Ei-iE

The 53rd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) opened in New York on 2 March. The 40-strong trade union delegation from the Education International, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Public Services International (PSI) will be presenting trade union statement to governments.

Each year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set international standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

Lobbyists, NGO representatives, and field practitioners concerned with women’s global status attend the UNCSW both to lobby the Commission about specific areas of interest, and to create networks to discuss specific issues pertaining to issues that face women around the world. To make their voice heard, the joint trade union delegation will hold a parallel panel event on 3 March. Parallel events are organized by Member States, UN entities, international and regional organizations, trade unions and NGOs outside the formal programme of the Commission to bring critical issues to the forefront.

The panel organised on Tuesday 3 March from 2-3:30pm by the joint EI, ITUC , PSI delegation is entitled Trade union responses: Impact of unpaid family responsibilities on women workers prospects for decent work - trade union responses”.

The trade union event will allow diverse union perspectives from all regions to address the topic, give examples and open the floor to different perspectives and exchange views and best practices. The event is open to all the participants of the UN CSW who want to learn about trade union approaches to deal with The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS which is the priority theme of this year’s 53rd session.

The event will be moderated by Barbara Byers, Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress. EI panellists will be Dr. Reny Jacob from India, Salimata Doumbia from Ivory Coast and Cynthia Swann from the USA.

Location: Church Centre of the United Nations (2nd floor)

Time: Tuesday 3 March from 2-3.30pm

Please find below the flyer which was distributed to government delegates and NGOs.