April 8, 2013
The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Secretary:
On behalf of more than 60 organizations that promote women’s and girls’ empowerment, gender equality, development, health and human rights globally, we would like to thank you and the U.S. delegation for the strong leadership role that the United States played in achieving a positive and forward-looking outcome document at the 57th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
The Agreed Conclusions that resulted from the sometimes difficult negotiations proved a strong and welcomed statement on the elimination of violence against women and girls worldwide. We greatly appreciate the support of the U.S. delegation in ensuring this result. We want to applaud the delegation for achieving another important step forward, building on the global momentum of the past twenty years, which has created a strong framework to end all forms of violence against women, young women and girls.
The Agreed Conclusions reaffirmed previous commitments made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, in the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and its Key Actions for Further Implementation, and other important international agreements, including the UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security. Progress on a number of issues related to sexual and reproductive health and human rights was achieved, including clearly stating that religion, culture and tradition cannot be used to excuse violations of the human rights of women and girls. The Agreed Conclusions also recognize the importance of investing in comprehensive sexuality education and providing essential health services for survivors of sexual violence, including emergency contraception and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV — two important tools to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Furthermore, the recognition that illicit use and trade in small arms and light weapons actually aggravates violence against women and girls is a major achievement for the women, peace and security agenda. We also thank the U.S. for its leadership on strong language pertaining to both women’s human rights defenders and to child, early and forced marriage, which were included in the Agreed Conclusions, and on intimate partner violence and sexual orientation and gender identity, which unfortunately were not.
As your delegation rightly noted, the Agreed Conclusions were only a beginning, and it is imperative that we all “continue the vital work … to ensure that women and girls around the world have the safety and dignity they deserve.” We are aware that you face a tremendous depth and breadth of responsibilities in your new role and we are grateful to know that we can count on your continued leadership on issues related to women and girls’ health and human rights globally. We also want you to know that we are here to support your continued leadership and prioritization of issues related to women, girls and gender equality across U.S. foreign policy and assistance.
Thank you.
Sincerely,