by Kent Macauley

For two weeks in March each year, the United Nations holds a major conference on women's rights and gender equality.  This is the UN Commission on the Status of Women promotes women’s rights, documents the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shapes global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.  This year's 68th conference (CSW68) is being held in New York City from March 11 to 22.  Twenty Servas members worldwide (four from North America) have been selected to attend CSW68 in-person. Visit the US CSW68 webpage for more information.

The NGO-CSW68 Forum is organized by and for civil society and non-governmental organizations like Servas. The Forum helps educate and advocate on the gender equality issues that the UN member countries are discussing at that moment.  The Forum is huge and dynamic, typically with between 700 and 800 online, in-person, and hybrid “parallel events” (1- to-2-hour webinars and discussions) on a wide array of gender equality topics. 

The forum coincides with the CSW68 dates - March 11-22. This year, many of the Forum’s parallel events will focus on the CSW68 priority theme of women and poverty, and on the review theme of social protection for women.  We are excited that Servas is organizing and will be offering three of the parallel events as follows:

March 16 • Servas Taiwan • Economic and social resilience of older rural women

March 18 • Rachel Elion Baird (US Servas) • The situation of North American Indigenous women

March 19 • Servas India, with Servas Mexico • Anti-poverty work by local organizations working with women

You are warmly invited to participate in the Forum virtually.  As your first step in participating online, please complete the online Servas Application Form.  After doing so, you will receive further information by email.  Registration is free.