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International Council on Social Welfare

ICSW

Global Cooperation Newsletter

March 2016

This edition of the Global Cooperation Newsletter is largely devoted togender issues. March is the month when the Commission on the Status of
Women (CSW)—the largest and most critical intergovernmental forum to
discuss the role of women in global development—meets every year in
New York at United Nations Headquarters. The 60th session of theCommission on the Status of Women, which took place on 14-24 March,is the first in the era of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. It was only natural that the priority theme of theCommission was women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable
development. In her opening speech, the Executive Director of UN
Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, noted in that regard
that ”theSustainable Development Goals include gender equality and theempowerment of all women and girls as a centerpiece, with enablingtargets threaded throughout all the other goals, making gendersystematically integrated into the implementation of the whole Agenda
for Sustainable Development”.
Every year, ICSW speaks at the Commission session, submitting astatement on topics of international significance, addressed from agender perspective, that we consider important for improving thesituation of women. The full text of the most recent ICSW statement is
continued on page 2

INSIDE

Commission on the Status of Women

2

Achieving Gender Equality

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continued from page 1
published in this issue.

We also publish here a featured article written
by Dr. Patience Stephens of UN WOMEN, who
discusses at length some key issues related tothe implementation of the new 2030 Agenda,
particularly in the context of the existing
international commitments on promoting
empowerment of women and girls andachieving gender equality.
The Editor

Statement submitted byInternational Council on Social
Welfare to the sixtieth sessionof the Commission on the
Status of Women.
Priority theme: Women’s empowerment
and its link to sustainable development
The aspiration of the new 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development is the creation of amore just and prosperous world with
universal respect for human rights andhuman dignity where “no one is left behind”
and where transformative steps required forsustainable development have become partof the day-to-day reality. The International
Council on Social Welfare, one of the oldest
non-governmental organizations with a global
reach,
wholeheartedly
supportstheCommission on the Status of Women in its
work aimed at gender equality and theempowerment of all women and girls,
considering those two goals to be a crucial
contribution to progress across all the goals
and targets of the new development Agenda.
Women have a vital role to play in therealization of the sustainable development

agenda. Their voices must be heard, andshould be recognized and promoted. Equality
and empowerment of women of all ages areboth the objective and a crucial part of the
on-going quest for solutions. We share theconviction that the achievement of fullhuman
potential
andsustainable
development is simply not possible if one halfof humanity continues to be denied its fullrights and opportunities. Beginning with theenjoyment of equal access to education andequal opportunities for employment, theworld community should continue combating
gender based-discrimination and violence inall the forms that it may assume, including
old-age discrimination and violence.
The International Council on Social Welfare
believes that gender and sustainability should
be recognized as cross-cutting priorities of all
development programs conceived at thenational and international levels. Much
depends here on the ability of government,
civil society and the private sector to join
forces and act together. Given that women of
all ages are more vulnerable than men to thenegative impacts of climate change, largely
because the livelihood of the majority of theworld’s poor, including women farmers,
closely depends on natural resources that are
threatened by climate change, it is essential
to reduce existing vulnerabilities and build up
resilience.
In that light, the International Council on
Social Welfare strongly believes that wider
use of internationally agreed instruments,
such as ILO Recommendation 202 on
National Floors of Social Protection, could
facilitate the fight against poverty andpromote women’s empowerment. Social
protection schemes, already in use in many
countries, have proven critical in redressing
the disproportionate impact of economic,
social and environmental shocks on women,
but the potential of such schemes is far fromexhausted, and many of those schemes

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cannot fully correct the disadvantages anddiscrimination that women still face in thelabor market with regard to the sharing of
reproductive work between genders andaccess to education systems. However, there
is a clear synergy between gender, social
protection and environmental sustainability.
Better and more gender-proactive social
protection schemes can bring about structuralchanges in the economy and society,facilitating both mitigation and adaptation.
The 2015 UN Women report entitled“Progress of the World’s Women” states: “A
comprehensive approach to social policy thatcombines universal access to social services
with social protection through contributory
and non-contributory transfer systems is thebest way to realize economic and social rights
for all without discrimination” (p.15).

