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Critical Issues to Address Under the Theme

Lack of transparency and accountability in tracking financing for gender equality (Indicator 5.c.1).

Persistent gaps in grassroots funding, with resources failing to reach community-level organizations.

Privatization and outsourcing of aid disempowering local feminist organizations.

How Can We Address the Gaps in BFPA and Accelerate Progress?

Mandate gender-responsive budgeting and make Indicator 5.c.1 obligatory.

Reform the global financial architecture to prioritize gender equality, including reallocating funds from debt servicing and military spending to social services.

Promote direct and flexible financing mechanisms for grassroots organizations.

What Actions Have Already Been Taken Toward Accountability?

Development of progressive methodologies, such as gender-sensitive aid tracking (though implementation remains weak).

Some local initiatives integrating gender equality into development plans and budgets.

Efforts by CSOs to engage in high-level advocacy for accountability at international forums.

Future Engagement Plans and Support Needed

Synergies through multilateral platforms (IMF, World Bank, WTO) to push for equitable financing policies.

Increased collaboration among CSOs to amplify advocacy for tax justice and wealth redistribution.

Beyond funding: Technical support for capacity-building, tools for monitoring and evaluation, and mechanisms to ensure grassroots participation in decision-making processes

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Climate change is not gender-neutral; its impacts disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly those in marginalized and vulnerable communities. Women and girls often bear the brunt of climate-induced disasters, food and water insecurity, and displacement due to existing social, economic, and cultural inequalities. These challenges limit their access to resources, decision-making processes, and resilience-building opportunities. Addressing climate change must therefore incorporate a gender-inclusive lens, ensuring that women and girls are not only protected but are empowered as agents of change in shaping sustainable solutions.

Key Issues:

Disproportionate Impact: Women and girls are often the primary caregivers and providers of food and water, making them more vulnerable to climate-related resource shortages.

Limited Representation: Women, particularly those from Indigenous and minority communities, are underrepresented in climate decision-making processes.

Barriers to Education and Knowledge Sharing: Climate-induced crises exacerbate existing barriers to education for girls, reducing their future opportunities and limiting their ability to contribute to climate solutions.

Loss of Indigenous Knowledge: Indigenous women, who are often stewards of traditional ecological knowledge, face cultural and environmental losses that further marginalize their voices.

Economic and Financial Inequalities: Women face systemic barriers in accessing financial resources, leaving them disproportionately excluded from climate finance mechanisms.

Corporate Control of Food Systems: The increasing corporate control of food systems, including through the use of GMOs, undermines community-led food sovereignty and endangers the cultural and nutritional value of Indigenous and traditional foods.

Recommendations:

1. Education for All: Implement inclusive education programs that ensure women, girls, and marginalized communities are aware of their rights, equipped with knowledge about climate risks, and empowered to advocate for solutions.

2. Accountable Climate Finance Policies: Adopt climate finance mechanisms that hold polluters responsible and ensure that funds are transparent, accessible, and equitable, prioritizing support for women-led and community-based initiatives.

3. Acknowledge and Value Indigenous Knowledge: Recognize the vital contributions of Indigenous women to climate resilience, integrating their knowledge into policymaking while respecting and preserving their cultural heritage.

4. Inclusive Decision-Making: Ensure all voices, including women, girls, Indigenous peoples, and other marginalized groups, are represented at every level of climate decision-making, fostering inclusive and equitable governance.

5. Community-Led Solutions and Regional Collaboration: Promote and fund community-driven climate adaptation and mitigation projects while creating pathways for regional collaboration that prioritize shared knowledge, resources, and mutual support.

6. Support Women Entrepreneurs: Provide funding, training, and access to markets for women who develop local climate solutions, enabling them to monetize their innovations and contribute to economic resilience in their communities.

7. Build Food System Resilience: Safeguard Indigenous and traditional food systems by investing in sustainable agriculture, seed preservation, and community food programs that protect biodiversity and cultural practices.

8. Prevent Corporate Dominance in Food Systems: Implement policies to regulate corporate influence over food systems, including restrictions on GMO proliferation, ensuring that food sovereignty remains with local communities and prioritizes sustainability and equity.

9. Recognise that climate change is not a stand alone issue, it’s impacts are felt through every issue that faces women and girls.  We must ensure climate change is part of every conversation about issues facing women and girls.

By expanding the scope of climate action to include these recommendations, we can build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future that uplifts women and girls while safeguarding cultural, environmental, and community assets. Women are key to climate resilience, and their leadership and contributions must be fully supported and valued.

