Monthly Meeting: NGO Committee on the Status of Women – NY
June’s Monthly Meeting will focus on the intersection between health and finance in the gender impacts of COVID-19. The topic will be approached through a multilateral lens, with speakers from various sectors including civil society, government, and United Nations agencies.
NGO CSW/NY Business Meeting
Updates from Houry Geudelekian, Chair of NGO CSW/NY and UN Representative, Unchained At Last
NGO CSWs in the Regions: Dr. Nata Menabde, Executive Director of the World Health Organization Office at the United Nations Nafissatou J. Diop, Ph.D., Chief, Gender and Human Rights Branch, UNFPA Crystal Simeoni, Afrifem Economics Collective Crystal J. Rogers, Community Organizer, New York State Nurses Association
Moderated by Rosa Lizarde, NGO CSW/NY Member-at-Large and Global Director, Feminist Task Force
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CoNGO NOTES: To learn more about the NGO Committee on Status of Women-New York, visit its website. To learn more about CoNGO’s committees on the status of women, and other substantive and regional committees, in Geneva and Vienna, and other regions, visit us here.
The UN General Assembly designated 15 June as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (res. A/RES/66/127). According to WHO estimates, 1 in 6 people aged over 60 suffers from abuse. That means nearly 141 million people globally. This number might be much higher as elder abuse is one of the most hidden and underreported violations.
COVID-19 has put a spotlight on older persons including distressing reports of instances of abuse and neglect of older persons in long term care institutions. Not only older persons are at a high risk of serious illness and mortality, but they are also stigmatized through abusive language in both the conventional and social media.
Despite the lack of reliable data on the actual scale of elder abuse in the community where the majority of older persons live, emerging reports reveal the high impact of the COVID-19 pandemic both in the rise of cases of abuse and in the disruption of the services and protective measures.
The UN Secretary-General in his Policy Brief: The Impact of Covid-19 on Older Persons warned that measures to restrict movement may trigger greater incidence of violence against older persons and all types of abuse – physical, emotional, financial and sexual as well as neglect. He also claimed that the lack of adequate legislation at national level to protect the rights of older persons and the absence of a dedicated internationally agreed legal framework, contribute to the vulnerability of older persons and may have contributed to the inadequate responses to the COVID-19 crisis and that these gaps must be filled.
There is an urgent need to combat and prevent this serious human rights violation. Many Member States’ delegations at sessions of the Open-ended Working Group on Ageing expressed the need to develop universally applicable normative standards for the protection of older persons against violence, neglect and abuse, which would contribute to providing a comprehensive response and would also provide guidance for the development of a reporting, accountability and remedy mechanism for such violations suffered by older persons.
Verbal abuse and hate speech: Do they lead to other types of abuse? When do under or/and over-protection become abuse? Have lockdowns increased the risk of financial exploitation. What are examples of passive and active neglect?
Opening words by H.E. Mr. Alejandro Verdier, Deputy Permanent Representative of Argentina to the UN in NY Panelists:
Ms Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
Dr Etienne Krug, Director of the department of Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization: WHO’s new guidance on elder abuse and COVID-19
Jillenne Gunther, AARP Bank Safe: Fighting financial exploitation
Michael S. Mulvey, University of Ottawa: Tracing an outbreak of ageist discourse in social media
Co-Moderators: Amal Rafeh (UN DESA) and Monica Ferro (UNFPA)
The panel will be followed by a session of questions and answers with the audience.
This consultation is for those who are interested in global health and want to weigh in on big questions impacting people all over the world, including, but not limited to, COVID-19.
This year, the United Nations celebrates its 75th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that the UN is hosting the world’s largest global conversation on creating the future we want by 2045, when the UN celebrates its centennial. The UN is inviting civil society, businesses, political decision-makers, youth advocates and so many others to share their thoughts on the current state of the world, and is asking us all how we can work together to improve our world so that everyone, everywhere, can live their best lives.To provide UN advocates with an opportunity to share their visions and recommendations, UNA-USA is hosting virtual state-wide UN75 consultations across the country over the next few months. UNA-USA is inviting you to participate in Pennsylvania’s virtual UN75 consultation to share your thoughts with the UN.
For these consultations, the UN is asking three major questions:
1. What kind of future do we want to create?
2. Are we on track to secure a better world?
3. What action is needed to help us achieve a brighter future?
Following each of these consultations, a report will be submitted to the UN to share advocates’ recommendations to help shape the UN’s priorities for the future.
Please note that by participating in this consultation, which will be recorded, you agree to your image, name, voice, or likeness being used by the UN Foundation for promotional and/or educational purposes.
The International Council of Psychologists is pleased to offer an important 60-minute free webinar.
The inaugural presentation in this webinar series will focus on indigenous populations who are often marginalized in countries and regions around the world. Speakers from Brazil and the United States will address the challenges that indigenous peoples in their countries and regions have faced, as well as the strengths and steps that indigenous peoples are taking to address the physical and social-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about this event, please contact webinar chair Andrew Simon, PhD, PsyD, at andrew.simon@shu.edu.
Featured speakers:
Hilary Weaver is Associate Dean at the University of Buffalo and a member of the American Indian Lakota tribe.