discussionsofgender-equality,
empowerment and sustainable development.
This is in spite of the fact that the world’s
aging population is projected to reach 2
billion by 2050, with women age 60 years
and older projected to comprise over 1 billionof the aging population at that time. Studies
demonstrate that less than 10 per cent ofolder women need institutional care at any
given time in old age. However, thestereotypical conflation of old age anddependency has established the basis forharmful policies, as well as traditional
practices, that exclude older women from fullparticipation in society and do not support orTogether with our partners in the Global
Coalition for Social Protection Floors, theInternational Council on Social Welfare takes
an active role in the global advocacy
campaign
aimed
atachieving
betterunderstanding of the core principles of social
protection floors, and the analysis andbuilding of the evidence-base for social
protection floors. We also believe that civilsociety organizations must play an active rolein monitoring and evaluating the social
protection
floor
impact,includingtheassessment of the additional benefits that are
generated for sustainable development. The
quest for gender-sensitive responses to theeffects of climate changes should beconsidered in the context of better-targeted
development efforts, where social protection
is firmly embedded among the key priorities.

recognize
older women’s
productive and active aging.

The integration of a gender perspective intodevelopment programs and better visibility
for all women within development theory andpractice has been an important outcome ofinternational and national efforts to upholdgender-equality and empowerment. But
much more needs to be done. For example,
older women are often overlooked in

In the report of the Secretary-General to theGeneral Assembly entitled “Follow-up to theInternational Year of Older Persons: Second
World Assembly on Ageing” (A/70/185),
released on July 24, 2015, a number of gaps
were identified in efforts to achieve genderequality and empowerment for all women,
specifically for older women. It notes thatICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

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women and men experience old age
differently and, while both experience age
discrimination, older women also experience
negativestereotypes
that
label
them
unimportant, limit their access to services
and entitlements, and cause them to facecumulative life disadvantages owing to lack of
education, their exclusion from decisionmaking and participation in public life,
diminished access to age appropriate health
care,
lower
earning-capacity
andtheadditional barrier of discriminatory genderbased laws and customs that apply toproperty and inheritance.
Theshortcomings
oftheMillennium
Development Goals included the failure to
tackle structural underpinnings of genderinequality, such as violence, unpaid work,
limitations in women's control of assets andproperty, and unequal participation in private
and public decision-making, resulting incumulative life disadvantages in old age.
While the addition of language modificationsin the post-2015 Sustainable Development

Goals (for example, the addition of “all”
prefacing references to “women and girls”
intended to promote inclusion) implicitly
referenced older women, the primaryreference was the Convention for the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, with older women relegatedto the important but non-binding General
Recommendation No. 27.

March 2016

Discriminatory laws and practices against
older women continue to fuel violence andabuse. Harmful traditional practices continue
with older women accused of witchcraft,justifying horrific abuse against them, as wellas financial abuse of older women denied
rights to inheritance and property. Older
women are often excluded from the studies
on violence conducted by the World HealthOrganization and other United Nations
entities, based on ageist assumptions thatolder women do not experience domestic
violence or sexual abuse, would notremember such abuse owing to age-related
cognitive limitations, and would refuse todisclose such experiences because of a
distaste for sharing distasteful memories. Age
cutoffs for subjects in these studies often
range up to age 49, the presumed end of
reproductive functioning.
Given the aging of the world’s population, wemust recognize that combating genderinequality and that empowering all womenand girls is a life-long process and that a lifecycle analysis of gender equality is needed.
While the centrality of gender equality andwomen’s
empowerment
has
beenincreasingly
recognized,
wemust notoverlook some key segments in society suchas older women. Focusing on girls andwomen of reproductive age is important forbuilding a foundation for the empowermentof women in old age, but is only a partial
strategy. It needs to be recognized that a
focus on older women in the later phases of
their lives is also critical to achieving genderequality and the empowerment of girls andwomen of all ages. Understanding andintegrating gender-specific vulnerabilities canhelp with the implementation of genderedadaptation practices, eventually relievingsome of the disproportionately high burden of
the adverse effects of climate change thatwomen of all ages bear.
Another important policy issue that affects

