Marking International Women's Day at the 67th UNCSW

In March, I had the privilege to attend the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) conference as part of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) delegation. This year’s events addressed how innovation, technological change, and education can help achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Formal discussions among member states, UN entities, and civil society organizations addressed gaps in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration, emerging equality issues, and actions needed to accelerate progress and promote women’s rights.

Events outside the UN, hosted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), covered a number of issues. I really enjoyed the honest, intriguing, challenging, and thought-provoking discussions.

On March 8, I had the honour of attending an International Women's Day event inside the UN. A panel from South Africa stressed the need for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses to be available to women and girls. Support for STEM often comes from organizations that provide the money for girls to access this path, work to ensure that girls can continue their learning in after-school sessions, and often provide them computers to take home.

The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth of Canada, spoke to the Canadian delegation about access to technology, and the direct impact it can have on the success of women and girls, and the increase in violence and hate speech, especially that directed at women with disabilities, Indigenous women and girls, and members of the LGBTQI2S communities. Minister Ien challenged the group to rise up and remove all barriers to equality.

A Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) panel also addressed the growth of anonymous harassment and threats, and the lack of laws in place to protect those being harassed and stop the perpetrators.

The Tech Safety Canada project, by Women’s Shelters Canada, aims to assist women, children, and gender diverse people who have experienced TFGBV by equipping workers with the knowledge to support their shelter clients. This includes how to use technology safely, increase privacy, secure devices, and use different platforms and technology.

The CLC hosted a ‘Gender, Technology, and the Future of Work: Canadian Union Perspective” event. UFCW Local 832 Secretary-Treasurer Marie Buchan, and several other women Union leaders, took part on the panel discussion, which addressed how women are disproportionately affected by:

• Inadequate legislation on the right to disconnect;

• The changing retail landscape especially post-COVID;

• Technological change and human resources jobs, and;

• Remote work and the impact of returning to the office.

Attending the UNCSW was a fantastic experience filled with inspiring speakers. It was incredible, and often emotional, to hear about the work being done around the world. There is a lot of work to do, and your Union will continue to do its part to advance gender equality.

In Solidarity, Kelly Tosato treasurer@ufcw175.com