The Global region 2 of International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG, led by Regional Director Seo-yeon Lee) attended the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held at the UN Headquarters in New York. On the 20th of last month, at the UN East Lounge, a meeting was held with both Sophia Mjema, Advisor to the President on Women’s Issues, Children, and Special Groups, and Dr. Shekalaghe Seif, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Tanzania.
CSW, a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), convenes annually in March to bring together governments of various countries and related international and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to share policy practices for enhancing women’s empowerment and advancing their rights, as well as to explore effective approaches to gender equality policy implementation.
This 68th session focused on “Accelerating the Achievement of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls by Addressing Poverty and Strengthening Institutions and Financing with a Gender Perspective”.
During this CSW period, Global Region 2 proceeded with a second meeting with Sophia Mjema, Advisor to the President on Women’s Issues, Children, and Special Groups, in order to advance peace activities following the first meeting with Seif A. Shekalaghe, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender, Tanzania.
Seo-yeon Lee, the regional director, asked, “Tanzanian women seem to have a strong passion for peace, especially with women’s peace education being admired in other countries. I am curious about the driving force behind this.”
In response, Sophia Mjema, the advisor, stated, “The government is making considerable efforts to promote women’s peace and human rights. President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, in particular, has shown great interest in this.”
Dr Seif, the permanent secretary, remarked, “It is remarkable to see the wind of peace blowing through Tanzania with the involvement of many IWPG members. Communication with IWPG has been excellent.”
During the meeting, they promised to continue exchanging and communicating with the Tanzanian government and IWPG for mutual cooperation in women’s peace activities. They also expressed interest in participating at the governmental level in the upcoming ‘International Women’s Peace Conference’ in September.
Meantime, IWPG is a global women’s NGO registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Department of Global Communications (DGC). Based in Seoul, South Korea, it actively engages in activities such as Women’s Peace Networks, Women’s Peace Education, Peace culture propagation project, and Advocacy for the enactment of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), collaborating with over 110 branches worldwide and 660 affiliated organizations.