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older women and their social and economic
protection in old age is the need to recognize
and value unpaid work. Girls and women of
all
ages
take
on
disproportionate
responsibility in the family for the care ofchildren and other care-dependent family
members, limiting their involvement in theformal workplace. If they work outside thehome, women of all ages are more likely thanmen to work in the informal economy,
creating disadvantages in terms of pension
benefits in old age. Older women are more
likely than men to experience poverty,
including extreme poverty, in old age in mostcountries, and the developed economies are
no exception. It is critical to recognize andvalue unpaid care and domestic work throughthe provision of public services, infrastructureand social-protection
policies and thepromotion of shared responsibilities within
the household and the family as nationallyappropriate, so as to ensure that women are
not disadvantaged economically in old age
owing
tocumulative
disadvantages
throughout their life course. It is also criticalto undertake reforms so as to give all womenequal rights to economic resources as well as
access to ownership and control over landand other forms of property, financial
services, inheritance and natural resources,in accordance with national laws. This
represents a tangible fight against poverty
and is a clear boon to sustainable
development.

civil society to demand new or more effective
public policies aimed at correcting inequality.
We recognize that each country faces specificchallenges in its pursuit of sustainable
development. The integration of genderspecific targets across other goals of the newdevelopment agenda is an important prerequisite aimed at curtailing the higheconomic costs that are closely linked tosocialinequities
andenvironmental

degradation, bringing closer a just, equitable
and inclusive world.

To ensure that gender-equality goals forolder women are monitored, nations must
include data disaggregated by gender andage on economic status and other indicatorson an on-going basis. For example, indicatorssuch as “percentage of the population
covered by social protection floors/systems”
should be disaggregated by age and sex inorder to allow the tracking over time older
women’s poverty and the outcome of policy
initiatives to eliminate it. Monitoring andhence the creation of the statistical visibilityof inequalities creates the policy space for

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Achieving gender equality:
trade-offs between the 2030
Agenda and the Beijing
Platform for Action

Dr. Patience W. Stephens is currently
Director/Special Adviser on Education at theUnited Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in
New York.

An Agenda of unparalleled vision andambition
In 15 years, the world as envisaged by the
recently
adopted2030
Agendafor
Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda),
would be totally transformed from what it
was in 2015.
The vision of thisgroundbreaking Agenda is quintessentially toachieve a level of social and economic
development that has eluded the world for
centuries. This vision is, inter alia, to end
poverty and hunger everywhere; combat
inequalities within and among countries;
build peaceful, just and inclusive societies;
protect human rights and promote genderequality and the empowerment of womenand girls; ensure a world in which every
woman and girl enjoys full gender equality,

March 2016

and where social and economic barriers totheir empowerment have been removed.
Eliminating all forms of discrimination andviolence against women and girls; ensuring
the lasting protection of the planet and its
natural resources; creating conditions forsustainable, inclusive and sustained economic
growth, shared prosperity and decent work
for all while taking into account different
levels of national development and capacities– these and many more are among the aimsof this historic Agenda.
In the words of the drafters of the 2030
Agenda, this vision is “supremely ambitious
and transformational.” 1
Undoubtedly so.
Indeed, the UNDP Human Development
Report for 2015 provides a vivid and alarming
picture of our world as one with major andendless deprivations, inequality, poverty, lackof access to basic services and infrastructure,and high levels of illiteracy.
Despite theprogress achieved, the report notes that“human development is undermined bymultiple shocks, vulnerabilities and risks—byepidemics, by emerging health risks, byeconomic and financial crises and by food andenergy insecurities.”2 The report indicates aswell that in 2015, 795 million people were
suffering from chronic hunger, 11 children
under age 5 died every minute and 33
mothers died every hour. About 37 million
people were living with HIV and 11 million
with tuberculosis. More than 660 million
people used an unimproved source ofdrinking
water,
2.4
billionused
anunimproved sanitation facility and nearly abillion resorted to open defecation. It notes
also that, worldwide, 780 million adults and
103 million youth aged 15–24 years were1
United Nations (2015). Transforming ourworld: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Resolution 70/1 adopted by the General Assembly on
25 September 2015, paragraph 7.
2
United Nations Development Programme(2015). Human Development Report 2015: Work for
Human Development

