WACC Europe

CSW69: WACC and partners to take stock of women’s communication rights 30 years post-Beijing

WACC and partner organizations will review progress towards global commitments to advance gender equality in and through the media and will propose guidelines for future action with an event during the NGO CSW Forum 69 taking place in New York City on 10–21 March.

The Forum is a civil society gathering held in parallel to the annual session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a United Nations body that promotes the rights and empowerment of women and global gender equality. The theme of CSW69 is a review of the landmark Beijing Platform for Action adopted 30 years ago by UN Member States.

Upholding commitments to women and media

The event “Section J @ Beijing+30: Safeguarding Women’s Communication & Digital Rights” on 11 March at 6:30–8:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) will take stock of implementation of the “Women and Media” part of the Beijing Platform and begin developing related action guidelines for a post–2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Section J of the Beijing Platform for Action has aimed to increase women’s participation and access to expression and decision-making via the media and new communication technologies, and to promote balanced representation of women in the media.

It remains one of the most neglected of this UN roadmap towards global gender equality, says WACC program manager for Gender and Communications, Sarah Macharia.

She says that only a handful of actors have given attention to the issue, among them WACC’s Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) network in more than 100 nations. During “Section J @ Beijing+30”, Macharia will explore gender equality in and through the news through 30 years of the GMMP.

WACC is organizing the NGO CSW69 event together with the Global Alliance on Gender and Media (GAMAG). GAMAG chair Aimée Vega Montiel will give an overview of global progress and ongoing challenges of Section J.

Regional reviews of Section J with WACC partners

The event’s regional reviews of Section J will feature WACC partners including GMMP coordinators:

  • Amie Joof, FEMEDEV (Senegal; West and Central Africa)
  • Hang Pham, CGFED (Vietnam)
  • Cirenia Ixtoj Coatl, CIMAC (Mexico)
  • Angie Handal, Women Media and Development/TAM (Palestine)
  • Blessing Oladunjoye, Journalists for Christ (Nigeria)

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