The 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), took place this year from 11 – 22 March under the priority theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”.
Representatives of the women’s movement from Turkey, who attended the CSW68, discuss the topics on the CSW’s agenda, the involvement of NGOs, and the role and future of the CSW.
This year, the priority theme of the 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), held at the United Nations Headquarters from March 10 to 22, was “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.”
Approximately 6,000 women, LGBTI+ individuals, and civil society representatives from all around the world participated in the CSW68. In addition to the official meetings, numerous side events organized by civil society organizations were also held.
In the CSW, where the voices of women’s civil society organizations have been increasingly stifled over the years, even the presence of NGO representatives in the corridors where meetings are held was prevented this year. Both physical and virtual attacks against feminist activists and events organized by them are on the rise.
However, despite these exclusionary practices, women’s organizations continue to work to change the working methods of the CSW and strive to make their demands heard.
Participation from Turkey
Aysu Bankoğlu, a member of the Turkish parliament from the CHP who attended and spoke at the CSw68 on behalf of Turkey, emphasized the importance of gender-responsive budgeting. She stated, “In Turkey, women want to see tangible results, not just plans, programs, or documents.”
During the CSW68, representatives of the women’s movement from Turkey and CHP parliamentarian Bankoğlu protested in front of Türkevi by wearing masks with the slogan “The Istanbul Convention is ours.”
This year, on the civil society front, a joint event organized by the Red Pepper Association, Women’s Coalition, and Association for the Struggle Against Sexual Violence brought together representatives from Turkey’s civil society, the global women’s movement, and academia.
Representatives from the Turkish women’s movement who attended the CSW68 included Selma Acuner and İlknur Üstün from the Women’s Coalition, Fatma Aytaç from the Red Pepper Association, Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci from the Women’s Major Group, Burcu Uçuran from the Association for the Struggle Against Sexual Violence and Aslıhan Tekin from the European Women’s Lobby. We discussed the topics on the CSW’s agenda, the involvement of NGOs, and the role and future of the CSW.
What were the policies of the countries like this year? What important decisions were made?
Aslıhan Tekin: This year’s 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) focused on the main theme of “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.” Approximately 6,000 women, LGBTI+ individuals, and representatives from civil society organizations participated in this session and organized a series of side events alongside the official meetings.
Participants are demanding policies that go beyond mere economic participation. Feminists argued that it is essential to move beyond the inclusion of girls, women, and individuals with gender diversity in the economy. Beyond mainstream approaches, they emphasized the necessity of adopting a feminist perspective to transform poverty, environmental, and climate policies into equitable and just systems.
We faced another challenging CSW session this year, where we had to navigate difficult political balances in response to the approaches of more conservative countries, both religiously and politically.
Activists participating in the CSW expressed concerns about the resistance of the conservative bloc, including Turkey, to many progressive concepts, such as the concept of gender equality. Women’s organizations voiced their concerns in their events about the shrinking space for women’s rights, the targeting of LGBTI+ individuals, and the exclusion of various forms of femininity under heading of family policies.
Over the years, the voices of women’s civil society organizations have been increasingly marginalized at the CSW. Did this trend persist this year? What was the extent of civil society organizations’ participation and influence?
Selma Acuner: The CSW is the primary intergovernmental global organization established to promote gender equality and empower women. It operates as a functional commission of ECOSOC and serves as a platform where the global women’s movement gathers annually, contributing to shaping the international political agenda on women’s rights. This year, at the 68th session of the CSW, attended by nearly 6,000 NGO representatives, NGOs organized numerous parallel events.
Each March, member countries, represented by diplomats, delegates, political representatives, bureaucrats, experts, and ministers, convene at the UN Headquarters in New York to develop concrete policies supporting gender equality. During the two-week-long negotiations, official delegations also host side events. Experts and various organizations participate in these events, allowing civil society organizations to conduct lobbying activities targeting country representatives. The agreed conclusions is produced at the end of the annual session through consensus among all countries.
Until the 2000s, representatives of women’s organizations could enter the negotiation rooms as observers and communicate directly with official delegations. However, in subsequent years, this practice was abruptly discontinued. We have frequently witnessed situations where session chairs would halt the session, instructing, “If there is an NGO member inside, they should leave.”
This year, even standing in the corridors where the meetings were held was prohibited for NGO representatives.
Despite these exclusionary practises, women’s organizations have been and continue to be proactive in advocating for changes to the working methods of the CSW.
The global women’s movement, including experts from Turkey, consistently prepares and presents proposals regarding the Commission’s working methods. In recent years, there has been an intensified focus on reforming the structure of the CSW, with discussions aimed at making it more effective and inclusive.
In addition to these structural challenges, a significant obstacle for women’s organizations in participating in the CSW is the issue of resources. The financial burden of attending United Nations meetings is exceedingly high, particularly for women’s organizations with limited or no financial resources. Covering the costs of flights and accommodation in New York, where the UN Headquarters is located, is nearly impossible. While some NGO representatives cover their own expenses, others manage to attend with support from donor civil society organizations. The lack of resources often leads to the views and demands of women and LGBTI+ organizations in developing countries not being adequately addressed.
