Care and the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women: a transformative policy space?

Abstract

In March 2009, UN member states met at the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to discuss the priority theme of “the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS”. This meeting focused the international community's attention on care issues and generated Agreed Conclusions that aimed to lay out a roadmap for care policy. I examine how the frame of “care” – a contested concept that has long divided feminist researchers and activists – operated in this site. Research involved a review of documentation related to the meeting and interviews with 18 participants. Using this research I argue that the frame of care united a range of groups, including conservative faith-based actors who have mobilized within the UN to roll back sexual and reproductive rights. This policy alliance led to important advances in the Agreed Conclusions, including strong arguments about the global significance of care, especially in relation to HIV; the need for a strong state role; and the value of caregivers' participation in policy debates. However, the care frame also constrained debate at the CSW, particularly about disability rights and variations in family formation. Those seeking to reassert sexual and reproductive rights are grappling with such limitations in a range of ways, and attention to their efforts and concerns can help us better understand the potentials and dangers for feminist intervention within global policy spaces.

Résumé

En mars 2009, à la 53e session de la Commission de la condition de la femme (CSW), les États membres de l'ONU ont débattu du « partage des responsabilités à parts égales entre les femmes et les hommes, y compris devant la fourniture de soins dans le contexte du VIH/sida ». Cette réunion a centré l'attention de la communauté internationale sur les soins et a formulé des Conclusions concertées pour définir une feuille de route de la politique de soins. J'examine comment le cadre des « soins », un concept contesté qui a longtemps divisé les chercheurs et les militantes féministes, a opéré dans ce contexte. J'ai analysé la documentation de la réunion et me suis entretenu avec 18 participants. J'avance que le cadre des soins a réuni divers groupes, y compris des acteurs confessionnels conservateurs qui s'étaient mobilisés au sein des Nations Unies pour faire reculer les droits génésiques. Cette alliance politique a permis des progrès substantiels dans les Conclusions concertées, notamment des arguments solides sur la signification mondiale des soins, en particulier en rapport avec le VIH ; la nécessité d'un rôle étatique fort ; et la centralité de la participation des prestataires de soins dans les débats politiques. Néanmoins, le cadre des soins a également limité le débat à la CSW, spécialement sur les droits des handicapés et les variations dans la formation de la famille. Ceux qui veulent réaffirmer les droits génésiques luttent contre ces limitations de diverses façons et en accordant une attention à leurs activités et leurs préoccupations, nous pouvons mieux comprendre le potentiel et les dangers pour l'intervention féministe dans les espaces de politique internationale.

Resumen

En marzo de 2009, los estados miembros de la ONU se reunieron en la 53a Comisión de la Condición Jurídica y Social de la Mujer (CSW) para discutir el tema principal: “compartir las responsabilidades entre mujeres y hombres, incluido el cuidado en el contexto del VIH/SIDA”. Esta reunión enfocó la atención de la comunidad internacional en asuntos de cuidado y generó Conclusiones Convenidas, cuyo objetivo fue sentar las pautas para la política sobre los cuidados. Examino cómo ha funcionado el marco de “cuidados”, un concepto refutado que desde hace mucho divide a los investigadores y activistas feministas. La investigación comprendió una revisión de los documentos relacionados con la reunión y entrevistas con 18 participantes. Mediante esta investigación, arguyo que el marco de cuidados unió a una variedad de grupos, incluso actores religiosos conservadores que se han movilizado en la ONU para dar marcha atrás a los derechos sexuales y reproductivos. Esta alianza de políticas públicas aseguró importantes avances en las Conclusiones Convenidas, incluidos sólidos argumentos sobre la importancia mundial de los cuidados, especialmente con relación al VIH; la necesidad de una marcada función del Estado; y la centralidadde la participación de las personas que prestan cuidados en los debates de políticas. Sin embargo, el marco de cuidados también restringió el debate en la CSW, particularmente sobre los derechos de discapacidad y las variaciones en la estructura familiar. Las personas que buscan reafirmar los derechos sexuales y reproductivos están luchando contra tales limitaciones en una variedad de formas. Si prestamos atención a sus esfuerzos e inquietudes, podremos entender mejor las posibilidades y los peligros de la intervención feministaen los espacios de políticas internacionales.

Key Words:

• care policy
• advocacy and political process
• sexual and reproductive rights
• HIV/AIDS
• disability
• family formation
• United Nations

Acknowledgements

This is a shortened version of an analysis I developed in a paper commissioned by the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), entitled “Harmonizing Global Care Policy? Care and the Commission on the Status of Women”, Gender and Development Programme Paper No.7, February 2010,. At: <www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/search/F4E650DD8BEB3175C12576DB003CDFA3?OpenDocument>. It is published here with the kind permission of UNRISD, who retain the copyright. I would like to thank Shahra Razavi for commissioning that project, and Barbara Klugman for her on-going support, including in this re-publication.

Notes

* The Commission consists of 45 member state representatives. A Bureau with representatives from five regional groups organizes the annual meetings. Support and servicing for the CSW is provided by the Division for the Advancement of Women, part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (see <www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html#about>).

* See Petchesky⁹ and Corrêa and Jolly¹⁰ on the diverse readings of Beijing and Cairo, regarding on one hand endorsement of sharing couplehood between men and women, and on the other the advancement of an agenda focused on women's sexual autonomy.

* For more on agreed language and gender policy at the UN, see Riles.¹¹

† Representatives of the Christian Right from Latin America have increased recently, but the movement as represented at the CSW is still overwhelmingly US-based.

** For more on the slippage between feminist concern about a crisis in care engendered by neoliberalism, and religiously-inflected concern about a crisis in the family, see Bedford.¹³

* Most member states will read the Secretary General's reports,⁸¹⁷ and the Bureau prepares the first draft of the Agreed Conclusions based on the recommendations in those reports.

† E.g. the Secretary General's report emphasized the importance of the state's role in infrastructure and social protection in a crisis context (p.18),⁸ as did DAW's report from the Expert Group Meeting.¹⁸

* E.g. many feminist care researchers have emphasized the universal nature of human dependence.²³ In turn, disability research has long challenged the idea of independence as self-sufficiency while also highlighting the care done by people regarded as “dependant”, especially disabled women.²²

* Several UN actors spoke about the importance of men's involvement in families as fathers, e.g. Zukang,⁶ and the Secretary General's report mentioned numerous examples of countries taking measures to support and strengthen men's involvement in caregiving (p.12–14).⁸