Rise Up Leaders from around the world joined activists, government officials, and civil society organizations at the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), convened by the United Nations in New York this month. This year’s CSW68 theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective,” provided a strategic framework for discussions and couldn’t be more timely – recent data from UNCTAD revealed that an annual investment of an additional $360 billion is necessary to achieve gender equality across key global goals.
Below are a few highlights of Rise Up Leaders’ incredible contributions at CSW68:
Rise Up Leader Ixchel Adolfo from our Guatemala girl-led network, Las Niñas Lideran, participated in a strategic dialogue with feminist and women’s organizations from the U.S. and Latin America focused on ending violence against women.
Rise Up California Leader Maame Afon Yelbert-Sai and the African Women’s Development Fund hosted, “AfriWomen Hangout” – their signature program aimed at gathering African women in the diaspora and from across the continent to engage in essential conversations and leverage their collective wisdom, resources and networks to support one another.
Rise Up India Leader Amrita Gupta researched, authored, and launched “Harnessing the power within: Generation Equality Forum Accountability – Asia Pacific Report” at CSW68. This report works through a feminist accountability framework to explore a regional analysis of Asia-Pacific countries and the result of Generation Equality Forum commitments made to them under the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. You can read and download the full report here.
Rise Up Leaders’ participation in international forums like the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women underscores the importance of amplifying local leaders’ lived experiences and expertise to impact key global leaders, dialogues, and strategies.
