The Tribune

In March of every year, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is held in New York City, bringing Member States together to make commitments toward gender equality and the rights of women. During the two week session, scores of high-level events, side events, and parallel events are held at the United Nations Headquarters and off site in Manhattan with Member States, nongovernment organizations, and other United Nations entities in attendance. Participants discuss the progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) along with other agreements, gaps in implementation and full realization of women’s rights, and commitments to accelerate progress for the rights of women and girls.

This year, the priority theme is “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” Most sessions focused on legal systems, court procedures, and the experiences of women reporting gender-based violence. The priority theme sets the tone for the entire session, beginning with the drafting of the Agreed Conclusions which takes place long before March. Traditionally, the Agreed Conclusions are adopted by all United Nations Member States; however, this for the first time in 70 years, consensus was not reached as the U.S. voted against the Agreed Conclusions after its request for deferral and its eight proposed amendments were denied.

While some States suggested that the Commission delay the vote, allowing for more time to reach consensus, the CSW Chair, Maritza Chan Valverde (Costa Rica) said, "We are convinced that the text represents the most balanced outcome achievable at this stage.” She asserted that we cannot afford to allow any regression on women’s rights and gender equality, noting the “hard-won progress” resulting from the labor of many people who came before us.

The U.S. voted no, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, and Saudi Arabia abstained, and the 37 other States in CSW voted in favor of the Agreed Conclusions. Though many are relieved that the U.S. was not allowed to derail the process and significantly weaken the Agreed Conclusions, there are concerns about the move away from consensus and what may lay ahead in multilateral spaces.

At its press conference held on Tuesday, March 10, the Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC) expressed its support for:

• Inclusion of reparations as a landmark acknowledgment of structural and historical injustice and of States’ obligations toward those most harmed

• Recognition that policies and programs must respond to the needs of survivors of gender-based violence, centering survivor agency and lived experience within justice responses (Note that The Government of The Bahamas is in possession of The Bahamas Women’s Health and Wellbeing Survey report which includes a coordinated care model toward centering survivors in the mechanisms and services linked to legal justice)

• References to flexible, multi-year core funding for civil society organizations and protection against reprisals, which are vital to sustaining the ecosystem of organizations advancing gender justice on the ground

• Recognition of the impacts of climate change and of traditional and community-based justice systems, affirming diverse legal and cultural pathways through which communities pursue accountability and redress

• Explicit call for states to consider acceding to or ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and to limit or withdraw reservations (Note that The Bahamas ratified CEDAW in 1995 and reserved on Articles 2(a) and 9(2) and the CEDAW Committee, in its Concluding Observations in 2018) called for these reservations to be lifted

• A landmark commitment to comprehensive legislative review to identify and amend discriminatory provisions, including a direct reference to family law and discrimination in family relations, representing an important step toward dismantling legal systems that entrench inequality (Note that The Bahamas engaged UN Women to conduct a review of all legislation and, despite a discriminatory law review forum being held in 2022, the report has yet to be published.)

The WRC noted that areas in need of further attention include:

• Naming of LGBTIQ+ communities (finding references to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination insufficient)

• Agreed formulations on bodily autonomy

• Proliferation of caveats compared to earlier drafts, recognizing that these are dangerous as they create openings for States to narrow obligations, restrict protections, and evade accountability

• Attempts to introduce regressive amendments targeting sexual and reproductive health and rights, fundamental freedoms, intersectionality, and reparations

The CSW70 Agreed Conclusions zero draft is available at unwomen.org.

Recommendations

1.The Bahamas National Youth Choir spring concert. Purchase tickets for Da Good Ole Days in the Winston V. Saunders Theater at The Dundas Center for the Performing Arts on Mackey Street. The Bahamas National Youth Choir will be back at home, for the first time since 2021, on Thursday, March 26 at 8pm, Friday, March 27 at 8pm, and Saturday, March 28 at 1pm and 8pm. Call 825-1977 or email bnycsecretary@gmail.com to secure your tickets.

2.All We Want is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy by Soraya Chemaly. Join Equality Bahamas and Poinciana Paper Press for Feminist Book Club this evening at 12 Parkgate Road. The discussion begins at 6pm. One reviewer said, “Superbly written and referenced, clear and impactful without being unnecessarily inflammatory, Chemaly reflects on how male supremacy operates in our society, along with its implications and outcomes. Discussing things like intersectionality, othering, emotional labour, and gender roles, Chemaly uses a mixture of statistics and stories to convey her point. Despite the grim picture and the framework of control and oppression, the overall message is infused with a powerful, contagious hope and vision for a more egalitarian interdependent future that I am eager to build.” Register to join Feminist Book Club: tiny.cc/fbc2026.

Register to vote. To register to vote, an applicant must prove Bahamian citizenship and that they are 18 years or older. A Bahamian passport is the preferred document, though an applicant may present a Bahamian birth certificate along with government-issued ID and the applicants’ mother’s Bahamian passport, birth certificate, or voter’s card. Those who registered to vote in the last election and hold a purple voter’s card do not need to register again. Those who moved since the last election need to register.