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. The review, on the 30th Anniversary, assessed current challenges to the implementation of the Platform for Action, the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Side Events are organized by Permanent Missions, Intergovernmental Agencies, and UN entities. Parallel Events are organized by the NGO CSW Forum as a space for civil society organizations to engage, discuss and share best practices for advancing women’s and girls’ rights. This is a brief overview of the two Side Events and five parallel events sponsored by PPSEAWA:
10 March 2025. Side Event: Bankrupting the Business of Human Trafficking—Beijing +30 Techniques that Work
Lead Organizer was CSTIP (NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons). PPSEAWA was a co-sponsor. Despite dramatic efforts by the United Nations, governments, businesses and civil society to increase awareness, strengthen laws, allocate additional resources, implement new programs, augment cooperation and expand internal and external cooperation, profits from human trafficking worldwide have increased 157% since 2014.
- Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM) at the United Nations, said that “it is important to break up the business model of the traffickers.” Subject matter experts (SMEs) discussed currently used techniques such as sharing financial and risk analysis from South Africa to follow the money in prosecuting and convicting traffickers.
- Dr. Janet Bastiman, Chief Data Scientist of Napier AI, spoke on how AI can help the predictive capabilities of banking systems and law enforcement to cut off the pipelines for money laundering.
- Deborah O’Hara Rusckowski authored a proposal to the World Health Organization (WHO) on creating a human trafficking protocol worldwide for hospital professionals. Human trafficking education training especially for emergency units is crucial to identifying and support the victims with early intervention.
11 March. Parallel Event: GBV Outcomes and Future Actions: How CSOs Enhance Their Influence?
PPSEAWA International’s Programme Development Committee organized this event, which featured three PPSEAWA panelists:
- Mondhiya Bhangsbha, International President, gave the keynote address.
- Akari Yamada, PPSEAWA International First Vice President, spoke about the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and PPSEAWA’S advocacy efforts, especially through the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons (CSTIP). PPSEAWA has organized a series of CSW events since 2022 on Disrupting Harm, featuring the best practices of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to end violence against children and women. She stressed that specific needs of survivors and effective interventions will vary depending on the cultural and social context.
- Dr. Mariko Fujisawa of PPSEAWA Japan spoke about two Japanese CSOs “Spring” and “Mimosas” who empower sexual assault survivors, work to prevent sexual violence on college campuses, and lobby to for sexual crime legislation.
11 March. Parallel Event: Leveraging AI to Bridge the Gender Gap in Technology
Organized by the Economics Department at Radford University and co-sponsored by the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech and PPSEAWA.
Held a panel discussion on how AI is leveraged to bridge the gender gap in technology. This event showcased groundbreaking research in AI adoption by startups and implications for closing the gender gap in technology because AI may be leveraged to bridge the skills gap and support career growth for women in technology.
- Dr. Can Dogan, Associate Professor of Economics at Radford Universit
- Lori Jennings, Founder | Executive Recruiter & Advisor | Board Member | AI Task Force Member
- Katie McMahon, Artificial Intelligence Expert | Technology Innovator | Thought Leader
- Mari Soonsoo Bae AI Entrepreneur | Co-founder at Ara | Ex-Google | Innovato
11 March. Parallel Event: Shaping Tomorrow - Young Women Pioneering Change for Equality. Organized by the Foundation for Women’s Rights Promotion and Development and co-sponsored by PPSEAWA. This event ignites a powerful dialogue on empowering young women’s leadership in the global fight for gender equality. Participants will exchange innovative best practices from Taiwan, Japan, the U.S., and other Asian countries, focusing on dynamic public participation and social innovation.
Moderator: Akari Yamada, 1st Vice President, PPSEAWA International
Panel
- Kozue Sawame, President, Japanese Women’s Leadership Initiative (JWLI) at the Fish Family Foundation, pointed out that young women in Japan face barriers such as low confidence, low self-esteem, and fear of failure that stop them from stepping into leadership roles. One way to overcome these barriers is to develop alumni networks. They have four women leadership programs for non-profit inspective and social entrepreneurs in Japan.
- Moriko Hori, President, Women’s Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI) shared the most effective approaches to overcome systemic challenges for women, such as: providing educational opportunities, mentoring and role models, skill development, economic support, networking opportunities, raising gender awareness.
- Izadora Letchacoski, Young BPW International Representative raised the issue of “Youth Engagement for Gender Equality, Challenges and solutions in advocacy.” Including youth in leadership programs and mentorship in their work places, and increasing youth-focused grants and partnerships with NGOs are effective tools for encouraging advocacy. Involving male allies and normalizing gender discussions would counter societal pushback.
