Report on Civil Society Input to UN Women

Priorities for UN Women:

Country-Level Work;

Presentation of Global Survey

Parallel Session

23 February 2011

The Parallel Session centred on a Report of the Input of civil society. At the end of the session the attendees received a copy of the Report.

OXFAM Moderator - from The Hague

"Blueprint for UN Women - About the global civil society survey on UN Women"

A bound copy of the Report was presented to the Head of UN Women Transition Team who accepted on behalf of Michelle Bachelet.

Danielle La Rocha will present the outcomes of this report.

Mentioned the marginalized women who do not have the opportunity to be here at the CSW55.

Danielle La Rocha:
The Survey: WhyWhat women want from UN Women
Wide range of civil society organizations (CSOs) working on women's rightsThe Survey: Methodology1028 respondents
Made selection from 100 organizations at the country level
Telephone interviews in 4 different languages
Mix of open and closed questions
Data analysisThe Survey: What and where100 CSOs, 75 countries, 5 regions (e.g. Europe and N. Am. is one region)
41% represented womens' rights organizations
15% were grassrootsNeeds and priorities - Urgent issues at country level99% put Violence Against Women (VAW) as the top issue
72% put it as the top priority of the 3 main prioritiesWhere is help needed most?84% said rural women
62% - disabled
61% - uneducated womenWith whom should UN Women collaborate?86% said with NGOs
66% - with government
41% - the grassrootsHow should UN Women collaborate with CSOs?94% said through partnerships
38% - in program developmentUN Women at the Country Level - Learnings from the past
- Work of UN (agencies) does not reach women practically.
- UN Women should encourage groups to work from the human rights perspective.
Recommendations:VAW main priority
Focus on rural women's inclusion
Comprehensive action plan
Call on experience of CSOs
Ensure that governments deliver on their commitmentsGuest panellists:

1. Middle East and N. Africa, involved with GEAR
2. Leader of Working Group on UN Women
3. GEAR, African Women
The moderator then asked questions of the panellists.

Are you surprised by the outcomes from the survey?Excellent idea to have survey and CSOs should continue to be involved; we certainly do not want to have business conducted "as usual" - particularly with partnerships
Not surprised; compare it to the BPA process; VAW is not a surprise or is it because women are fed up because it is not disappearing or shifting - so what can UN Women do differently; VAW prevents women and girls from achieving their potential in life; VAW is also an economic and social cost to a country; VAW will also affect the men and boys
Not surprising - VAW causes more deaths than traffic, cancer, malaria and AIDs combinedHow should UN Women work? Do we want something else?There has been a concern and worry that UN Women, which we have wanted, will succeed; we want all the voices to be heard
Can UN Women deliver?Is there a Role for Civil Society Organizations to connect to UN Women?UN Women will continue to ask questions and seek input; it will be necessary for UN Women to partner Is it surprising the VAW was the top priority in 75 countries?Not if viewed as a lack of empowerment (audience member)
Not if you consider the patriarchal systems that are so prevalent; until Governments do something about it, it will not happen
Deep roots of discrimination against women in many parts of the world; the elimination of VAW must be a key priority; UN's work for women is largely invisible - and uses only 1% of its budget for women and girls
VAW is the tip of an iceberg that is discrimination against women; how parents raise their children (audience member)
Read the report and could not get a sense of the views of women in domestic or conflict areas (audience member). Response was that there is always a risk in how people answer survey questions.How are we going to make UN Women effective?UN Women has to realize the challenges of working at the global level; it's only by working with governments and with CSOs that UN Women can reach the grassroots level; needs to share and publicize effectively what it does
UN Women will not be able to do anything effectively unless it is probably funded. It is $300,000,000 short. Get out there and get Governments to get that funding in place for UN Women; the UK pledged 0.7% but has not coughed up the cash; Canada pledged $10 million - come on! That is not enough.
Need ordinary people to engage with the UNYou all, in this Parallel Session understand and support UN Women. Your advice is very timely and needed for the Strategic Plan which is due in April. There's a real synergy at work. Michelle Bachelet has really listened to civil society. UN Women also has a mandate to ensure gender equality and must work with the other UN agencies to have coherence. Where UN Women can really make a difference is the approach it takes. It could play a very significant role in advocacy and it can be done in so many different ways that will make a transformative change. There is still time needed to build towards the point when UN Women can deliver what it plans. (Summary comment by a UN worker)