From 6 – 10 March, PES Women was in New York for the 67th Commission on the Status of Women. Each year PES Women seizes the opportunity of CSW to champion progressive action for gender equality, in Europe and internationally.
This year, CSW67 focused on innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls. PES Women teamed up with FEPS, Fondation Jean-Jaurès, and UN Women Germany to host a parallel event: Automating Inequality. This event explored how the digital world perpetuates old and new forms of discrimination.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:
“It is essential that we address the links between digitalisation and equality now to consider how new technologies reinforce pre-existing inequalities as well as raise awareness of new forms of gender and intersectional inequalities that may arise in this digital age.
“We must consider these impacts now before gender equality is left behind in the digital age. We need progressive voices to come together and find common solutions which can create a better future for us all.”
PES Women organised and attended a number of high-level bi-lateral meetings. PES Women President, Zita Gurmai, met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Policy, Guy Ryder, to discuss PES Women’s work and challenges facing gender equality in 2023. We also addressed the importance of strengthening UN Women and making sure that it represents all women around the world. Additionally, PES Women met UN Women Deputy Executive Director, Asa Regner, to discuss how UN Women is supporting women and girls in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iran and other regions where a strong UN Women presence is needed.
PES Women also attended a high-level meeting with the wider progressive family network to consider strategies to combat the increasing backlash and resistance to gender equality, and the progressive push to ensure gender equality is a central theme in the 2024 EU elections.
PES Women President Zita Gurmai said:
“We are seeing increasing backlash and resistance to gender equality across the board, both in the EU and internationally. These movements have wide networks, large financial backing and share underlying logics that are dangerous to progress in gender equality. We must be vigilant and stand firm on women’s rights and gender equality.”
PES Women attended other CSW67 events, including a high-level EU side event on a gender equal world with technology, digitalisation and AI; an SIW event on women’s human rights in Iran; and an EWL event addressing the full continuum of online violence against women and girls. The quantity and diversity of CSW67 events underlines the multiple challenges that must be overcome to achieve gender equality in an increasingly digital world.
International Women’s Day (8 March) fell during CSW67. To mark the day, PES Women attended the UN observance event – “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” – to celebrate the contributions of women and girls committed to building gender-responsive innovations and advancing innovation and digital technology. PES Women also continued its joint campaign with the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions #SafePlace4Women.
