Women's Rights: UN Process Bypasses Civil Society

United Nations process bypasses civil society consultation on women’s equality

A global trade union delegation representing more than 200 million members has sent an open letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon protesting the exclusion of civil voices in the shaping of recommendations on women’s equality at the UN’s annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women.

“It is unprecedented to be denied a voice in this process,” says Patty Ducharme, National Executive Vice-President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, a member of the Public Services International delegation.

“Delegates have come to New York from around the world expecting that – as in previous years, we would have the opportunity to work with government representatives to give input on the final wording of recommendations. Instead, we have been handed a weak political declaration that does not reflect the full concerns of working women—and, we are allowed no way to improve it. This is an outrage.” The trade unions’ letter calls on the United Nations and on governments to make social dialogue a reality, to ensure that civil society, trade unions and non-governmental organisations take their rightful place in this process. It points out that the UN’s leader has stated that our times demand a new definition of global leadership which includes government and civil society working together toward a collective global good. Jucara Dutra Vieira, President of the Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores em Educação of Brazil, and Vice-President of EI, says, “This session of the 54th Commission on the Status of Women is significant as we are focused on evaluating what progress has been made towards achieving gender equality—and identifying remaining challenges—15 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Engaging civil society in this process is critical to the success of this commission, but also to our collective success in achieving gender equality.”

The International Trade Union Confederation, Public Services International, Education International and UNI Global Union are asking members to sign on to the open letter by adding their name under “Comments” at http://unioncsw.world-psi.org/2010/03/support-our-action-sign-the-letter.html

ENDS

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