The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025. The main focus of the sixty-ninth session was the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly.
17 March. Parallel Event: Building Synergies, Accelerating Progress: Equality for Marginalized Women and Girls. Organized by PPSEAWA International.
The Beijing Platform for Action aimed to create a peaceful, just, and humane world based on human rights and fundamental freedoms 30 years ago. Yet, marginalized women and girls often are victims of specific forms of violence and harmful practices. This event by PPSEAWA International seeks to showcase best practices of women-led initiatives to overcome barriers, build synergies, and accelerate progress in a few of the twelve critical areas of concern: education, health care, social protection, and livelihood skills training.
Part One - Women-Led Empowerment
Welcome by Dr. Raj Abdul Karim, Second Vice President, PPSEAWA International
Part Two - Empowerment of women in vulnerable circumstances
- Dr. Raj Abdul Karim, PPSEAWA International Second Vice President, introduced Hoda Kara, President/Founder, Sawa Without Borders Associatoon, Lebanon, sent a video and shared her work of helping women and children including the refugees in her community.
- Brittocia Franklin, Executive Director, Global Shepherds, Malaysia. “Looking Beyond the Shattered Pieces”. Global Shepherds is a non-profit organization that works mainly with women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse. Most women and girls who come there are in varying degrees of trauma, some bearing visible scars and disabilities, while nearly all carry deep psychological and emotional wounds. 6 key principles of trauma-informed care are: Safety, Trustworthiness & Transparency, Peer support, Collaboration & mutuality, empowerment, voice & choice, Culture, historical and gender sensibility.
- Chavali Pamela Osathanugrah, President, PPSEAWA Thailand. “Hygiene Street Food Program in Creating Opportunities for and Empowering Former Women Prisoners”. PPSEAWA Thailand aims to provide self-employment opportunities through tangible, vocational assistance for women who are former inmates of prisons in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The women undergo four months of on-the-job training tailored to their individual needs. PPSEAWA participates at three stages: selection of candidates, financial support for women to start their own businesses in street food vending, and follow-up services including counselling and financial literacy training for managing the businesses. The project received from the Ministry of Jus<ce and the Dept. of Corrections an award of Certificate of Appreciation to PPSEAWA Thailand for their support and contribution to the mission of rehabilitating and developing the behavior of inmates, more commonly known as those who “took a wrong step”.
Part Three - Women at the Intersection of Environmental and Financial Literacy Women are severely at risk of poverty and displacement due to climate change impacts.
The third panel brings together women-led organizations to share their capacity-building and skills-training programs in different countries for inclusive, environmentally sustainable economic empowerment.
Moderator: Akari Yamada, First Vice President, PPSEAWA International
Nattika Ho, Vice Chair of the Advancing the Status of Women Committee, PPSEAWA Thailand on their “Recycle Waste Bank Project”. The project started in April 2016 by PPSEAWA Thailand and managed by the sub-district administrative organization and university. The project held community educating forums involved with elderly, students, and residents. The management overseen by the Savings waste Bank Committee. The members deposit recyclable waste and earn dividends which add 20% to their savings. By 2018, the project launched “Power of Change: Waste Separation for Savings” initiative which expended to Wat Hua Khu School students and scholarships were awarded based on waste deposits. Also in 2018, the project established “Savings Waste Bank Learning Center”. It’s a study site for environmental management which help improve community cleanliness and reduced waste in canal. The project was selected as a pilot for ThaiHealth’s Sustainable Waste Management Project.
- Shao Hua Huang, Youth Representative to PPSEAWA International (Taiwan) on “Community Initiatives for Environmental Sustainability.” One project was to reuse coffee grounds mixing with wood chips and fallen leaves then place them into thermal composters to generate soil amendments provide for the residents in the communities. The project also engaged school children by providing them with environmental education within their communities. “There are only misplaced resources, no waste!”
- Ms. Pallavi Patel, Director, CHETNA (India). “Building Synergies, Accelerating Progress by Addressing Women’s Health”. Chetna’s commitment to human capital and facing two challenges of poor health and poor incomes. CHETNA’s strategic approach is gender and rights- based interventions. For example, CHETNA convinced women to call ambulance service to go deliver their babies and increased the delivery rate from 45% to 81% during 2006-2009. CHETNA is the first NGO to develop health communication materials on anemia in 1996, 51% anemic women returned to normal category and non-remained severely anemic. CHETNA has worked 30 plus years on menstrual health awareness and improve menstrual hygiene product usage from 20% to 77%. CHETNA held 500+ educational fairs for mothers and daughters. Contraceptive uptake in intervention area increased from 30% to 70% in a period of 3 years. CHETNA have started daycare center to support women get into workforce.
- Sonia Tiong-Aquino, Co-Chair District 17 Leaders Institute, Zonta International District 17 (Philippines). “Investing in Her, Investing in Earth: Women at the Intersection”. Empowering women with both environmental and financial knowledge creates a ripple effect benefitting families and communities for generations. In the Philippines, Zonta offered skills training in 3 rural communities and entrepreneurship training programs for trafficked women through the shelter operated the Voice of Free Foundation. Also training housewives financial budgeting and routine savings and teaching indigenous women weavers how to use bank for the individual and association’s earrings.