As we enter into a season of global convenings, it is the right time to reflect on the first of many, this year’s 70th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), and how the agreed conclusions and global commitments impact both our global health community and in-county interventions.
CSW saw reaffirmed commitments by various actors towards ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls through the promotion of inclusive and equitable legal systems, the elimination of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing and eliminating systemic and structural barriers. This includes the ability for women to achieve bodily autonomy and decide their healthcare on their own terms. Self-care is a critical component to this policy ecosystem.
Because self-care does not only mean increased access and agency for women through commodities and interventions, but should also address policy and legal barriers. By crafting more inclusive and comprehensive self-care policies, self-care can contribute to addressing the invisible value gap of women in society, thus ensuring justice for all women.
In pushing for progress towards achieving gender equality and equity, a lot of effort has gone into place. However, there is still room for improvement and working towards actualizing CSW 70 priority theme on “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls”. This can be achieved through intentional collaborative efforts between member states and civil society organizations.
Despite anti-rights actors’ infiltration of global spaces such as CSW, there is a need to remain steadfast in advancing the gender equality agenda, not only at the global level but regionally and nationally as well. The anti-rights agenda at CSW—which included the introduction of resolutions meant to challenge the meaning of gender and limit reproductive justice—can be countered by continuously advocating for national polices and laws that safeguard rights for all.
Commission on the Status of Women reaffirms the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and reiterates that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among other conventions. As civil society organizations, we have a duty to hold states accountable when it comes to implementation, including the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda and ultimately upholding human rights for all.
Authored by Jane Nyanjom, Associate Director for Advocacy and Partnerships at Reproductive Health Network Kenya.