Women’s Rights and Health Project (WRAHP) based on her United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) consultative status, participated in the recently concluded 67th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women which took place on 6th to 17th of March 2023 at the United Nations Headquarters (UN HQ) in New York, United States of America.
WRAHP was represented by her Executive Director Bose Ironsi at the convention. Key recommendations for Women and Girls advocates from the CSW67th Session include;
- The Commission reaffirms the commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls made at relevant United Nations summits and conferences, including the International Conference on Population and Development and its Programme of Action and the outcome documents of its reviews
- The Commission recognizes the need to ensure that human rights are promoted, respected and fulfilled in the conception, design, development, deployment, evaluation and regulation of technologies and to ensure that they are subject to adequate safeguards in order to promote an open, secure, stable, and accessible and affordable information and communications technology environment for all women and girls.
- The Commission emphasizes that efforts to close the gender digital divide and ensure that no one is left behind in the digital economy and society must be expanded and grounded in digital equity. It encourages all relevant stakeholders to promote equal and affordable access to digital skills and to mainstream a gender perspective into the conceptualization, development and implementation of digital technologies and related policies
- The Commission recognizes the need to focus on capacity-development policies and sustainable support of all women and girls to further enhance the impact of activities and initiatives at the national and local levels aimed at providing advice, services and support, with a view to building an inclusive and development-oriented information society that respects human rights
- The Commission emphasizes that serious harm and discrimination against women and girls triggered by the use of new and emerging digital technologies call for regulations that take into account the voices and experiences of women and girls to improve accountability requirements to address any human rights violations and abuses and enhance transparency on how to use and protect data and address the potential human rights violations and abuses caused by the use of their products and services taking into account the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- The Commission recognizes that social media has transformed how information is shared globally, providing women and girls with new channels to share content and opinions, as well as come together to raise awareness and mobilize, and therefore stresses the need to facilitate and expand, particularly for women and girls the accessibility and affordability of safe, secure and inclusive online platforms and digital technology, including by investing in and creating effective regulatory frameworks fully compliant with relevant obligations under international human rights law, including for content moderation and reporting mechanisms.
- The Commission strongly condemns all forms of violence against women and girls, rooted in historical and structural inequalities and unequal power relations between men and women.
- The Commission also recognizes that violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment in private and public spaces, including in educational institutions and the world of work, as well as in digital contexts, impedes participation and decision-making in the context of innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age and leads to a hostile environment
- The Commission recognizes that girls are often at greater risk of being exposed to and experiencing various forms of discrimination and gender-based violence and harmful practices, including through the use of information and communications technology and social media. It also recognizes that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in girls spending more time online, which has been exploited by offenders and has therefore increased the need for measures and education to promote child safety
- The Commission further condemns gender-based violence and the emergence and rise of harmful behaviours and narratives which undermine and discredit women’s and girls’ online and offline expression, forcing women and girls to self-censor, close their digital platforms or reduce their interaction in online and offline spaces, limiting their full, and meaningful participation in public life and the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms
- The Commission welcomes the significant contributions of civil society organizations, especially women’s, young women’s, girls’, youth-led, grass-roots and community-based organizations, rural, indigenous and feminist groups, women human rights defenders, women journalists and media professionals and trade unions in promoting and protecting the human rights of all women and girls, placing their interests, needs and visions on local, national, regional and international agendas and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of measures to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including in the context of innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age. It expresses concern that such civil society organizations face many challenges and barriers to full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership, including diminishing funding, as well as violence, harassment, reprisals directed at, and threats to the physical security of, their members.
- Take measures to protect and promote the rights of all women and girls with disabilities, including by addressing all barriers that prevent or restrict their full, equal and meaningful participation in the design, management, resourcing and implementation of information and communications technology policies, ensuring their access to disability-inclusive and accessible digital information and technology, digital literacy and skills, in particular in relation to health and quality education, distance learning, as well as productive employment and decent work, including remote work, for women with disabilities, and rehabilitation and other independent living support services and assistive technologies that enable women to maximize their well-being and realize their independence and autonomy, and ensuring their priorities and rights are fully incorporated into policies and programmes, developed in close consultation with women with disabilities.
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