GAWH Involvement at the UN
Since our founding 13 years ago, the Global Alliance for Women's Health (GAWH) has been actively involved at the United Nations. GAWH has been in association with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) since 1994, and has been in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1997. GAWH has dynamically utilized our DPI and ECOSOC status to advise, inform, and advocate within the UN in an effort to influence global policy on critical women's health issues.
During our first years, GAWH was very involved in preparations for the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. In an effort to develop coalitions and to give voice to NGOs, GAWH held numerous consultations in the form of caucuses and panels, with scores of participants from international and national organizations and agencies. The meetings generated a set of 215 proposed actions and policies related to women's health, and were subsequently articulated and compiled by GAWH into a publication entitled Women's Health Compendium. The proposals cover a cross-section of women's health concerns which are far-reaching, reflecting the depth and breadth of issues involved in women's health. The Women's Health Compendium was a crucial intervention. Not only did it bring to the table the growing concerns of NGOs, it also resulted in a much fuller array of women's health issues in the Beijing Platform for Action .
After our involvement with the Beijing Conference, GAWH initiated a second phase of activity at the UN. While our first few years focused on bringing to the UN the concerns of NGOs, our next strategy would emphasize giving voice to the concerns of Permanent Missions to the UN. In 1997, GAWH held a "Global Roundtable for Women's Health throughout the Life Span," in which 11 representatives of Permanent Missions to the UN shared their thoughts on issues of women's health within their countries. The roundtable drew over 80 attendees, which included 25 delegates from 22 Permanent Missions as well as representatives from governmental and intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, foundations, academia, and the private sector. The program made clear that there was significant desire to expand research, development, and service delivery for women's health throughout the life span, and thus powerfully succeeded in turning the spotlight on women's health in all stages of life worldwide.
Once GAWH had successfully helped to illuminate the worldwide need to advance women's health in all stages of life, the organization began to focus on generating strategies for achieving this goal. In 1999 GAWH organized a seminar, "Health for All Women in the 21st Century: How Do We Get There?" The seminar's primary emphasis was on the importance of partnering across all sectors, especially among political decision-makers. The seminar drew more than 170 invited guests from member states to the UN, the UN Secretariat, intergovernmental agencies, the international NGO community, and the private sphere, thereby bringing together many of the sectors responsible for advancing women's health.
After generating significant momentum within the UN and helping to bring women's health needs to the forefront of global policy, GAWH began focusing on specific women's health issues. Since 1999, GAWH has addressed diabetes, cervical cancer, HIV/AIDS, depression, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, smoking, and trachoma. Our organization has held over 100 seminars, roundtables, and briefings on these issues in many regions of the world. GAWH meetings have been co-sponsored by over 30 Permanent Missions to the UN, and have been held at the UN in New York, Geneva, Dakar, Madrid, Beijing, Turin, Vienna, Jakarta, and Addis Ababa. Our meetings have been well attended by governmental delegates of UN Member States, and have influenced important women's health policies.
In 2004, GAWH undertook a campaign to expand international awareness of diabetes and its impact on women. This campaign has been one of our strongest efforts to advance women's health worldwide, and has involved several fronts of action within the UN. In 2005, GAWH submitted a statement (E/CN.6/2005/NGO/36) to the 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), calling on the UN and further UN bodies to recognize diabetes as an emerging epidemic and to develop forward-looking policies. The statement not only underscored diabetes as a growing health crisis but also emphasized the need to take on the epidemic from a gender perspective. The statement was circulated throughout the UN and was received by the Secretary-General.
Our diabetes campaign has also involved the organization of seven symposia on diabetes. In March 2004 during the 48th CSW, GAWH held a symposium entitled, "Diabetes and Global Women's Health Concerns." The symposium was held in effort to alert policy makers of the growing epidemic and its impact on women, and to explore strategies for education, prevention, care and treatment. It was the first symposium ever held on diabetes at UN headquarters, and effectively reached an international audience of opinion leaders and government officials attending the annual CSW.
Soon thereafter, diabetes became a growing focus within the UN, and in November 2006, GAWH organized a seminar intending to offer members of the diplomatic and non-governmental organization community an opportunity to exchange views on the UN Diabetes Resolution being debated. The event drew over 100 delegates from more than 70 Permanent Missions to the UN, including 35 ambassadors, and was one of the many important efforts that helped pass the UN Diabetes Resolution in the UN General Assembly in December 2006.
GAWH has held five additional symposia on diabetes and its impact on women, and has recently begun focusing on the problem of diabetes in pregnancy. In February 2007, during the 51st CSW, GAWH organized a seminar entitled "Diabetes and Pregnancy throughout the World." The meeting was held at UN headquarters and drew over 50 attendees, representing 15 countries and 21 NGOs, as well as representatives from the UNFPA and WHO. It effectively enhanced awareness of diabetes as today's most common medical problem in pregnancy worldwide and expanded the dialogue on diabetes prevention and treatment as they relate to pregnancy.
While GAWH continues to move forward with our diabetes campaign, we have recently initiated a campaign to prevent cervical cancer worldwide. In March 2007, during the 51st CSW, we organized a seminar entitled, "Preventing Cervical Cancer with HPV Vaccines," in co-sponsorship with the Permanent Mission of the Niger to the UN and in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. The luncheon drew a large audience, which consisted of 97 people from 24 countries, 22 NGOs and 5 UN organizations.
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GAWH's history of involvement at the UN has been prolific and effective. By holding roundtables, seminars and forums with UN representatives, NGOs, governmental and intergovernmental agencies, academics, and citizens from across the globe, we have contributed to the dissemination of critical women's health information. In addition, these symposia have helped to facilitate collaborations between public and private sectors that have lead to advancements in women's health care policies world wide.
(This summary was prepared by Adriane DeKalb, 2007)