CSW66: New Tools to Take Gender-Just Climate Action

Over the next two weeks, Women Deliver will join advocates, governments, the private sector, and civil society leaders from around the world as they gather to promote gender-just climate action at the sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66).

This year's priority theme "achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes," is an opportunity for actors working on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and climate action to bridge the gaps that have historically hindered collective advocacy and action at the nexus of these issue areas.

In recent years, we've ramped up our advocacy efforts at the intersection of gender equality, SRHR, and climate change, in line with our 2021-2025 Strategic Framework. Specifically, we've worked to:

BUILD AND USE THE EVIDENCE CASE: In 2021, we published an e vidence review on the interlinkages between climate change and SRHR, as well as a review of the extent to which countries have incorporated SRHR into their National Adaptation Plans, in partnership with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). These reviews have created a solid foundation for decision-makers and climate change, humanitarian, and gender equality advocates to understand the issues at hand and work together on related advocacy and action.
CONNECT FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION: In 2021, during the landmark Generation Equality Forum, we served as a catalyzing founder, alongside Ipas: Partners for Reproductive Justice and the Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO), of the SRHR and Climate Justice Coalition — made up of 60 civil society organizations from around the world — who are committed to working together to advance climate justice outcomes, especially for girls and women facing intersecting inequalities. Throughout CSW, we are working in coalition with global feminists to advance SRHR and gender equality and broader systemic changes to address the climate crisis and ensure a transformative recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are advocating with collective demands from the Women’s Rights Caucus, a global coalition of more than 200 organizations that is working to advance women’s human rights at the United Nations, and the SRHR and Climate Justice Coalition.

DRIVE INVESTMENT AND POLICY CHANGE: We are proud to serve as an Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to CSW66, alongside five experts and trailblazers for climate change and gender equality, where our Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy, Eleanor Blomstrom, joins as a public delegate to provide expertise and guidance throughout CSW66 on policy and technical issues under discussion, supporting the U.S. to advance progress for girls and women and for gender justice in climate action.

Throughout CSW66, on the road to the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27), and over the next three years, we will remain laser focused on catalyzing political and financial commitments and investments on the interlinkages between climate and SRHR through coalition-building, evidence generation, advocacy, awareness raising, and capacity building, including at the Women Deliver 2023 Conference (WD2023).

We hope you’ll join us in working to create a healthier world for girls and women everywhere, and for the planet, by using and sharing the resources below, and by tuning in to the events Women Deliver staff, Young Leaders, and partners are participating in throughout CSW66.

Key Resources to Take Action

Climate Change, Gender Equality, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)

This factsheet by the SRHR and Climate Justice Coalition outlines key messages and recommendations for advocates and decision-makers ahead of CSW66, including the need to ensure that new language at the intersection of climate change, gender equality, and SRHR is included in the Commission's Agreed Conclusions.

➔ Check out the factsheet in English, French, or Spanish

Gender Equality, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and Climate Change Are Linked

These reports by Women Deliver and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) are designed to be used by decision-makers and advocates to better understand the linkages between climate change, gender, and SRHR and to align efforts to design and implement gender-just policies, programs, and national plans to address climate change.

➔ Learn more in the Evidence Review
➔ Read "SRHR in NAP Processes "
➔ Check out the i nteractive website

Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for Climate Adaptation and Resilience

This infographic, developed by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, FP2030, the UNFCCC Gender Secretariat, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Women Deliver outlines why climate justice is only possible when SRHR are fully realized, and what can be done to implement a rights-based and intersectional approach to the realization of SRHR as part of climate change adaptation measures.

➔ Check out the i nfographic in English, French, or Spanish

Care at work: Investing in care leave and services for a more gender equal world of work

This report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), provides a global overview of national laws and practices regarding care policies, namely maternity protection, paternity, parental, and other care-related leave policies, as well as childcare and long-term care services.

➔ Read the report

ICYMI: Our Recommended CSW66 Events

'Back to Normal' is not enough: 2022 SDG Gender Index Global Launch
Monday, March 14 | 10:00 AM-12:30 PM ET

Join Equal Measures 2030 at CSW66 for the virtual launch of the 2022 SDG Gender Index – the most comprehensive global index available to measure gender equality. During the event, you will hear from thought leaders about the report's key findings and discuss urgent actions needed to achieve gender equality by 2030.

SRHR & Climate Justice: Advancing a Human Rights-Based Approach
Tuesday, March 15 | 8:00 AM-9:30 AM ET

Join the SRHR & Climate Justice Coalition — co-founded and co-convened by Women Deliver — and the Women and Gender Constituency in discussing how we can work together alongside girls and women, in all their intersecting identities, to apply a social justice and human rights-based approach to climate action. Eleanor Blomstrom, Senior Manager, Policy and Advocacy, will represent Women Deliver at the event.

Generation Equality Accountability For Adolescent Girls
Wednesday, March 16 | 8:30 AM-10:00 AM ET

Join the Adolescent Girls Investment Plan (AGIP), Purposeful, Plan International, and the Irish Government — under the Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership — in exploring accountability mechanisms for commitments made during the Generation Equality Forum. This event has been co-created by a Women Deliver Young Leader, alongside other youth leaders from the AGIP network and AGIP member organizations.

Reviewing Democracy: A Global Partnership to End Online Harassment and Abuse
Wednesday, March 16 | 8:30 AM-10:00 AM ET

Join the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the U.S. Department of State for a panel showcasing the "Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse." The Global Partnership is building a global coalition to improve the prevention and response to online gender-based violence. During the event, you will hear from experts from civil society and government, including Women Deliver Young Leader and Founder and CEO of Bully.id, Agita Pasaribu.

The Relevance of Care Work for Gender Equality – Action for Sustainability
Wednesday, March 16 | 11:30 AM-12:45 PM ET

Join the Governments of Mexico, Germany, and Argentina, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the International Labour Organization, as well as Women Deliver and UN Women (on behalf of the Global Alliance for Care), for a multistakeholder, intergeneration discussion on how the Global Alliance for Care can play a catalytic role in promoting sustainable care systems to address climate change and build resilient societies.

Climate Justice and SRHR: the Criticality of Women's Leadership
Thursday, March 17 | 9:00 AM-10:30 AM ET

Join the SRHR & Climate Justice Coalition and UNFPA in discussing the linkages between climate change, gender equality, and SRHR, and the importance of women’s leadership in these spaces. During the event, you will hear from influential decision-makers including Sivananthi Thanenthiran, Executive Director of the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) and Women Deliver Board Member.

Family Planning in a Climate Crisis: Building Resilience for Women and Girls
Thursday, March 24 | 7:00 AM-8:30 AM ET

Join FP2030 for a roundtable discussion moderated by Women Deliver's Director of Policy and Advocacy, Divya Mathew, around the launch of FP2030's Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Strategy and the intersections between EPR, SRHR, and climate change adaptation.

Help advance the health and rights of girls and women, in all their intersecting identities, and the planet in 2022 by making a donation to Women Deliver.

Your donation will be used to advance gender equality and SRHR in the context of climate change to support climate justice outcomes, especially for girls and women facing intersecting inequalities.

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