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illiterate and 250 million children globally had
not learned basic skills although 130 millionof them had spent at least four years inschool. Even in developed countries, 160
million people were estimated to befunctionally illiterate. These statistics speak
for themselves by outlining the monumental
challenges
thatrequireurgent,comprehensive, forward-looking actions andsolutions.
Responding to the challenge of genderequality and the empowerment of
womenWith respect to gender equality and theempowerment of women and girls, thesituationisequally
alarming
anddisappointing.
Twenty years after the
adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action,
followedbyrecommitments
inintergovernmental forums, the goal of genderequality remains elusive in all nations.
Women and girls continue to be subject tovarious forms and degrees of discrimination
everywhere.
At
the
20th
Anniversarycommemoration of the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action in 2015, United
Nations Member States acknowledged in a
Political Declaration that “significant levels of
inequality between women and men and girls
and boys persist globally, and that many
women and girls experience multiple andintersecting
formsof
discrimination,
vulnerability and marginalization throughout
their life cycle.”3 Similarly, the 2015 Human
Development Report notes that “women are
activelydisempoweredbymutually
reinforcing processes in every walk of life”
and that women and girls are held back bybiases in social beliefs, norms and culturalvalues; that they face discrimination ineconomic, political and social structures, aswell as policies, institutions and strategies,
and too often are constrained by real andperceived physical insecurity (p. 69).

gender equality and women’s empowerment
are not only extolled in the 2030 Agenda but
are also recognized as preconditions for its
achievement.
AlthoughtheAgendaemphasizes the universality, indivisibility andinterlinked nature of the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals and 169 targets, it notesthat the goals and targets “seek to realize thehuman rights of all and (emphasis added) toachievegenderequality
andtheempowerment of all women and girls”. It
argues that “realizing gender equality and theempowerment of women and girls will makea crucial contribution to progress across all
the goals and targets” (paragraph 20) andwarns that “the achievement of full humanpotential and of sustainable development is
not possible if one half of humanity (womenand girls) continues to be denied its full
human rights and opportunities.”
The 2030 Agenda’s Goal 5 aims, therefore,“to achieve gender equality and empower all
women and girls,” and that goal is supported
by nine targets, including three for the meansof implementation. Eleven other goals areassociated with gender-related targets. They
include the goals on poverty (SDG1), hunger(SDG2), health (SDG3), education (SDG4),
water and sanitation (SDG6), employment(SDG8), inequalities (SDG 10), sustainable
cities (SDG11), climate change (SDG13), justand peaceful societies (SDG 16), and global
partnership (SDG 17). It is also expectedthat the indicators that will be agreed upon tomonitor progress on the goals and targets
will include many that address genderspecific issues and that are disaggregated bygender. In that way, the monitoring of theimplementation of the 2030 Agenda will bebased on an expansive set of data that betterreflect the real situation of women and girls,
3
The Political Declaration adopted on theoccasion of the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World
Conference - Accessed at:
http://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw592015#sthash.DsKYiCdT.dpuf.

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thus helping to guide policy interventions toclose gender gaps.
The 2030 Agenda has been recognized andhailed for the sophisticated way in which it
integrates gender equality-related targets
under various goals. The Agenda has also
been acclaimed for going “well beyond
Millennium Development Goal 3's single
target to eliminate gender disparity in alllevels of education by 2015.”4 According to
the Executive Director of UN Women,“Agenda 2030 is anything but business as
usual. Together we called for a bold andtransformative agenda. Member States madefar reaching inputs and supported atransformative agenda all the way.”5
Turning this historic Agenda’s ambition andvision on gender equality and women’s
empowerment into reality calls for theapplicationofcomprehensive
tools,
approaches, and strategies – in particular
those
that
fundamentallychangethestructural factors that underlie the unequal
relations between women and men withinsocieties.
Achieving SDG 5 will require,
above all, that societies dismantle structuresthat perpetuate gender inequality andidentify and tackle deep-rooted issues in aholistic and consistent manner. In order toaddress
thosefactors
effectively,
development experts will need to turn not
only to the 2030 Agenda, which provides thebroad guidelines for achieving its vision, butalso to the Beijing Platform for Action, which
offers relevant, detailed and specific guidanceon how to move ahead.
Approaching gender equality and theempowerment of women: the 2030
Agenda versus the Platform for Action
Although it singles out gender equality andthe empowerment of women as preconditions
for achieving sustainable development, the2030 Agenda does not delve into the detailsof the strategies for achieving that goal.

