On 1 February 2019, UN House Scotland, Soroptimist International and Scottish Women's Convention held a conference in preparation for the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN headquarters in New York. Women and men from across Scotland and from a diversity of backgrounds came together to discuss the priority theme of CSW63 - "Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls." Specific consideration was given to housing and shelter for women and women's health issues.
Our aim with this conference was to generate new ideas and develop a document to be communicated at CSW63, which begins on 11 March. We aimed to establish an environment conducive to discussion and collaboration, and to meaningfully engage grassroots voices in breakout groups throughout the day. Through this, we were able to identify a set of Scottish priorities relating to the theme and contextualise them within the global outlook of CSW63.
We will be holding a follow-up event to summarise the conclusions of CSW63 and bring them back to a local level. This will be on Thursday 4 April 5-8pm at G1 Paterson’s Land, Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Holyrood Road. We hope to see you there!