DCA is proud to be part of an Australian delegation heading to the United Nations for the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69).
This year’s session is particularly significant as it marks 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark commitment to advancing gender equality worldwide.
At CSW69, global representatives came together to reflect on progress made, assess ongoing challenges, and explore how we can accelerate action towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. These discussions are also key to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Our Scholar-in-Residence and Director of Special Projects, Dr. Virginia Mapedzahama, lead a session on the significance of applying an intersectionality lens in gender equality work.
Workplace gender-equality initiatives often treat women as a homogenous group, assuming all benefit equally. However, these efforts can only be inclusive of all women when they centre voices of those most marginalised by complex and compounded intersecting structures of inequity.
The session presented methodological insights and lessons learnt from several intersectional workplace gender equality projects undertaken by the consortium (AWAU, Australia Human Rights Commission, Diversity Council Australia, Settlement Services International, Chief Executive Women and The University of Sydney). The event offered frameworks for developing nuanced approaches to workplace equity that advance women’s economic empowerment to ensure no woman is left behind.
The session included representatives from African Women Australia Incorporated, Australia Human Rights Commission, Diversity Council Australia, Settlement Services International, Chief Executive Women and The University of Sydney.
Panelists included:
- Lisa Annese, CEO, Chief Executive Women (CEW)
- Dr. Anna Cody, Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Australian Human Rights Commission
- Dr. Dimitria G Groutsis, Professor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, The University of Sydney Business School
- Dr. Virginia Mapedzahama, DCA’s Scholar-in-Residence & Director of Special Projects, Diversity Council Australia
- Juliana Nkrumah AM, Manager, Gender Equality and Women’s Safety, Settlement Services International and Founder, African Women Australia Incorporated (AWAU)
- Dr. Astrid Perry OAM, Head of Women, Equity and Domestic Violence, Settlement Services International
- Shalani Tharumanathan, Project Manager – RISE, Diversity Council Australia
The following resources are now available for viewing:
- Presentation in PDF
- Recording of the event via Vimeo with playback speed control and captions below