In case you missed our CSW68 Consultation Day, you can watch the recording here of the high-level event we hosted to kick off the NGO CSW68 Forum on 10 March 2024.
After our Co-Chairs, Ivy Koek and Pamela Morgan, kicked off the day’s proceedings, participants heard opening remarks from Ambassador Paula Narváez Ojeda, ECOSOC President, and Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women. President of the General Assembly, Honorable Amb. Dennis Francis, and CSW Chair Antonio Manuel Revilla Lagdameo provided video messages to welcome participants to CSW68.
After participants heard a beautiful spoken word poem from Jillian Montilla from the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, our Expert Panel convened a variety of civil society and government leaders for a conversation on what is at stake for CSW68. Lopa Banerjee, Director of the Civil Society Division for UN Women, moderated an invigorating conversation between Marion Bethel, CEDAW Member; Samira Rafaela, European Parliament; and Moufeeda Haidar, Restless Development and NGO CSW/NY Youth Fellow.
As Respondant, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, gave insightful remarks in response.
Interim YLYP Co-Chairs Annabel Gregg and Rachel Guerreiro moderated a conversation between four Global Youth Fellows.
Marina Csikos, Senamile Madlala, Elizabeth Maldonado, and Tendo Racheal all spoke on making a more just and equitable world for future generations to inherit.
The event enabled attendees to have additional insight into the UN CSW priority and review themes, and served to encourage post-Forum implementation of activities to advance women and girls’ rights and empowerment. Additionally, the Consultation Day Program set the stage for interaction among NGO CSW Forum participants, UN Women, the Bureau of the Commission on the Status of Women, and Member State representatives.