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Critical Issues and Recommendations: Gender Equality in the Digital Era

Critical Issues

1. Post-Digitalization Accountability

Insufficient accountability of tech and social media platforms. Platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok are not being held responsible for their societal impact.

Recommendation: These platforms must be brought to global platforms like the UN General Assembly to discuss transparency, database content, data monitoring, and algorithmic processes.

2. Outdated Laws and Anti-Competitive Practices

Digitalization has facilitated new forms of anti-competitive practices, which remain unaddressed due to outdated legal frameworks.

Recommendation: Update existing laws to tackle these evolving challenges.

3. Delinking of Welfare Schemes from Digital IDs

Welfare programs are increasingly tied to digital identities, often excluding vulnerable populations.

4. Taxation of Digital Platforms

Tech giants operate in tax havens, depriving governments of rightful revenues.

Recommendation: Impose fair taxation on these platforms to ensure equitable contributions.

5. Ecological Impact of Digitalization

The environmental costs of data storage and tech infrastructure are not adequately addressed.

6. Gigification and Labor Exploitation

Digital platforms exploit workers through practices like extracting and selling employee data.

Recommendation: Strengthen labor laws to address these concerns, emphasizing workers' rights, collective bargaining, and platform-specific unions.

7. Data Privacy and Transparency

Lack of transparency in how data is stored, shared, and used.

Environmental impacts from data storage systems are also overlooked.

8. Access and Inclusion Gaps

Generative AI (GenAI) has widened the access gap for women and marginalized groups.

Recommendation: Bridge this gap through targeted inclusion efforts and gender-responsive digital policies.

9. Emerging Abuses of Technology

Issues like deepfakes, forced app updates, and inadequate privacy measures (e.g., surveillance and financial scams).

Recommendation: Strengthen regulations to curb these abuses and uphold the right to repair.

10. Digital Exploitation and Sex Work

Online sex work and exploitation require updated national and regional laws.

11. Anti-Gender Movements and State-Sponsored Misinformation

Anti-gender movements thrive on digital platforms, and states sometimes misuse these platforms to spread disinformation against CSOs.

Recommendation: Platforms must be held accountable for failing to protect marginalized groups and enabling misinformation.

12. Gender Digital Divide

Women, girls, and aging populations are disproportionately left behind in digitalization efforts.

Recommendation: Invest in equitable internet access and ensure affordability for marginalized groups.

13. Intersection of Gender and Digitalization

Insufficient evidence and awareness of the gendered impact of digitalization.

Recommendation: Increase investments in research and ensure gender-responsive financing mechanisms.

14. Digital Infrastructure Development

Emphasis on inclusive, equitable infrastructure that integrates women-led designs and public-private partnerships.

15. Digital Literacy Without Protections

Training programs lacking legal protections exacerbate vulnerabilities.

Recommendation: Pair digital literacy efforts with strong legal frameworks.

16. Traditional Justice Mechanisms Are Inadequate

Online gender-based violence (OGBV) requires sustainable funding for feminist advocacy and innovative justice mechanisms.

17. Freedom of Expression and Surveillance

Surveillance, app restrictions, and limited freedom of expression hinder online safety and empowerment.

18. Regional Digitalization Challenges

Limited digitalization in some regions due to poor access and lack of technology designed with women in mind.

19. Right to Be Forgotten

Need for mechanisms to mitigate the long-term consequences of online gender-based violence and other forms of digital exploitation.

Key Recommendations

1. Engaging Tech Companies in Governance

UNESCAP and other international organizations should leverage their influence to bring tech companies to the table.

2. Developing Comprehensive Legal Frameworks

Update ILO and UNCITRAL agendas to address labor rights and digitalization-related issues.

Enact legislation for online sex work and exploitation.

3. Gender-Responsive Policymaking

Mandate gender quotas in digital policymaking to increase female and youth participation.

Ensure gender mainstreaming in digital laws and corporate policies.

1. Equitable Digital Development

Digitalization efforts should not overshadow broader development agendas. Address foundational development issues before prioritizing digital initiatives.

Prioritize equitable digital development by ensuring that foundational issues are addressed first. This includes investing in community-led and publicly owned digital infrastructure to enhance transparency, accountability, equitable access, and user rights.

2. Global Standards and Collaboration

Develop international standards for investment in gender-responsive digital laws.

Strengthen collaboration between countries, the UN, and CSOs for inclusive policy development.

3. Inclusive Technology Design

Promote corporate ownership of accessible systems for people with disabilities and encourage women-led tech designs.

