When CSW64th Session was scaled down and all side events and parallel sessions cancelled many Australian women were left disappointed.  The 50/50 Foundation responded with an impromptu mini-conference held at the University of Canberra to showcase some of the Australian presentations that would have taken part in CSW and to actively advance the public discourse on gender equality

Read below how event ‘Special Rapporteur’ for the day, Sally Moyle, shares her take on CSW and what we’ve learnt.

To read the article click here

As we deal with the effects of restrictions and actions to minimise Coronavirus Kelley Burke of Channel 7 News has written an an excellent article on the gendered impacts of the virus and it’s clear links to women’s economic insecurity.

In a summary   ..

Gendered norms mean that women are at much higher risk than men of contracting COVID-19 and of surviving the virus.

Women are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to their economic insecurity, their over-representation in certain sectors of the economy, their caring responsibilities, and the feminisation of the education and healthcare sectors.

Measures are in place for hand washing, social distancing and self isolation ..“But none of these measures address the gendered nature of pandemics and why the burden of the disease will largely be felt by women. It really has to be at a policy-making level, and it’s the policymakers that need to get into the habit of thinking about the gender differences,” she says.

For full article click here

For the Lancet source article click here

For Amy Haddid Broadsheet Article COVID-19 is not Gender Neutral click here

NGO CSW64 Forum Venues will be closed to the public from 9-20 March due to the coronavirus and potential health risks.

Any Parallel Event organizer or planned attendee will not be able to use or enter any of the venues for events. No exceptions will be made.

The list of NGO CSW64 Forum venues are as follows:

• Church Center for the United Nations (CCUN)
• The Salvation Army 4 W 43rd St.
• Armenian Convention Center

In light of the current concerns regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19), CSW64 will suspend after one procedural meeting on 9 March. There will be no general discussion. All CSW side events on UN premises and all NGO parallel events have been cancelled.
NGOs with valid annual grounds passes will be able to attend the procedural meeting on 9 March. There will be no issuance of CSW grounds passes and CSW64 confirmation letters are no longer applicable.

We advise organizations to follow the Secretary-General’s strong recommendation that capital-based delegations and other stakeholders refrain from travelling to UN Headquarters. For more information, please see the NGO participation pages of the CSW64 website at https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/ngo-participation

[Source https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw64-2020]