CSW 68th Session Regional Consultation

SESSION 1:
‘Developing Economic and Social Policies to Address Gendered Poverty’
delivered by Beatrice Leong

Your Excellencies, distinguished speakers, honourable members and delegates, colleagues and sisters.

I stand here today as an autistic woman, with the privilege to deliver the statement on behalf of the Asia Pacific CSO Forum represented by 65 participants. 

Women and girls in all our diversity remain the poorest with least economic opportunities and prospects in Asia and the Pacific. Our unpaid labour in care work creates multiple burdens, further disadvantaging and leaving us vulnerable to gender-based discrimination and violence. 64% of women workers in the region are employed in the informal sector, leaving us without social protections and labour laws. The criminalisation of sex work subjects many of us to ongoing violence, stigma and discrimination. 

We recommend:

  • Address the multi-faceted, structural, intersectional impacts of poverty on women and girls in all our diversity, including those with diverse SOGIESC
  • Improve public investment in health and develop holistic social protection systems for women and girls, including universal access to health to ensure our bodily  autonomy and sexual and reproductive rights across the  lifespan. 
  • Create equal access to economic opportunities for women and girls including reasonable accommodations for women with disabilities like me. This must extend to decent work conditions with guaranteed living wages in formal and informal sectors, including sex workers.
  • Reduce and redistribute unpaid labour of care work by providing support systems to unburden women and girls,  and ensure equal pay policy and skills upgrading
  • Increase national budget allocations to finance and strengthen  public services and infrastructures for childcare, elder care, and support for persons with disabilities and gender responsive sharing of household work.
  • Strengthen Women’s Ministries and machineries to enable strong policies to address gender discrimination and eliminate GBV (gender based violence). This must include data collection to inform these policies,  services and programs.

Thank you.