First thing this morning I went to the morning briefing for the NGO Major Group. I should explain a bit more about the structure of the negotiations here in Rio. There are nine 'Major Groups' that draft the text of the outcome document. The groups are:
- Business and Industry
- Children and Youth
- Farmers
- Indigenous Peoples
- Local Authorities
- Non-government Organisations (NGOs)
- Scientific and Technological Community
- Women
- Workers and Trade Unions
These groups are working to write the outcome document on the seven focus issues of the conference. The issues are:
- decent jobs
- energy
- sustainable cities
- food security and sustainable agriculture
- water
- oceans
- disaster readiness
As the document is prepared, it must be agreed upon by the UN Member Countries. Countries tend to form alliances on certain issues. The largest alliance is the G77 - all the green countries below...
Unfortunately this alliance can act as a barrier to consensus. Today we are struggling with the fact that they don't recognise gender equality as a concept and are blocking calls for universal health care and women's reproductive rights.
So, back to my day. This morning I went to the NGO Major Group briefing. They gave an update of where the negotiations are up to and called for questions to be submitted for the evening session. I submitted a question about the inclusion of violence against women.
In the middle of the day Ally and I finally found the Australian Government briefing. Australia's priorities at this conference are oceans (in a big way), mining, desertification and land degradation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Not so much for Guides, but I asked a question. I said that Australia has been quite strong on elimination of violence against women and girls and asked if this topic had been discussed much in the gender negotiations. The answer was that it had not exactly been discussed in those terms, but many relevant topics had been previously discussed in New York. Not really satisfactory, but at least the topic was raised.
I was asked to speak at a press conference on behalf of civil society. However the colleague of the person who asked me had found another speaker unbeknownst to her. Still, she has my email and these press conferences are every day, so it is likely I will be asked again.
In the evening we went to the Major Groups Dialogues which was hosted by the Director of the Conference. Unfortunately the chairperson spoke for about half an hour on "11 reasons why this text is ambitious". This left time for only two questions and we did not get to mine. However, yesterday the Girl Guide question about non-formal education was the first to be read out.
We are working very very hard to have the words "formal and non-formal" included in the paragraph on education. We have the support of many NGOs and the Major Group for Children and Youth. The paragraph has been agreed ad ref, so there is almost no chance that it can be edited. But we have talked to various governments, including the one who deleted the words in the first place and convinced them to include them again. The agreed paragraph probably can't be edited, but a small group of our WAGGGS delegation has written a new passage to be inserted. It is possible that we will get it entered. This is our main point that we are pushing so this progress has been very exciting.
When we first arrived, they had not finished building our accommodation. As a result, we have been staying at another branch of the same group at Copacabana Beach. I am going down to the beach in the morning to see the sunrise since we will be moving up into the hills and away from the beach, restaurants and supermarket. We are all a bit sad about this, but then again, it will be nice to have doorknobs.
Location:Rio de Janeiro
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