Call for Applications for Sponsorship to Participate in the Beijing+30 Civil Society Forum for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, November 2024

The UN system in Bangladesh, under the leadership of the UN Women Country Office, is launching this call for applications for civil society organization representatives seeking sponsorship to participate in the upcoming Beijing+30 Civil Society Organization Forum 17-18 November 2024 and/or the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review 19-21 November 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand.  

Background

2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and provides a pivotal moment to review state action and compliance in the implementation. It also offers an opportunity for feminist movements to analyse the political, economic, and social concerns of the moment and consider ways to advance human rights and gender equality for all. Additionally, 2025 will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, as well as the final five years of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Beijing+30 review process began in early 2024 with a call for comprehensive national reviews led by the Member States, following which regional reviews will be held. The review process will culminate in a global review at the 69th Session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) in March 2025. The global review will highlight the challenges and opportunities of UN member States to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It will also provide an opportunity to look at new and emerging areas of relevance to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The engagement of civil society is an important component of the national, regional, and global review processes.

In the Asia Pacific region, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific lead and facilitate the regional review process. These organizations are collaborating to ensure that civil society is engaged in the regional review process which will culminate in the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review between 19 and 21 November 2024, preceded by a preparatory CSO Forum. A Beijing+30 Civil Society Steering Committee for Asia and the Pacific has been established comprising 13 civil society organizations[i] following a call for applications in early 2024. The aim of the committee is to support civil society contributions in the leadup to the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review in November in Bangkok including by providing inputs to the reviews, both nationally and regionally, and organizing the CSO Forum prior to the conference.

Call for Applications

To facilitate diverse and intergenerational participation and representation from Bangladesh, the UN system in Bangladesh is pooling funds to sponsor representatives to participate in the Beijing+30 Ministerial Conference and CSO Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

The deadline for applications for sponsorship is 16 September 2024 (midnight Bangladesh time).

Applications should be submitted via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/waseBzS8hx

Kindly direct questions/requests for clarification concerning this call to the following e-mail: [ Click to reveal ]. Please follow this format for the subject line: "Beijing+30 Sponsorship: Your Full Name". 

Please note that the working language of the events will be English. Support may be provided to allow non-English speaking participants.

In addition to applying for sponsorship through this call, the applicant must apply for a spot at the forum and conference. More information about this is available here (the deadline for application is 09 September 23:59, Bangkok time). The Ministerial Conference and CSO Forum are open to applicants across the Asia-Pacific region.

Selection Criteria for Sponsorship

• Expertise and history of working with women’s human rights, gender equality and intersectional feminist issues, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), Agenda 2030 and SDGs localization, among others.
• Working with/representing at least one or more of these constituencies:
  • Rural women
  • Migrant women
  • Indigenous women
  • Women with disabilities
  • Urban poor women
  • Young women and girls
  • Older women
  • Persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics
  • Women survivors of violence
  • Persons living with HIV and AIDS
  • Women workers from a diversity of sectors, including sex workers
  • Women in ICT (including gender data and artificial intelligence)
  • Women in media
  • Women in or affected by conflict situations (including women refugees or those who are internally displaced)
  • Women from religious groups
  • Women affected by climate change

• Availability to attend the CSO Forum and/or the interministerial conference on the Beijing+30 Review in November 2024 as well as a preparatory meeting beforehand and a debrief meeting afterwards.
• The applicant/representative must be over the age of 18.
• The applicant/representative must have the ability to travel (e.g., have a passport valid for 6 months after the forum).
• The applicant must represent an organization that is committed to and acts in accordance with global human rights principles and also practices inclusive and progressive feminism, whose work does not marginalize or exclude any person or group on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics, nor on grounds of ethnicity, nationality/citizen status, disability, race, age, caste, indigeneity, socio-economic status, migrant status, household status, HIV and AIDS status, sector of work, religion or other factors.

Documentation required

For a valid application the applicant needs to fill out the application form available here, and submit a nomination letter from your organization and your CV to this email: [ Click to reveal ]. Please follow this format for the subject line: "Beijing+30 Sponsorship: Your Full Name".

Selection process

The selection will be carried out by a Selection Committee chaired by the UN Women Country Office in Bangladesh composed of representatives from relevant sister UN agencies in Bangladesh. This Selection Committee will be convened within two calendar weeks of the closing date for receiving applications, and the results will be communicated to the selected representatives by 3rd October. The UN will convene dialogues and meetings with the selected participants prior to and after the CSO Forum and Ministerial Conference.

_________________________

[i] The 13 members of the Beijing+30 Civil Society Steering Committee for Asia and the Pacific are: Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (APA), Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD), Asia Pacific Women’s Watch, Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants, China Women's Research Society, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), Digital Rights Foundation, Fiji Women's Rights Movement (FWRM), Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, MONFEMNET, Rising Flame, The YP Foundation<>Feminist Manch.