March 2016
Those details and specifics lie not so much inthe 2030 Agenda as they do in the Platform
for
Action,whose
analysis
andrecommendations for addressing 12 criticalareas of concern are specific, detailed,comprehensive, and as relevant in 2016 as
they were in 1995. While new priorities haveemerged and old priorities have become
more complex in the last 20 years, few would
question the validity and continued relevanceof the issues and the critical areas of concern
identified by the Platform.
The 2030 Agenda cannot, and does not,purport to offer the analytical rigor orcomprehensive policy guidance that the
Beijing Platform for Action does, nor is it
intended to be a comprehensive strategy forinterventions in the area of gender equality
and the empowerment of women.
Indeedthe Agenda recognizes the Beijing Platform
for Action as “one of the major United
Nations conferences and summits that havelaid a solid foundation for sustainable
development and have helped to shape the
new Agenda.” It can be said that, more thanjust being foundational, the Beijing Platform
for Action provides the struts, braces, as wellas the mortar with which a future genderequal world must be built.
There are three fundamental reasons for this.
1.

Specificity

As noted by the Beijing Platform itself, “theobjective of the Platform for Action … is theempowerment of all women.” Unlike the 2030
Agenda,
which
lays
out
the
broad
requirements and dimensions of sustainable
4
United Nations (2016) Women’s
empowerment and the links to sustainable
development. Report of the Secretary-General.
E/CN.6/2016/3. United Nations
5
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2016/2/edspeech-at-executive-board-first-regularsession#sthash.pm52b9bm.dpuf

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development, the Platform for Action dwells
on women and girls as its center. Removing
the existing vulnerabilities and creating
opportunities for women and girls in thechanging and challenging global climate are
the central thrust in that regard. However,the specific areas and sectors addressed by
the Platform for Action are as wide as those
covered in the 2030 Agenda.

the Agenda address empowerment and thepromotion of social, economic and politicalinclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex,
disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or
economic or other status, and seek to reduce
inequalitiesofoutcome,includingbyeliminating discriminatory laws, policies andpracticesandpromotingappropriate
legislation, policies and action in that regard.

For example, many paragraphs of the
Platform address how women should be
actively involved in environmental decisionmaking at all levels. Others address equallycentral issues that are highlighted in the2030 Agenda, including the disproportionate
impact on women and girls of foreign debt;
the shift from government to women of
responsibilities for providing basic social
services; the under-remuneration of womenin employment and their unpaid work; andthe relative absence of women in decisionmaking. With regard to data -- a strong focusof the 2030 Agenda -- Strategic Objective H3lays out a comprehensive list of areas inwhich data must be collected and how. For
example it calls for “developing methods, inthe appropriate forums, for assessing thevalue,
inquantitative
terms,
ofunremunerated work that is outside national
accounts, such as caring for dependents andpreparing food, for possible reflection insatellite or other official accounts that may be
produced separately from but are consistent
with core national accounts, with a view torecognizing the economic contribution of
women and making visible the unequal
distribution
ofremunerated
andunremunerated work between women andmen.”

The Platform for Action, similarly asserts inparagraph 14 that “it is indispensable tosearch for new alternatives that ensure that
all members of society benefit from economic
growth based on a holistic approach to all
aspects of development”
Six of the
Platform’s critical areas of concern areframed in the context of “inequalities.”6 A
number of recommendations and strategies
are identified for addressing those and otherinequalities, and they remain valid today.
Particularly well-known and still relevant is
the Platform’s recommendation that “Inaddressing the inequality between men andwomen in the sharing of power and decisionmaking at all levels, Governments and otheractors should promote an active and visible
policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective
in all policies and programmes so that before
decisions are taken, an analysis is made ofthe effects on women and men, respectively”(paragraph 189).

2.

Focus on inequalities

The 2030 Agenda’s emphasis on leaving noone behind responds to the strong global callfor equitable, inclusive development. Under
Goal 10 to “reduce inequality within andamong countries”, targets 10.2 and 10.3 of

3.

