The event will be organized by the Asia-Pacific Beijing+25 Civil Society Steering Committee with support from UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Location: Nouvo City Hotel, Bangkok (24 November 2019); United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok (25-26 November 2019)
Background
The 25-year anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) will be celebrated in 2020. The anniversary provides a pivotal moment to review state action and compliance in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). It also provides an opportunity for feminist movements to analyze current political, economic and social trends and consider ways to advance women’s human rights in a global context marked by deepening inequalities within and between countries, climate change and natural disasters, and regressions in the achievement of women’s empowerment. it also an opportune moment to contribute to the critical review of the first five years of the implementation of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other gender-related global and regional commitments.
The Beijing+25 review process began in 2019 with the preparation of comprehensive national reviews led by the Member States. Following regional reviews to be held in the five regions, the review process will culminate in a global review at the 64th Session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2020. The global review will highlight the achievements and barriers to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). It will also provide an opportunity to look at emerging issues which have impacted on women’s enjoyment of their rights. The engagement of civil society is an important component of the national, regional and global review processes.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is leading the regional review of Beijing+25, in collaboration with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and with the support of the Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (RCM-TWG-GEEW).
To ensure that civil society engagement is effective and coordinated in the regional review process, a Beijing+25 Civil Society Steering Committee for Asia and the Pacific was established comprising of ten civil society organizations* following a Call for Applications.
Beijing+25 Regional CSO Forum
UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and ESCAP will support the “Beijing+25 Regional CSO Forum” organized by the Asia-Pacific Beijing+25 Civil Society Steering Committee.
The Beijing+25 Regional CSO Forum will bring together CSOs to create a space to celebrate achievements and identify concerns on regressions on women’s empowerment, as well as facilitate intergenerational dialogue and solidarity between the diverse constituencies represented. The Forum will also serve as a platform to consolidate the CSO inputs to the regional and global review processes, which can be carried through at the national and local levels in follow-up to the CSW64 in 2020.
Selection Criteria for Applicants
The Civil Society Steering Committee is inviting applicants to engage in the CSO Forum based on the following criteria.
• Participants of the CSO Forum should be representatives of civil society, including activists and academics.
• The CSO Forum is a feminist space and applicants who are individuals or from organisations committed to and act in accordance with global human rights principles and practice inclusive and progressive feminism will be welcomed. Grassroots women and girls will be prioritized for funding support, particularly those from under-represented thematic constituencies and countries. Efforts will be made to ensure representation from all subregions under the coverage of the ESCAP region.
For further details and to apply to attend the CSO Forum and/or the intergovernmental meeting, please complete the Beijing +25 CSO Nomination form which is available on UN Women’s Asia-Pacific website and submit it to [email protected] no later than Friday 6 September 2019.
Workshop Information
Workshops will take place in parallel on the first two days of the forum. Each workshop will have a 90-minute slot. The goals of the workshops will be:
• To build knowledge and understandings of women’s rights issues that are not well-understood outside of the local, national or regional context;
• To convene spaces for conversations on common experiences;
• To invite participants to identify the recommendations to make and collectively support at the intergovernmental meetings; and
• To make specific recommendations (to be sent to Steering Committee at the end of the workshop) to be consolidated in the joint CSO statement made to all member States at the intergovernmental meeting.
Please visit the UN Women’s Asia-Pacific website to apply for holding a workshop and/or to propose a performance or solidarity action. Kindly complete the relevant form(s) and submit it to [email protected] no later than Monday 23 September 2019.
*The ten members of the Beijing+25 Civil Society Steering Committee for Asia and the Pacific are: Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD); Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW); Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW); Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN); Fiji Women’s Rights Movement (FWRM); Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW); Gramya Resource Centre for Women; International Center for Research on Women (ICRW); International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific); and Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre.