Last month, ICRW’s leadership, communications and advocacy teams attended the 68th session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (#CSW )in New York City. Below are a few key takeaways from our participation: 📊 We previewed 2024 Feminist Foreign Policy (#FFP) Index data with governments, which showed a rise in military expenditure and arms trade as well as the first-ever decline in gender-sensitive ODA and funding for women's rights organizations in a decade. On a positive note, women's representation in political and decision-making fora is improving. The International Peace Institute (IPI) also discussed FFP through the multilateral system and the implementation of FFP at the sub-national level. Colombia presented their FFP, the “first-ever explicitly pacifist policy,” focused on four pillars: social justice; environmental justice; total peace; education, science and culture. 🌍 Amazon hosted a jam-packed event focused on the new Climate Gender Equity Fund, a public-private partnership to leverage funding to scale climate finance that advances gender-equitable #climateaction. Corinne Hart, Senior Gender Advisor for Energy, Environment, and Climate in USAID's Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Hub, reminded us that we cannot achieve our climate goals if we “leave half of the ideas, perspectives and voices on the table”. A new round of funding will open in April. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/efM2UkZa 🙋♀️ At the Generation Equality Forum (#GEF) event youth activist Aya Chebbi reminded us that young people will continue to hold those in power to account and ensure commitments convert into action and funding. Watch the session: https://lnkd.in/dUGW6UCT 🖥 Microsoft, GZERO Media and the United Nations Foundation hosted an event on gender equality in the age of AI, which outlined how tech-facilitated gender-based violence (#GBV) is getting more extreme with AI, including against women and girls running for office or taking on leadership positions. The absence of robust policies and regulation contributes to the backsliding in gender equality gains we’re witnessing, and has a chilling effect on women’s participation in decision-making positions and public life. Watch the event: https://lnkd.in/gePNqcUw 👩⚕️ The Women’s Major Group hosted an event focused on financing for the #careeconomy, with the goal of framing care as a public good. Stakeholders from across the world emphasized that care work is not voluntary work, and these workers, especially migrant workers in care, need full rights and social protections. Overall, many conversations focused on existential threats to the movement for gender equity and justice right now, which requires greater solidarity, collaboration and bigger bets, including longer-term, unrestricted funding for activists closest to the challenges.
