News

Session: Bridging the Justice Gap: Feminist approaches to access to Justice across Multi-Level Governance Systems 

Hosted by:  Zonta International and the Australian Government

Speakers included: 

• Dr Anna Cody – Australia’s Sex Disrcimination Commissioner 
• Jahna Cedar – Co-chair First NationsX
• Bridget Mather – Chair, Zonta Australia

Moderator: Sandy Venn-Brown – Vice President, Zonta International.

What a way to start the day! 

This session really opened my eyes to the power, and responsibility, of local governments in making communities safer for women. Local governments design many aspects of the environments we move through every day: transport routes, lighting, public spaces and infrastructure. These factors significantly influence whether women feel safe in their communities. Something as simple as improved lighting or better-designed transport routes can make a real difference, so stronger engagement with local government is essential when designing solutions to gender-based safety issues. 

I particularly enjoyed listening to Jahna Cedar, a First Nations woman from the Pilbara, who spoke about the challenges faced by First Nations women and communities in Australia. Her perspective highlighted how important it is to include Indigenous voices in policy discussions.

A strong theme from this session was that women with lived experience must be at the centre of advocacy and the design of solutions. Policies are far more effective when the people most affected are involved in shaping them.

Session: Youth Voices for Global Justice: Bridging US, Iran and Ukraine

Hosted by: Women NC

This event brought together young leaders from the United States, Iran and Ukraine to examine the state of women’s rights, highlight the role of youth in advancing justice, and confront the realities of authoritarianism and war.

The panel was incredibly inspiring and demonstrated how youth activism can drive progress on peace, democracy and gender equality across borders. 

One speaker who particularly stood out was Caroline Joo from Duke University, who is working on a project to make dental care more accessible for pregnant mothers. It was fascinating to hear about something we rarely consider - “smile discrimination.” A person’s smile can significantly affect employment opportunities and economic stability, particularly in customer-facing roles where women are overrepresented. 

Another speaker, Sara, spoke about child marriage in Iran. The current legal age of marriage for girls is 13, although girls can be married even younger with judicial approval. What surprised many in the room was that prior to the Iranian Revolution, the legal age of marriage for women had been raised to 18. After the revolution, it was reduced dramatically before later being adjusted to the current law. 

Sara made a powerful point: women’s rights cannot be safeguarded when power is concentrated in the hands of a small group of men

President Joanne (centre) after speaking at the two Soroptimists events.

Session: Access to Education in the Digital Era: Lifelong Learning for All Women and Girls

Hosted by: Soroptimist International

At this event we heard from various speakers, including Ms Aikaterini Patsogianni, Secretary General for Equality and Human Rights at the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family in Greece.  

Ms Patsogianni spoke about growing up in Volos, where there is a strong Soroptimist presence. She also noted that in 2025 Greece passed new legislation criminalising digital violence, which is an important step in addressing technology-facilitated abuse.  

The session focused on the importance of lifelong learning. Often we associate education only with school or university, but access to learning opportunities throughout life is essential for gender equality.  

Some interesting takeaways included:

• In the United Kingdom there is a program called the University of the Third Age, where retired or semi-retired people can learn new skills and participate in education in later life.
• Around 750 million people worldwide lack basic literacy, and two-thirds of them are women.

Session: Civil Society Briefing: Agreed Conclusions – Negotiations Report 

I then made it across the UN complex to attend a civil society briefing on the Agreed Conclusions negotiation process for CSW. 

This session was extremely informative because I did not previously know much about how the Agreed Conclusions are negotiated. 

The Agreed Conclusions are the main outcome document of the Commission each year and outline commitments and priorities for advancing gender equality globally. They are negotiated by UN Member States during the two weeks of the Commission.  

We learned that the first draft circulated this year was only four pages, which has since expanded to around nine pages – still much shorter than usual, as in previous years the document has often been around 25 pages.  

There was also a lot of discussion about the unusual voting process this year. Traditionally, the Agreed Conclusions are adopted by consensus, meaning all Member States agree without a formal vote. However, this year a vote was required after the United States proposed several amendments that many states opposed. Member States voted not to consider those amendments, and the final text was adopted with the United States voting against it.  

NGO representatives were very interested in whether voting might become more common in future CSW sessions. The briefing suggested this may happen again, but it reflects a broader trend at the United Nations where consensus is becoming harder to achieve across a range of negotiations.

Session: Water: Our Most Essential Resource

Hosted by: Soroptimsit International 

After a quick lunch break, I went along to support Donnell and Joanne at this Soroptimist event held at the Commonwealth Secretariat.  

We heard several concrete examples of the incredible work Soroptimists are doing around the world. For example, Soroptimists in Malaysia have implemented projects to improve access to safe, clean drinking water in local communities. 

Another example from Africa highlighted that in some communities there is plenty of water available, but not the infrastructure to store or distribute it safely. Soroptimists have helped address this by supporting the construction of water storage systems.   

I finished the day with a lovely dinner with the SISEAP delegates – and I certainly can’t complain when dinner involves pasta!