Thousands of women from countries around the world gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during March 12th – 18th 2017, for the 61st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women under the theme, “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the changing world of work.”
A team of three persons namely Deputy Secretary, Mrs. Bridgette Newman, Gender Affairs Coordinator Mrs. Carolyn Dickenson and Acting Executive Administrator to the Minister, Ms. Kamala Roberts joined colleagues from other Overseas Territories under the United Kingdom’s delegation.
The conference was seen as an important opportunity to evaluate the progress made in the implementation of agreed conclusions from the fifty-eighth session (2014), on ‘Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls.’ It also allowed persons to take stock of the progress made in achieving goals outlined in (CEDAW) Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women as well as provide critical reflection on the direction to be taken in gender equality programming.
The TCI delegation participated in several meetings at the UK Mission to the United Nations, chief among which was a Ministerial session held on Tuesday, March 13th with other Overseas Territories counterparts and was chaired by GEO Director, Hilary Spencer. The session also allowed for the reaffirmation of our commitment to gender equality and equity goals in the sub region.
The main session focused on (CEDAW) Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women and what member states were doing to end violence against women and girls, promote gender equality and the rights and protection of women and girls as well as strengthening the family initiative.
The team was particularly delighted to share some of the achievements of women in the TCI, which were also highlighted in the recently presented CEDAW Report. Colleagues from Bermuda were eager to hear about strategies that had been successfully implemented in the TCI to bring about such positive outcomes.
The TCI delegation was also privileged to attend a reception in honour of His Excellency, Mr. Matthew Rycroft, the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations where they were able to interact with personnel from the United Kingdom and United Nations.
Plenary sessions were also organized to facilitate exchange of experiences and best practices at both a national and international level. These discussions were focused on a number of sub topics with emphasis being placed on “ending violence against women and girls”.
Outside of the events planned by the UN to the UK Mission, the team attended a number of other sessions, which included; Women and work: Expanding leadership, Pay Equity and Economic Power, Strengthening Spaces, working to end violence against women, Gender and work in the Global Economy: 21 Nations, Women’s Economic Empowerment- Grassroots Rural Women’s Perspective and Wanted: Economic Empowerment and Equality, not the Sex Trade.
Commenting on CSW61, Gender Affairs Coordinator Mrs. Carolyn Dickenson stated; “The conference was an awesome experience, as the team was able to hear firsthand some of the challenges and experiences of women who continue to fight for gender equality and economic empowerment of both women and girls. It also gave us a greater sense of appreciation for the many achievements and successes of women here in the Turks and Caicos Islands who continue to play leading roles in all spheres of public and private life.”