Fernando Pessoa is head of the Secretariat of Indigenous Health of the Brazilian Ministry of Health
CoNGO Notes: This event was recommended by the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, For more information about the Committee, including how to become a member, visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP/ and inquire from its chair, Roberto Borrero, at indigenous.committee@gmail.com.
As agreed on our previous meeting in January and our General Assembly in April, we will hold another virtual meeting of the Committee on Tuesday 9 June 13:00-14:30 (CEST). Please see below the link to join the meeting. Documentation will follow shortly. The new Independent Expert, Claudia Mahler will join us for an informal chat.
NGO Committee on Ageing Geneva’s Zoom Meeting
Tuesday Jun 9, 2020 13:00-14:30 Geneva time
We have the pleasure to invite you to a special online discussion hosted by the SDG Lab at UN Geneva on COVID-19 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will take place on Tuesday, 9 June 2020 from 3.00 p.m. to 4.30 pm EDT. Organized in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), this discussion will address SDG progress through the entry point of Inequalities and the Informal Economy and the pandemic’s impact on the 1.6 billion people employed in this sector. You are kindly requested to confirm your participation, or that of your representative(s), online at sdglab.eventbrite.com. Once registered, you will receive an email with access details on how to join the session.
Concept Note + Programme
As the world grapples with COVID-19, the pandemic has drastically exacerbated the urgent need to address the social, economic and environmental inequalities that prevail within countries and between different regions of the planet. The SDG Lab at UN Geneva, in collaboration with ILO, is offering policymakers a high-level discussion platform to unpack how COVID-19 is impacting progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and what actors are doing to address immediate needs of their citizens while keeping the 2030 SDG horizon in clear view. This online event will focus on the many facets of inequalities in responding to the crisis, through the entry point of the informal economy. Representative of four countries – India, Jordan, Portugal and South Africa – will speak to their efforts to address inequalities while maintaining focus on the 2030 Agenda.
Programme:
Part 1. Setting the scene:
Opening remarks: Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General, UN Geneva
The many facets of the informal economy crisis: Guy Ryder, Director-General, ILO
Perspective from the Global South: Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (tbc)
Part 2. Sharing good practices:
India
Jordan
Portugal
South Africa
Part 3. Exchanging views with speakers and participants
Veuillez trouver ci-joint une invitation de Mme Tatiana Valovaya, Directrice générale de l’ONUG, et de M. Guy Ryder, Directeur général de l’OIT, à une discussion en ligne sur COVID-19 X SDGs : Inégalités et Économie Informelle, qui se tiendra le mardi 9 juin 2020 de 15h00 à 16h30.
Tatiana Valovaya Guy Ryder
Director-General Director-General
United Nations Office at Geneva International Labour Organization
NGO Liaison Unit
Political Affairs and Partnerships Section
Office of the Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva
Palais des Nations
T: +41 22 917 1304 / 2178 | F: +41 22 917 0583
(New) E: unog.ngo@un.org www.ungeneva.org
On behalf of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, this is an update about the project Global Leadership in the 21st Century, which is being implemented by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) in collaboration with the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS).
Following the briefing conducted at UN Geneva on 8 November 2019 and a survey of the NGOs that followed to elicit ideas and experiences related to the core themes of the project, a five day e-conference will take place on 15-19 June 2020 to present ideas and recommendations from various organizations on catalytic strategies for transformative global leadership with the objective to bring together and synthesize the best ideas. The results of the e-conference will feed into the main conference to be organized at the Palais des Nations on 27-28 October 2020 and the final report of the project.
Please find attached an update on the Global Leadership in the 21st Century project as well as a call for proposals for the June e-conference.
Thank you for being part of this important project.
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Cher(e)s représentant(e)s d’ONG,
Au nom de la directrice générale de l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève, Mme Tatiana Valovaya, voici une mise à jour sur le projet “Global Leadership in the 21st Century” (Leadership mondial au 21e siècle). Ce projet est présentement mené par l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève (ONUG) en collaboration avec la World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS).
Suite à la séance d’information organisée à l’ONU à Genève le 8 novembre 2019 et à l’enquête menée ensuite auprès des ONG pour recueillir des idées et des expériences liées aux thèmes centraux du projet, une conférence virtuelle de cinq jours aura lieu du 15 au 19 juin 2020 pour présenter les idées et les recommandations de diverses organisations sur les stratégies catalytiques pour un leadership mondial transformateur, avec pour objectif de rassembler et de synthétiser les meilleures idées. Les résultats de cette conférence alimenteront la conférence principale qui sera organisée au Palais des Nations les 27-28 octobre 2020 et le rapport final du projet.
Veuillez trouver ci-joint une mise à jour sur le projet “Global Leadership in the 21st Century” ainsi qu’un appel à propositions pour la conférence virtuelle de juin (en anglais).
Merci de faire partie de cet important projet.
NGO Liaison Unit
Political Affairs and Partnerships Section
Office of the Director-General, United Nations Office at Geneva
Palais des Nations
T: +41 22 917 1304 / 2178 | F: +41 22 917 0583
(New) E: unog.ngo@un.org www.ungeneva.org
