Compilation Of Inputs From Women’s Rights Advocates On The Occasion Of The 59th Commission On The Status Of Women

On the occasion of the 59th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 59), and in response to the invitation to the Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) to address the Commission at the opening of its fifty-ninth session, AWID called on feminists and women’s rights advocates around the world to share three key messages about women’s rights with UN and government leaders.

The call was widely disseminated online and was open for five days from 2–6 March 2015. 133 feminists and women’s rights advocates responded with 276 comments. The comments informed the remarks made by the Executive Director of AWID in her address to the Commission on Monday 9 March 2015.

Input from WLUML:

• VAW and discrimination should never be ‘justified’ in the name of culture or religion
• When tackling fundamentalisms, listen to the voices of the women who are affected
• Safety for #WHRDs in conflict and fundamentalist contexts
• Mass mobilisation of women who resist both fundamentalisms and imperialisms. A “third way”

Please download the pdf for the complete compilation of inputs.

Watch Lydia Alpizar's speech, delivered at the opening session of CSW 59.