This is the busy time of year for the UN Advocacy Committee. We observe and attend UN events year-round, but our mission calls us to be active at the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to be held March 9-20. ICUUW will have a delegation of more than 10 in New York City to attend CSW in person. We will meet to discuss what we are seeing and hearing and perhaps craft statements (interventions) in response to what is happening.
This should be an interesting year given the fact that the world order is changing, perhaps even turning away from the mission of the UN. It is troubling to know that many of us are citizens of the nation which is driving that change, but we probably won’t feel anti-UN sentiment as individuals. After all, we are US citizens who still hope the UN mission will go forward.
Each year, we organize and present at least two Parallel Events during CSW, emphasizing our areas of particular interest and giving us the opportunity to collaborate with and find others working on these initiatives. This year we are organizing a hybrid workshop on women as environmental defenders, with participation in person near the UN on Monday, March 16. We will also present an online webinar on how faith-based groups work with refugees, emphasizing the work ICUUW has been involved with in Romania, along other UU efforts and those of other faith groups. This virtual webinar will be held on Wednesday, March 18.
It is important to us to hold both events online (one hybrid, the other one fully online) so that everyone can attend, and so that others around the world can know about our work. Once details have been finalized, you will find information on both events on our calendar.
Even if you cannot come to New York City in March, you can be an active participant in CSW. All the major plenary events and some side events at the UN are available on UN Web TV. Simply google that and look for the daily list of livestreams.
And you can attend hundreds of workshops online through the platform managed by NGO‑CSW/NY. You need to register in advance for the platform, but there is no cost. Registration on the platform will open soon. Check out the