Responding to Equipop’s call, over a hundred civil society organizations have signed an open letter calling on UN member states and their diplomats to mobilize in New York to defend the fundamental rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and to coordinate with feminist civil society to counter the backlash.
Once again, this year, Equipop is present at the 68th edition of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), taking place from March 11 to 22 in New York, to defend the issues of gender equality and the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people. The stakes are high: conservative states and anti-rights actors are organizing to attack sexual and reproductive rights and health. In particular, they are seeking to strip the agreed conclusions of their transformative potential that is vital to achieving progress in these fundamental rights. Responding to Equipop’s call, over a hundred civil society organizations have signed an open letter calling on UN member states and their diplomats to mobilize in New York to defend the fundamental rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people, and to coordinate with feminist civil society to counter the backlash. The letter was made public today, before the CSW opening ceremony (10am, EDT), but you can still join the mobilization and sign the letter via this form, so as to amplify our impact at CSW. Lucie Daniel, Equipop’s Advocacy and Research Manager, and Clara Dereudre, Advocacy Officer, will be attending the CSW until March 19 to nurture partnerships with feminist activists and networks and build new alliances, strengthen feminist collective action and celebrate victories – in short: stay mobilized in the face of backlash.
CSW 68, a decisive moment: An open letter to the heads of State and UN member States diplomats
Dear Sir, Madam From March 11th to 22nd, for the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), feminist activists from all over the world will be in New York to promote gender equality and the fundamental human rights of women. However, as every year, the CSW will also be a space where anti-rights actors gather together and instrumentalize women’s rights to push their conservative agenda, and undermine the ambition of the agreed conclusions, as it has been the case many times in the past. They are also organizing their own « Conference on the State of Women and the Family » on the sidelines of the negotiations, and they will be present at various events taking place at the UN. We know that sexual and reproductive health and rights will be one of the main targets of these attacks. Anti-rights actors seek to minimize the inclusion of language around abortion, sexuality education and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. We must not back down. It is paramount to create alliances between progressive states and with the feminist civil society in order to strategize, drive forward advances for women’s rights and block attacks targeting them – in short, to stand together in the face of the backlash. We, the signatories of this open letter, are fighting every day to advance gender equality. We now turn to progressive states and those who wish to promote feminist foreign policies, and call on them to mobilize strongly in New York over the next two weeks. We must take a strong stance during the negotiations, and ensure that the agreed conclusions protect fundamental rights. Many States are implementing at the national level policies that advance fundamental human rights while sometimes siding with the conservative bloc within the United Nations. We call on them to put an end to these contradictions. As we write this open letter, France has just enshrined abortion as a guaranteed freedom in its Constitution. This is a shining example of what can be achieved through the mobilization of feminist movements, from street demonstrations to the completion of institutional processes. In New York, it is now up to governments to work relentlessly to achieve significant advances for women’s rights and gender equality on the international stage.
The open letter is also available in French and Spanish.
Signatories: Acción Ciudadana por la Democracia y el Desarrollo Actions pour la conservation de la nature et le développement communautaire, ACNDC ADELA Alianza por la Defensa del Estado Laico Afrique Performance AGES Aidos – Italian Association for Women in Development AMSOPT APC Asia Feminist LBQ Network Asociación CCEFIRO Association des Jeunes Filles pour la Santé de la Reproduction (AJFSR) Association Elles Rayonnent Ensemble Association pour la défense des droits des aides ménagères et domestiques ADDAD Burkina Faso Association SIFOKA Association songtaaba des femmes unies pour le développement ASFUD Association Stop au Chat Noir Association Transgenres et Droits Atelier Flandrin BATOBGA FOUNDATION Católicas pelo Direito de Decidir Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir Centre de Recherche et de Documentation en Approches Genre SARL Centro de Atención a la Mujer Trabajadora de Chihuahua A. C. Centro de Investigación para la Acción Femenina (CIPAF) CHEVS CMP FLORA TRISTÁN Complices por la Igualdad / MenEngage México Convergence pour le Développement Durable Council for Global Equality CYAP SURINAME Danish Family Planning Association Delete Nothing Empow’Her End FGM European Network Equality Rights Alliance Fédération des associations féminines pour la paix et le developpement FEMUM ALC /Smart&Sustainable Cities Chapter Peru Fondation des Jeunes Amazones pour le Developpement FORO DE MUJERES POR LA IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES. Asoc. Civil de Mujeres de Salta- Argentina. Foundation for Innovative Social Development Frente Feminista Nacional Fundacion Estudio e investigacion de la Mujer galck+ Gender and Economy Research Center NPGE GIRLxGIRL Gouttes Rouges Groupe de Réflexion et d’Initiative pour l’Avancement de la Grand’Anse (GRIAG) Guttmacher Institute Humanity diaspo IJBFE Initiative pour la Santé de la reproduction Initiatives des Jeunes pour le Bien-être de la Femme et de l’Enfant (IJBFE) Institut du Genre en Géopolitique International Planned Parenthood Federation – IPPF Jeunes Filles Mères Engagées Jeunes Pour la voix des Enfants et Femmes de Guinée Koro Koro femme debout La convergence pour le développement durable Lake Region Womxn’s Health and Equal Rights Ligue Nigérienne des Droits des Femmes Mediterranean Women’s Fund MenEngage Uruguay Moluccan Women Council/ Molukse Vrouwen Raad Mouvement Citoyen FEMIN-IN Movimiento de Mujeres Ciudadanas de Perú. Namibia Diverse Women’s Association (NDWA) National Rural Women’s Coalition ONG Actuelles ONG Filles en Actions ONG LAFIA MATASSA People’s Alliance for Reproductive Health Advocacy Planning familial PLAOS/ Burkina Pour les droits des femmes et contre les revers! Red Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir de América Latina y el Caribe Réseau des Jeunes Féministes d’Afrique Centrale REJEFEMAC Rutgers Sensoa STUNAM SUKUAMIS The Netherlands Association for Women’s Interests, Women’s Work and Equal Citizenship Transmen Indonesia TWIN UNA-USA UNA-USA Universidad de Buenos Aires Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism Vrouwenbelangen VWA FANM AYISYÈN (VFA) WAF (WOMAN AFRICAN FREEDOM) Western Kenya LBQ Organizations Collective Western Kenya LBQT Feminist Forum WO=MEN Dutch Gender Platform WOMA Média Women Deliver Women Engage for a Common Future – WECF International Women First International Fund Women for Women’s Human Rights Women in Nexus Women4GlobalFund Young Feminist Europe Youth Advocacy Network Sri Lanka – YANSL YWA Sénégal (Youth Women for Action)
* Image credit: Nebojša Cvetković x Fine Acts (modification des couleurs, du texte et de l’organisation du visuel)
