International Women's Day – World Scouting participates in the Commission on the Status of Women
Celebrated on 8 March, International Women's Day (IWD) is the global day connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential. And although gender equality has progressed enormously over the past century, some countries and organisations still treat women unfairly, thus presenting the need for youth involvement to create a better world. World Scouting encourages initiatives like IWD to both celebrate the achievements of women as well as raise social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide.
In conjunction with IWD, World Scouting has participated in the 51st Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN-CSW51), which this year took place from February 26 to March 9 in New York. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. The Commission was established with the aim to prepare recommendations and reports to the Council on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields.
The CSW is an opportunity for the international community to identify challenges, set global standards and formulate policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
WOSM representative, Melissa Martins Casagrande participated in the plenary sessions and a joint statement with WAGGGS was presented to the Commission based on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against young women.
This effort, combined with workshops promoted by youth organisations during the event, has contributed to the recognition by the CSW51 of the relevance of non-formal education to the elimination of discrimination and violence against the girl child.
Melissa Martins Casagrande at CSW51.
IWD celebrates the collective power of women past, present and future, when thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. While there are many large-scale initiatives, a rich and diverse fabric of local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.
Click here to download the joint statement presented to the Commission from WOSM & WAGGGS.
For more information go to the following links:
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW)
International Women's Day website
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