What was the nature and diversity of the feminist women’s participation from Turkey in this year’s meeting?
Fatma Aytaç and İlknur Üstün: This year, the Red Pepper Association, Women’s Coalition, and Association for the Struggle Against Sexual Violence jointly organized an event titled “Crisis as a Continuum: Gender Impact of Disasters, Problems, and Inclusive Response with a Focus on the 6th of February Earthquake in Türkiye” on March 14th. Selma Acuner from the Women’s Coalition and Fatma Aytaç from the Red Pepper Association served as facilitators for the event. İlknur Üstün from the Women’s Coalition, lawyer Burcu Uçuran from the Association for the Struggle Against Sexual Violence, and Michaela Maura Koçoğlu from Florida International University represented the Red Pepper Association as speakers.
The event, which saw extensive participation from both the women’s movements in Turkey and internationally, garnered significant interest.
Turkish civil society, international women’s movements, academics, and Turkish women residing in the USA came together for a comprehensive gathering. This important meeting, which drew intense interest from participants of diverse disciplines and regions, included messages of solidarity from Iranian women activists.
Each speaker provided valuable insights from their respective fields, making the event both informative and interactive.
The event delved into the relationship between crises and gender inequality. It emphasized that while some crises are triggered by natural events, the majority, such as wars, migrations, disasters, and pandemics, are human-made and deeply affect daily life. The discussions highlighted the political implications of these crises, the diversity of their effects and solutions, and how they exacerbate and spread gender inequality. It was highlighted how gender inequality leads women to experience extraordinary conditions even on ordinary days and how recent wars, earthquakes, migrations, and pandemics have deepened and expanded inequality through the experiences of women and the LGBTI+ community.
İlknur Üstün from the Women’s Coalition emphasized that addressing crises requires tackling gender inequality and ensuring active participation of those affected by the crisis in crisis management. She elaborated on potential solutions to combat crises and highlighted the unique conditions and collaborations of women from various countries during such events.
Burcu Uçuran, a lawyer from the Association for the Struggle Against Sexual Violence, discussed human rights violations occurring in the aftermath of earthquakes. She stated, “As an association, we visited the earthquake-affected area and supported the civil society organizations on the ground. We compiled data from reports prepared with a rights-based focus and published a detailed briefing note on our website. In the recommendations section of the presentation, we urged the government to invite civil society organizations to participate in developing a gender-sensitive disaster plan and to ensure transparent, disaggregated, and accessible data sharing concerning earthquakes and sexual violence under citizens’ right to information.”
Academic Michaela Maura Koçoğlu presented the project titled “Overcoming Gender Barriers in STEAM Education.” She shared the findings of the project conducted through collaboration between the Red Pepper Association, Yaşar University Women’s Studies Center, and Florida International University Women’s Studies Center.
She provided insights into the curriculum developed to address and contribute to improving the negative impact on the education of children and young people in the earthquake-affected region and cities affected by migration following the earthquake on February 6th. She remarked, “The preliminary findings indicate persistent barriers such as lack of transportation, security issues, and a scarcity of role models for girls in STEAM education.”
Given the rise of right-wing conservative politics globally, which threatens women’s rights, what are your views on the role and future of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in safeguarding and advancing women’s rights?
Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci: Regrettably, the CSW is increasingly becoming a battleground where we fight to maintain our gains rather than a platform for progress. Instead of being an arena where Agreed Conslusion develop norms for gender equality and women’s rights, and significantly contribute to the advancement of human rights, we often find ourselves reverting to previously agreed-upon paragraphs due to objections from countries led by right-wing conservative politics. Some nations even challenge paragraphs that were unanimously agreed upon by all countries.
However, all hope is not lost. Although the path is more challenging and demands increased effort, we can still achieve minor advancements in the Agreed Conlusions and work vigorously to halt any regression.
Beyond the trajectory of the CSW’s outputs, feminist activists and their events face both physical and virtual attacks during the sessions. “Civil society organizations” representing right-wing conservative ideologies, which are gaining momentum worldwide and are financially stronger and more coordinated than the feminist movement, disrupt meetings both within and outside the UN with their evident intent to stir controversy through provocative questions. The cyber-attacks further compound these issues.
These “civil society organizations”, claiming exclusion from the CSW this year (a claim whose accuracy is highly debatable), also organized a parallel event. We’ve heard that representatives from Turkey were present at this platform, where they sought to propagate and engage in activities against gender equality and women’s rights under the banner of “family values”. For several years now, a bus displaying anti-abortion messages has been circling the UN, and this year it was spotted on the streets during the concluding days of CSW 68.
These developments might seem disheartening regarding the operation of the CSW. However, we remain steadfast in our belief in the solidarity and resilience of the feminist movement. To preserve and continue our progress, we must bolster our presence in platforms like the CSW and persistently support each other in our collective struggle.