“Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls” 

Hanifa Mezoui, Phd

Being the UN’s largest gathering on gender equality, this year’s CSW63 focuses on the theme, “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.” 

The current CSW63 session was about “getting the job done.” Getting the job of gender equality done is of utmost urgency, because it has been almost 25 years since delegates declared that “women’s rights are human rights,” at the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. Concerns about potential backsliding on gains already made were expressed. The families and communities most at risk of being left behind in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, lack access to adequate infrastructure, have restricted mobility, and cannot afford private services, including child care, water, sanitation, energy, health facilities and education.

While witnessing notable achievements over the past 25 years, there has been weak delivery on key commitments to these goals and resolutions. The impacts of the gender pay gap, for instance, must be addressed. One of the long-term effects of the gender pay gap over a woman’s working life is an immense pension gap at her retirement. Evidence shows that around the world, the number of elderly women living in extreme poverty is growing.

The gender, wage and pensions gaps, accompanied by the lack of universal social protection seriously jeopardize the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals, which call for an end to poverty and hunger; the achievement of gender equality and decent work.                                                                       

                              Annex

CSW63 : The outcome of the two-week meeting

Key recommendations from the Agreed Conclusions include the following: 

• Invest in social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure to support the productivity of women’s work, including in the informal economy;
• Ensure that progress in women’s access to social protection, public services and sustainable infrastructure is not undermined by budget cuts and austerity measures, and levels of protection previously achieved are not reversed;
• Build on multilateral commitments to gender equality, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), to strengthen access to social protection, public services and infrastructure for all women and girls;
• Recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work by ensuring access to social protection for unpaid caregivers of all ages, including coverage for health care and pensions;
• Scale up investment in quality public care services that are affordable and gender-responsive;
• Identify and remove barriers to women’s and girls’ access to public services, such as physical distance, lack of information and decision-making power, stigma and discrimination;
• Guarantee the availability of safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation, including for menstrual hygiene, in homes, schools, refugee camps and other public places;
• Ensure that transport policies and planning are sustainable, accessible, affordable, safe and gender-responsive, taking into account the different needs of women and men, and adapted to be used by persons with disabilities and older persons;
• Promote the full and equal participation and leadership of women and women’s organizations in policy dialogues and decision-making relating to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure;
• Strongly condemn the impunity and lack of accountability rooted in historical and structural inequality that accompanies pervasive violence against women.

On October 10, 2018, the Association of Former International Civil Servants for Development (Greycells) will celebrate its tenth anniversary by holding a dialogue at the Palais des Nations between representatives of seniors and millennials entitled: “Seniors and Millennials: Working Together for the Global Goals “ 

The views of both generations will be exchanged and compared: on the one hand, older people’s experience and advice, on the other hand, youth’s future projects and hopes. What are the views of the Millennials on the legacy and responsibilities of the older generation regarding the SDGs? How do the Millennials view their own later years, and what are their expectations? How do seniors view the opinions they had when they were young as compared to the Millennials’ views? How can both young and old generations learn and benefit from each other in achieving the SDGs? 

During the days preceding the Dialogue, thanks to state-of-the-art technology, the views, questions and comments of the young generation on the role of seniors will be gathered through a world-wide social media campaign, organized in cooperation with the UN Secretariat. 

Greycells, in consultation with all partners contributing to the commemorative event, will prepare substantive inputs on the role of seniors and millennials in achieving each SDG, with a view to launching and stimulating the campaign. Selected questions and comments will serve as a basis for the dialogue. The results of both the campaign and the Dialogue will be disseminated all over the world through the above-mentioned social media, as well as by specialized journalists. 

The Dialogue will be introduced by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Michael Møller, and by Ms. Esther Alder, President of the Department of Social Cohesion and Solidarity of the City of Geneva. It will focus on poverty, inequality and migration; employment, retirement and professional projects; environment; gender: equal rights and opportunities. The moderator, Mr. Jeremy Seydoux, will facilitate the interactive discussion with the public. 

The campaign and the dialogue have the benefit of participation by: The Seniors’ City of the City of Geneva, the Platform of associations of senior people in Geneva, Geneva International Model United Nations (GIMUN), Young-UN, the Parliament of Young people in Geneva and Rotaract Geneva International. 

The Dialogue will be conducted in French with interpretation into English, it will last two hours and will be followed by a reception hosted by Greycells and its partners, with the kind participation of the United Nations Jazz Ensemble.