RSS News FeedWO=MEN, 18-01-2010 This afternoon my head was sent spinning in all directions as I sat with a large number of ambitious and involved members of WO=MEN at their CSW consultation. This year is going to be a good one in the sense that the emphasis will be reviewing the past 15 years in terms of best practices and lessons learnt. This is also an interesting session because of certain political changes. What does it mean for us now that Obama is president of the U.S.? What does the Spanish EU presidency mean for our ambitions? How about the millennium development goals and women?
Taking part in the CSW I will be particularly interested in the attention paid to girls and young women generally. More specifically I am interested in the outcomes of discussions on issues such as sexual and reproductive rights, accountability and violence against women.
It would be an inspiring experience to be in touch with more youth activists who are involved in these issues. Many young people will attend that CSW. I have understood that a large group of pro life youth has been mobilized and will be present at the CSW as a side show. I am very curious to hear what they have to say. In what way we can represent the other side of the story, the pro-choice side? I believe that every (young) woman should have a choice to decide about her body, especially when it comes to issues such as abortion. It would be great to be part of a group of young activists who want to take on this issue during the side event.
Aside from this issue of abortion there is a cross cutting issue of accountability which will hopefully be raised and dealt with. How do women’s organizations plan and monitor their activities? How do they set their targets? How can this be improved? What role does gender mainstreaming play in all of this?
And last, but absolutely not least, there is the issue of violence against women (and girls) which is really an issue that concerns everyone. I hope to learn from others what they have been doing on all levels to deal with this issue. Women are both victims and perpetrators of violence. More often than not women suffer from various forms of abuse and violence both in conflict and non conflict areas. It is essential that we share experience and form alliances and networks to deal with this global issue of violence against women and girls.
During these pre-CSW days it is important for us to reflect on what our ambitions are . In what way we can make strategic plans to work towards those ambitions? What do we want to achieve and how will we know when we have achieved it?
By Ama van Dantzig