At Equipop's call, more than a hundred civil society organizations 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 attending the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which is being held this year from March 11 to 22 in New York, to defend 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 all their transformative potential, which is essential for achieving progress in these fundamental rights. At the call of Equipop, more than 100 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, ahead of the CSW opening ceremony (10 a.m. EDT), but you can still join the mobilization and sign it yourself via this form to amplify our impact at the CSW. Lucie Daniel, Advocacy and Research Manager at Equipop, and Clara Dereudre, Advocacy Officer, will be on site until March 19 to nurture partnerships with feminist activists and networks, build new alliances, strengthen collective feminist action, and celebrate victories—in short, to remain mobilized in the face of backlash.
CSW 68, a decisive moment – Open letter to heads of state and diplomats of United Nations member states
Ladies and gentlemen, From March 11 to 22, during the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), feminist activists from around the world will gather in New York to promote gender equality and fundamental human rights, including women's rights. However, as is the case every year, the CSW will also be a forum where anti-rights actors will gather and exploit women's rights to push their conservative agenda and water down the text at the end of the two weeks, as has been the case many times with the conclusions agreed upon in the past. They are also organizing their own "Conference on the Status of Women and the Family" on the sidelines of the negotiations and will be present at various events taking place at the UN. We know that sexual and reproductive rights and health 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 LGBTQIA+ rights. We must not back down on these issues. It is essential to build alliances between progressive states and with feminist civil society to strategize, drive progress for women's rights, and block attacks against them—in short, to stand together in the face of backlash. We, the signatories of this letter, work every day to advance women's rights and gender equality. We now turn to progressive states and those who wish to pursue feminist foreign policies, and call on them to mobilize strongly in New York over the next two weeks. It is a matter of speaking out loudly in the negotiations and ensuring that the agreed conclusions protect fundamental rights. Many states pursue progressive policies on fundamental human rights at the national level, while sometimes aligning themselves with the conservative bloc within the United Nations. We call on them to end these contradictions. As we write this open letter, France has just enshrined the right to abortion in its Constitution. This is a prime example of what feminist movements can achieve, from street demonstrations to the completion of an institutional process. In New York, it is now up to the states to work tirelessly to achieve significant progress on women's rights and gender equality on the international stage.
Read the open letter in English or Spanish.
Signatories: Acción Ciudadana por la Democracia y el Desarrollo (Citizen Action for Democracy and Development) Actions pour la conservation de la nature et le développement communautaire (Actions for Nature Conservation and Community Development), ACNDC ADELA Alianza por la Defensa del Estado Laico (Alliance for the Defense of the Secular State) Afrique Performance (Africa Performance) AGES Aidos – Italian Association for Women in Development AMSOPT APC Asia Feminist LBQ Network Asociación CCEFIRO (CCEFIRO Association) Association of Young Girls for Reproductive Health (AJFSR) Association Elles Rayonnent Ensemble Association for the Defense of the Rights of Domestic Workers ADDAD Burkina Faso Association SIFOKA Association songtaaba of women united for development 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 Center for Research and Documentation on Gender Approaches 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 Young Amazons Foundation for Development FORO DE MUJERES POR LA IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES. Civil Association of Women of 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 Reflection and Initiative Group for the Advancement of Grand'Anse (GRIAG) Guttmacher Institute Humanity Diaspo IJBFE Initiative for Reproductive Health Youth Initiatives for the Well-being of Women and Children (IJBFE) Institute for Gender in Geopolitics International Planned Parenthood Federation – IPPF Jeunes Filles Mères Engagées (Young Committed Mothers) Jeunes Pour la voix des Enfants et Femmes de Guinée (Youth for the Voice of Children and Women of Guinea) Koro Koro femme debout (Koro Women Standing Up) La convergence pour le développement durable (Convergence for Sustainable Development) Lake Region Womxn’s Health and Equal Rights Ligue Nigérienne des Droits des Femmes (Nigerien League for Women’s Rights) Mediterranean Women’s Fund MenEngage Uruguay Moluccan Women Council/ Molukse Vrouwen Raad FEMIN-IN Citizen Movement 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 Family Planning PLAOS/ Burkina For Women’s Rights and Against Setbacks! Red Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir de América Latina y el Caribe Central African Young Feminists Network 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 University of 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 Media 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 Senegal (Youth Women for Action)
* Illustration credit:Nebojša Cvetković x Fine Acts(modification of colors, text, and visual layout)