Attention to education as a key

6
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal
access to education and training; Inequalities andinadequacies in and unequal access to health care andrelated services; Inequality in economic structures andpolicies, in all forms of productive activities and in accessto resources; Inequality between men and women in the
sharing of power and decision-making at all levels;
Stereotyping of women and inequality in women’s accessto and participation in all communication systems,
especially in the media; Gender inequalities in the
management of natural resources and in thesafeguarding of the environment

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enabling factor in gender equality
The 2030 Agenda gives education strong
recognition and focus through Goal 4 –“Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality
education and promoting lifelong learning
opportunities for all” and also includes theelimination of gender disparities in education
as a central part of the targets of Goal 4. It
does not, however, address education within
Goal 5, and the targets of the genderequality goal do not specifically acknowledge
the centrality of education for gender equality
and sustainable development.
The Beijing Platform for Action, in contrast,
rests firmly on the widely acknowledged andempirically demonstrated recognition of
education as a driver of gender equality andthe empowerment of women. The Platform
mentions education as an “essential tool forachieving the goals of equality, development
and peace” and states that “Equality ofaccess to and attainment of educational
qualifications is necessary if more women are
to become agents of change” and that“investing in formal and non-formal educationand training for girls and women, with its
exceptionally high social and economic
return, has proved to be one of the bestmeans of achieving sustainable development
and economic growth that is both sustained
and sustainable.”
The Platform provides rich analysis and alsosuggests interventions and strategies in
education across all its critical areas ofconcern. Many of its recommendations are
relevanttothegender-sensitive
implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
For
example, the Platform calls for efforts to“facilitate the productive employment of
documented migrant women through greater
recognition of their skills, foreign educationand credentials, and facilitate their full
integration into the labour force (paragraph58(k)). Also important -- and highly relevant
today – is its call to work “in cooperation with

March 2016

Governments,
employers,othersocialpartners and relevant parties, contribute to
the development of education and training
and retraining policies to ensure that women
can acquire a wide range of skills to meet
new demands” (paragraph 60 (e)).
In their contributions to the 60th session of
the Commission on the Status of Women heldin New York in March 2016, -- under thetheme “Women’s empowerment and the links
to sustainable development,” -- various civilsociety organizations drew attention to thecentrality of education for gender equality
and the empowerment of women. The NonGovernmental Organizations Coordinating
Committee, for example, noted that “genderequality in the classroom is a prerequisite togender equality in society: educating girls is
the entry point for achieving women’s
empowerment and systemic, sustainablechange”.7 The World Youth Alliance similarly
noted that “one of the best ways to address
inequality and to end poverty is in Goal 4:
Education for all.” It further argued that“education for girls should be a primary focusof the sustainable development agenda”.8
These views echo a key tenet of the Beijing
Declaration, in which Member States noted
their determination to “Promote peoplecentred sustainable development, including
sustained economic growth, through theprovision of basic
education, life-long
education, literacy and training, and primary
health care for girls and women.”
While it may be argued that the inclusion of
the elimination of gender equality in
education under Goal 4 addresses the linkage
between those two areas, the omission of the
explicit mention of education under thegender equality goal (SDG5) could dilute the7“Statement submitted by Non-Governmental
Organizations Coordinating Committee, a nongovernmental organization in consultative status with
the Economic and Social Council” E/CN.6/2016/NGO/60
8World Youth Alliance E/CN.6/2016/NGO/129

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focus, energy, gender-sensitivity and genderexpertise with which this critical interlinkage
must be addressed. Education and genderequality are an inseparable pair.
In thatregard it is important to note that a numberof the issues that have topped recent
discussions with respect to gender equality
and education relate, not necessarily topedagogy or curriculum – even though they
are important as well -- but rather to issues
such safety, school-based violence anddiscrimination, lack of access to appropriate
sanitation facilities for girls, and premature
attrition from school owing to earlypregnancy, early and forced marriage and thelack of appropriate role models and mentors
for girls and young women.
Effectively
addressing those issues, which are in theintersection of gender equality and education,
will require the co-operation and engagementof both sectors. It will require the expertise ofgender as well as education specialists. It will
also require that the implementation of Goals
4 and 5 of the 2030 Agenda do not end up
being claimed, owned and cloistered by therespective sectors, but rather are analysed
and implemented in the indivisible andinterlinked manner emphasized in the Agenda
and as demonstrated in the Beijing Platform
for Action.
4.

the view that “in reflecting on what is absent
from the 2030 Agenda, it becomes clear that,in many ways, the Beijing Platform for Action
remains a more bold and far-reaching
document, and sets out a vision for genderequality that remains the most progressive ofany global political commitment of the past
20 years.”9The opinions expressed in the article are those of
the author and may not necessarily reflect views of
the United Nations or the position of the ICSWManagement Committee.