- Candela Gonzalez, Chair, World Board, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) pointed to importance of starting at a young age to build skills in safe spaces. All girls are valued and encouraged to take action to change the world in Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
13 March. Side event: Strategies for Women’ s Health and Well- Being Across the Life Course- Realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Organized by the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations; International Council of Women (ICW-CIF); Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations (CCCUN); Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association International (PPSEAWA)
Moderator: Dr. Elizabeth Carll, Main UN Representative, New York , ICW-CIF ; President , CCCUN; Chair, Global Mental Health and NCDs Work Group & Former Chair, UN NGO CMH.
Introductory Keynote Remarks and Country Perspective: H.E. Cherdchai Chaivaivid- Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations
Panel
- Dr. Zeinab Hijazi, Global Lead Mental Health, Programme Director’s Office, UNICEF Headquarters. UNICEF’s approach to supporting child, adolescent, and mental health & psychosocial wellbeing.
- Professor Manjit Dosanjh, PhD Oxford University; Board of Directors for ICEC( International Cancer Experts Corps). Former senior advisor for medical applications at CERN. Cutting–edge technologies for detection and treatment of cancer globally available of radiation therapy like Project STELLA (Smart Technologies to Extend Lives with Linear Accelerators).
- Dr. Dan Chisholm, Mental Health Specialist, Office of the Director, Dept Mental Health & Substance Use WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. Equity and integration in women’s health
- Professor Gita Mishra, PhD. Professor and Deputy Head, School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Australia
17 March. Parallel Event: “Building Synergies, Accelerating Progress: Equality for Marginalized Women and Girls”
Organized by PPSEAWA International and co-sponsored by CHETNA, Global Shepherds, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Zonta International, PPSEAWA Malaysia, PPSEAWA Taiwan, PPSEAWA Thailand, and PPSEAWA USA.
This three-part panel highlighted the 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 from the perspectives of several countries including India, Lebanon, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand.
Part One: “Women-Led Empowerment” - welcoming remarks by Dr. Raj Abdul Karim, Second Vice President, PPSEAWA International
Part Two - Empowerment of women in vulnerable circumstances
- Hoda Kara, President/Founder, Sawa Without Borders Associaton, Lebanon “Vulnerable Children and Women in Lebanon”
- Brittocia Franklin, Executive Director, Global Shepherds, Malaysia. “Looking Beyond the Shattered Pieces”
- Chavali Pamela Osathanugrah, President of PPSEAWA Thailand and the former Governor of Zonta International District 17. “Hygiene Street Food Program in Creating Opportunities for and Empowering Former Women Prisoners”
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
- Moderator: Akari Yamada, First Vice President, PPSEAWA International
- Sonia Tiong-Aquino, Co-Chair District 17 Leaders Institute, Zonta International District 17 (Philippines). “Investing in Her, Investing in Earth: Women at the Intersection”
- Nattika Ho, Vice Chair of the Advancing the Status of Women Committee, PPSEAWA Thailand. “Recycle Waste Bank Project of PPSEAWA Thailand”
- Shao Hua Huang, Youth Representative to PPSEAWA International (Taiwan) co-founder of WEroom, which promotes female self-identity and breast health through art workshops “Community Initiatives for Environmental Sustainability”
- Ms. Pallavi Patel, Director, CHETNA (India). “Building Synergies, Accelerating Progress by Addressing Women’s Health”
18 March. Parallel Event Gender-Responsive Science Diplomacy and Tech: Innovation for Climate Action in a VUCA World
Organized by the International Federation of Business and Professional Women and PPSEAWA International.
VUCA was used to describe the current global context, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. The panel emphasized the need for flexible and adaptable approaches to achieving gender equality and sustainable development. It is important to include gender perspectives in scientific and technological advancement, particularly in the areas like climate action. The session recognized the importance of young feminist leadership in shaping policies and actions to advance gender equality. Others emphasized need to promote decent work with a focus on employment and livelihoods for women facing multiple disadvantages and intersectional discrimination
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10 March. PPSEAWA’s Welcome Reception for CSW Delegates
PPSEAWA International and PPSEAWA USA hosted a CSW reception on 10 March 2025, at Mimi’s Restaurant and Piano Bar for 25 members of PPSEAWA Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and USA. Many thanks to our co-hostesses: Mondhiya Bhangshba, International President, Mei Chuan Chao, National President, and especially Helen Ceglia, New York Chapter President, for their warm welcome!
12 March. “Celebrating Women’s Resilience and Progress” at TECO NY
PPSEAWA members were invited to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York (TECO NY) for an event during Taiwan Gender Equality Week “Celebrating Women’s Resilience and Progress”. Thulisile Dladla, deputy prime minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini praised Taiwan for providing skills training to 6000 women to start their own businesses. Kelley Currie, former U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, expressed hope that Taiwan and the U.S. will continue cooperative projects to promote women’s empowerment. There was a multimedia concert by pianist Lu Chia-hui, who is also chair of the Taipei City-based Egret Cultural and Educational Foundation. At the reception following the program, PPSEAWA members were warmly welcomed by Ambassador-at-Large Liu Po-chun. We wrote messages of hope and peace on butterflies, which we pinned on a map of Taiwan.
