Seychelles joins global fight for gender equality |19 March 2018

The Minister for Family Affairs, Jeanne Simeon, is leading a high level delegation to the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) being held in New York.

The other members of the delegation comprise the principal secretary for Family Affairs Marie-Josée Bonne and the director general for Family Affairs, Marie-May Leon.

The Commission, being held under the theme ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Rural Women and Girls’ will run until March 23.

This year’s theme begs the world community to consider the challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls in the context of the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Minister Simeon presented her statement before the General Assembly of the United Nations on Tuesday March 13 in which she noted that as a small island developing state, Seychelles cannot divorce itself from the issues affecting this global planet. 

She affirmed that we are living in “one of the most prosperous eras in human development … but also in a world of unprecedented inequality; a world where gender inequality remains a sad reality everywhere”.

In her intervention she also shared some of the ongoing initiatives at national level aimed at achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Preceding their participation at the CSW, the ministerial delegation attended a one-day consultation of Commonwealth National Women’s Machineries.  As part of one of the sessions on ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’, PS Bonne accompanied by Commonwealth Consultant Dr Bazlul Khonder, gave an overview to members present on the ongoing project being piloted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in Seychelles which is looking at the economic cost of domestic violence for small island developing states (SIDS).  A number of other countries showed avid interest in participating in such a project in the future.

During the week that the delegation is in New York, members are also participating in other side events, bilateral discussions and negotiations towards providing input into the eventual agreed conclusions of the Commission.