Looking ahead

In acknowledging the outlined strengths of
the Platform, as well as its complementarities
with Agenda 2030, it becomes evident that
actions to achieve the 2030 Agenda's goals
and targets with respect to gender equality
and sustainable development must go handin hand with the implementation of actions
outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action.
There is a lot to be built upon without reinventing the proverbial wheel. It is essential
to find and capitalize on the common threads
across those two landmark intergovernmental
agreements and, in particular, to draw on thewealth of guidance provided by the Platform.
In doing so, we may well come to agree with

9
Statement submitted by World Association ofGirl Guides and Girl Scouts, a non-governmentalorganization in consultative status with the Economic
and Social Council. For the Commission on the Status
of Women
Sixtieth session 14-24 March 2016.
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/C
N.6/2016/NGO/3; p. 3.

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Global Coalition for Social
Protection Floors: strategy
meeting of the Core Teamas an important mechanism for setting
priorities
innationalsocialprotection
systems, providing a welcome opportunity for
all national stakeholders to come together
and consider policy options.

Since the inception of the Global Coalition forSocial Protection Floors four years ago the
ICSW has been an active participant andcontributor to its advocacy activities. The
strategy meeting organized by FriedrichEbert Stiftung (FES) took place in Geneva on
7-8
March
2016,
bringing
togetherparticipants of the Core Team of the Coalition
to discuss the existing challenges and definestrategic priorities of the group. Sergei
Zelenev, Executive Director of ICSW, took
part in the meeting on behalf of ICSW.

The useful resources and links– the find of the month
Road to Rights. Women, Social Security
and Protection in India

Internal concerns of the Coalition, such as recalibratingits
objectives,
improvingbudgetingandfinancing,creating
communication strategy and other practicalmatters, were discussed at length. While
identifying gaps and opportunities, thestrategic meeting also concentrated on somethematic concerns, such as the refugee crisisin the context of social protection, the role ofthe informal sector and capacity-building
issues. In light of the identified gaps andopportunities,
participants
putforwardproposals on future projects and activities.
After the results were summarized andpresented to the plenary, responsibilities
were assigned among the members of the
Coalition, with a clear time frame presented
for the short, medium and longer terms.
The meeting was addressed by the Directorof the ILO Social Protection Department, Dr.
Isabel Ortiz, who briefed the participants on
recent ILO initiatives and presented an
overview of the current developments in thearea of social protection, internationally andnationally. She underscored the significanceof the Social Protection Assessment-based
National Dialogue (ABND) promoted by ILO

Priti Darooka, editor.
India, New Delhi, 2016

SAGE

Publications

Road to Rights examines the conceptual
framework of social security, and focuses thereader’s attention on the missing dimensionsof social security and protection for womenin India. It explores experiences and lessons
learned from various interventions on the

ICSW – International Council on Social Welfare

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13
Global Cooperation Newsletter

March 2016

ground, throwing particular light on the
problems faced by specific vulnerable groups,
such as female domestic workers and sex
workers.
For more information:

This bulletin, published by the Institute ofDevelopment
StudiesinSussex,UK,
comprises a set of article focusing on
women’s empowerment across three lines:
economic empowerment and its links withpoverty reduction – focusing on theintersections between paid work and unpaid
care work; social empowerment in terms ofchanges in gender norms and values; andpolitical empowerment and mobilization. The
importance of the interconnectedness of
those three domains of empowerment ishighlighted.
For additional information:
http://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/idsbo/issue/view/98

https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/road-torights/book252234

The content of this Global Newsletter may befreely reproduced or cited provided thesource is acknowledged. The views do notnecessarily represent policies of ICSW.

IDS Bulletin.

Newsletter Editor:
Sergei Zelenev, Executive Director
E-mail: szelenev@icsw.org,

Transforming Development Knowledge.

Address:
ICSW, 5700 Arlington Ave.,
Bronx, New York, 10471 (US Office)Phone: +1 347-526- 4893,
icsw@icsw.org
Website www.icsw.org;

Vol.47 Number 1A March 2016. Sussex, UK
Connecting Perspectives
Empowerment

on

Women’s

Editors: Deepta Chopra and Catherine Muller

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ICSW – International Council on Social Welfare