Blog by Hana Smith, SI Global Policy Advisor
SI CSW70 Delegate
On 10 March I was invited to an interactive meeting hosted by UN Women, which gathered civil society actors to undertake training on CSW (Commission on the Status of Women) language, negotiation dynamics and advocacy messaging. As Soroptimist International’s Global Policy Advisor, this was a particularly insightful meeting for me to continue developing my knowledge on the key CSW outcome document – the Agreed Conclusions. It was an opportune moment to ask questions on various iterations of the document and nuances of specific concepts, phrases, as well as the structure of Member States in the Commission. We discussed the significance of every word, the role of precedent, and linguistic distinctions of words.
In moments of increasing geopolitical tensions, it is imperative that Member States continue to push to ensure that precedent does not slip. More language is becoming increasingly contested by some Member States, including the use of the word ‘gender’, ‘intersectionality’, and ‘gender diversity’, for example.
As a trained linguist, languages have always fascinated me, and even more so when the language is carefully carved into text upon which Member States commit.
While the Agreed Conclusions are not legally binding, they hold weight as a document agreed by a majority of Member States.
This year was the first year in the history of CSW that the Agreed Conclusions were not agreed by consensus. This marks an unprecedented landscape shift that must be carefully studied.
