The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017. For the first time in the history of CSW, ‘The Empowerment of Indigenous Women’ was covered substantially as an emerging issue/focus area. Given the long history of concerted efforts to place indigenous peoples issues, including indigenous women, on the global agenda, this was an achievement in itself.

On 16 March, a high level interactive dialogue session took place addressing the empowerment of indigenous women in four thematic areas: political participation; violence perpetrated against them; economic opportunities and; climate change and responses. 

The session heard 19 governmental interventions by 16 minsters and other senior governmental officials. There were nine invited speakers with two representatives of the UN system and six civil society representations. Indigenous women were also invited to share their progress, but also to express the challenges they continue to face. This produced a rich discussion with many concrete examples and practical steps for the further empowerment of indigenous women and girls.

The conversation will continue in three weeks time at the 16th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).

Around the world, indigenous women provide tremendous contributions to sustainable development and the well-being of their families, communities and national economies. Yet indigenous women are often prevented from realising their full capabilities; they face multiple levels of discrimination as women and as indigenous and are often invisible in the programme, plan and policy of government.In 2014 Member States invited the Commission on the Status of Women to consider the empowerment of indigenous women as a theme for future sessions and this year it became a reality. It was a moment for indigenous women to “come up, step up, and give out [their] voices and let the nation and the states know that [they] want to be at the forefront of this topic.”

#MyVoiceMyCommunity
Call to Action on World Down Syndrome Day 2017

In celebration of the 12^th anniversary of World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), the United Nations Headquarters hosted the 6^th World Down Syndrome Day Conference on 21 March. This year’s theme was, ‘#MyVoiceMyCommunity – Enabling people with down syndrome to speak up, be heard and influence government policy and action, to be fully included in the community.’

The celebration showcased unique examples of how advocates and self-advocates are currently working together to ensure the realisation of the 2017 WDSD theme.

For example, CoorDown is an Italian organization that protects and promotes the rights of persons with Down syndrome. Irene Galli (18) recently joined the CoorDown’s Self Advocate Advisory Board, which is comprised of young people and adults with Down syndrome with the aim of representing their views in order to advise the CoorDown Council.

When it comes to the empowerment of people with Down syndrome, and people with disabilities more generally, combining the facilitative capacity and resources of advocates, with the ability, experience and passion of self-advocates, makes for a powerful force. Self-advocacy is also a fundamental part of making progress in ensuring that no one is left behind, a pledge made by the international community through the 2030 Agenda.

Read more about the event here.

Learn more about World Down Syndrome Day here.

World Autism Awareness Day 2017 

Toward Autonomy and Self-Determination

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Experts of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues meet in Canada in the lead up to the 10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration

In preparation for the 16th Session of the UNPFII, which will commemorate on the 10th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the expert members of the Permanent Forum gathered in Ottawa from 27 February to 3 March, in a pre-sessional meeting hosted by the Government of Canada. The experts met with First Nations, Métis and Inuit representatives as well as government officials and parliamentarians. The commitment of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his unequivocal support to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples announced in May 2016 was warmly welcomed.

Learn more about the meeting here.

The 54th session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD54) took place from 3-12 February 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, under the priority theme, ‘Rethinking and Strengthening Social Development in the Contemporary World’.

A total of 320 representatives from 124 ECOSOC accredited organisations attended the session. The regional distribution of participants was disproportional with 71 percent of participants coming from North America and 11 percent from Europe. Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean sent a combined 18 percent of participants.Overall, the general satisfaction of participants that did attend CSocD54 was positive, with 84 percent of attendees surveyed likely to return to CSocD55.

To increase representation, it is recommended that Member States include civil society members in their delegations and take a more active role in the Commission. For the Division of Social Policy and Development, improving outreach and better data collection of participation should be implemented to increase civil society engagement with Member States. NGOs are encouraged to reach out to other organisations and representatives to promote the Commission, encourage younger members to participate and to engage in cross-issue collaboration of written and oral interventions as well as side events.

Read the full report here.