Seizing the opportunities of CEDAW: Developing a women's sector strategy for 2011
On Tuesday 24 March 2009, 150 women from across the UK descended on the
Human Rights Action Centre in central London to attend the Women's Resource Centre and Equality and Human Rights Commission (
EHRC) “Seizing the Opportunities of CEDAW” Conference.
Women came from places as diverse as Belfast, Blackburn, Birmingham, Bradford, Cardiff, Cleveland, Coventry, Derbyshire, Edinburgh, Galway, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle Upon Tyne, South Tyneside, Worchestershire and more!
…and from organisations as diverse as
Equality Commission Northern Ireland, Sparkhill Asian Women's Association,
Manchester Women's Domestic Violence Helpline, African Women Support Network,
Engender, Rape Crisis England and Wales,
Women in Prison,
Lancashire Wide Network for Minority Ethnic Women,
Womens Health Matters, The Angelou Centre,
Women Asylum Seekers Together (London),
Apna Haq,
Ballybeen Women's Centre,
Welsh Women's National Coalition,
Maternity Action,
Oxfam and many more!
The Conference was jointly chaired by Vivienne Hayes (Chief Executive of Women’s Resource Centre) and Andrea Murray (Head of Policy, Equality and Human Rights Commission).
Special guest Dr Violeta Neubauer, from the UN Committee to Eliminate Violence Against Women (CEDAW), travelled from Slovenia to urge women’s NGOs to get to know CEDAW and use it as a lobbying tool to fight for women’s equality.
The keynote session focused on the UK Government’s CEDAW examination in July 2008, and women from the sector who attended gave their advice and tips: Sheila Coates (
SERICC and
Rape Crisis, England and Wales), Hannana Siddiqui (
Southall Black Sisters), Lee Eggleston (SERICC and Rape Crisis, England and Wales), Liz Kelly (
End Violence Against Women Coalition), Ann Marie Gray (
Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform).
Workshops focused on women’s rights within a human rights framework, Beijing Platform for Action, the Optional Protocol, CEDAW stories from the Global South, the experiences of Northern Ireland, and how to lobby Members of the European Parliament on CEDAW.
Helene Reardon Bond, Head of Gender Equality at the Government Equalities Office, presented a session on how the Government is taking forward its CEDAW obligations.
- See a short film from the Conference here
- To express your interest in being on a ‘working group’ to drive a women’s sector strategy for the next time the UK Government is examined in 2011, email charlotte@wrc.org.uk
WRC at NHS Northwest Gender Equality conference
In July 2008, WRC's Policy Officer Karen Moore, spoke at the NHS Northwest Gender Equality conference about why violence against women is a gender equality issue and what that means for NHS policy and practice.
Why Women? 2007 conference report
The Women’s Resource Centre’s 2007 conference launched the second phase of our
why women? campaign. We focused on women-only spaces and services, and organisations that are run by women, for women. We launched our new
Why women-only? research report on the values and benefits of women-only services and spaces.
“What a wealth of experience and feminist philosophy each speaker brought to the topic. Their credibility was 100% and their message had great impact because of it.” Thriving or Surviving? 2006 conference report
The Women's Resource Centre's 2006 conference brought together women's organisations from across the country to discuss the state of the women's sector and build the skills of women's organisations.
“It feels really good to be involved! Despite all the challenges we are all facing at the moment there was a great feeling of solidarity at the conference, which was really refreshing! I left with hope and courage.”
Delegates at WRC's 2006 conference.
Women in a workshop at WRC's 2006 conference.