not even be allowed to born; in other countries, it's 100 percent. This is a great loss not only for those disabled boys and girls who are not permitted to be born, but to their families and to all of society as we are deprived of the precious gifts of the lives of these members of the human family. In this event, we will hear from those with Down Syndrome, from their families, and from their advocates. The event will feature a special focus on those in rural situations and will take place the day before World Down Syndrome Day (3/21). To register for this event: holyseemission.org/rsvp20March2018 Those who will need a UN grounds pass must register by March 13. Because of space considerations, all attendees must register, including delegates, UN personnel, and those with CSW Passes
Thursday, 22 March 2018
Event Title: Advocacy on the margins: Women With Disabilities Addressing Violence at the Grassroots Level
Sponsor: Humanity & Inclusion (formerly Handicap International)
Co-Sponsoring Organizations: Disability Rights Fund (DRF)
Time and Location: 22 March, 4:30 PM; Church Center for the United Nations, Tenth floor
Additional Information: https://www.ngocsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/MIW-175.pdf
The full schedule of CSW62:
Side events: http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw62-2018/side-events/calendar-of-side-eventsParallel events: https://www.ngocsw.org/ngo-csw-forum/download-handbook-app-2017
Related News and Links
- New GA Resolution on Situation of Women and Girls with Disabilities and the Implementation of CRPD: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/news/news/unga72-adopted-a-new-resolution-on-the-implementation-of-crpd.html
- Final text of the General Assembly resolution, A/RES/72/162, of 19 December 2017: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/72/162
- “Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”: http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/sdg-report. New UN Women report uncovers significant gaps for women’s empowerment and puts forth robust agenda to shift gears. It spotlights inequalities and challenges faced by women; identifies gaps and opportunities for gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For the section on women and girls with disabilities go to pages 178-180 of the report.
- “Empowering Women and Girls with Autism” - World Autism Awareness Day observance, Thursday, 5 April 2018: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/news/dspd/world-autism-awareness-day-on-empowering-women-and-girls-with-autism.html
- Women and Girls with Disabilities Editorial spotlight: International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December 2017: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2017/12/compilation-international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities
- Women and Girls with Disabilities - Using the Gender and Disability Lens: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/issues/women-and-girls-with-disabilities.html
- More on Women and Girls with Disabilities at United Nations Enable: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/issues.html#women