4. Digital Literacy and Legal Awareness

Ensure that digital literacy efforts include awareness of rights, protections, and vulnerabilities in the digital landscape.

5. Investments in Gendered Digital Research

Allocate funding to research the intersection of gender and digitalization, especially its impacts on marginalized communities.

Final Statement

We want to open by noting that digitalization is not a siloed issue, it is a fluid one. Any recommendations made with regard should be considered in a holistic manner as digitalisation touches all aspects of development in the post-COVID19 era.

Accountability frameworks for tech companies at national and regional level which include regular monitoring and evaluation to address technology facilitated gender based violence, hate speech inorder to create a safe and inclusive future for women, queer and gender diverse in all their diversities.

Encouraging international bodies such as ILO, UNTAD, UNEP, UNFCC to introduce regulation and accountability frameworks, update and future-proof anti-trust and anti-competition laws, as well as regulate and monitor the environmental and climate impacts of state and private sector digitalisation both regionally and globally.

Digitalization should not be allowed to supersede or replace the structural development needs in our countries and region. Neither it is a solution to cure structural and social inequalities which must be addressed through the development agenda.

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Critical issues to address under the theme

1325 –there are many countries who adopted NAP on WPS, but not pushing due to limited budget

WPS and YPS in Malaysia , they don’t have national action plans

Timor-Leste implementing its second NAP, peacebuilding , empower women and young women how to empower themselves to participationin leadership and decision-making. Issues on cybersecurity, climate change, human trafficking–common issues in Timor-Leste. How can gov’t work with CS to mitigate this issue.

Nomadic community in identity–continued migration, access to basic needs (water, citizenship, housing), political leadership is zero, climate change, disaster and displacement–patriarchy, caste system; no centralized idea.

ASEAN Youth Forum: We need to incorporate disability field in peacebuilding. Respect all being in th dignity that we need. Can be implemented in many ways. On Queer people’s involvement in the WPS, VE building the narrative towards indigineous people.

Term of WPS in itself–some people are uncomfortable with the term of security bc there is an impression of securitization (Philipines). Goes with YPS , must be reflected upon B+30 (Translation of WPS)

PNG: on women’s participation– also have struggled with the “S” in WPS, we’re talking about human security, climate security, political security, Need to localize.

Militarism and human rights–hard to report on women’s issues in the context of conflict (attacks to journalists); safety of journalists and media freedom (ex. Burma)

Women in politics unsafe condition

Lacking issue of 1325 is the meaningful reform of the security sector (AMAN)--what we want to see is internal reform, adopting gender-sensitive in military operations. 2) political will– challenge is usually checklist.

Gender and citizneship laws after conflct–ex. Refugees –children becoming stateless. Rohingya communities

Need a strong statement for countries not be silent on peace.

How can we address the gaps in BFPA  and accelerate progress

Big gap is the language of peace is disapperaring retaliation and conflict.Who deserves peace? Less values on peace and lack of accountabilty of gov’t on peace.

Peace product dividend of the defense budget should be intorduced again into the language bc cost of war is so terrible the cost of peace is so minimal. Plant seeds in the miltary for peace. (Australia)

Military insittutionas–gaps in invlvement of CS.

Cambodia: Laws against gender discrmination will push for involved actors not to discrinate women and specific law shoudl define the definition of discrimination (in line with CEDAW),

Peace processes have to be transparent. (ex.India) ; task force to monitor and address and redress GBV which takes place during conflict situations. Women must be there in the peace talks.

Term of WPS in itself–some people are uncomfortable with the term of security bc there is an impression of securitization (Philipines). Goes with YPS ,  term on WPS must be reflected upon B+30.

Establishment of independent women’s rights commission (ex. PNG)

Reforms in the institutions and structures

National Action Plan is important reviewing your own country. CEDAW mechanism as GR 30 is legally binding.

Shift the narrative from state-sponsored suppression to terrorism and infiltartion acroess the border–women suffer the consequences of this.

Voice IPs

DEMANDS/RECOMMENDATIONS/POINTS OF UNITY

On countering : Structural and institutions mechanisms (actual timelines, measures to cater counter the issues), not just putting words, MEL, check and balances for accountability

Normalization of peace timeline of the duration of wars should not be normalzied for conflict to end.

Strengthened implementation of 1325 (localization)

Encourage countries is not the way to go, but integrating to local laws, role of CS for accountability

Gov’t should put budget in implementation and mainstreaming in gender equality implementations. ( including. Displaced populations safety)

If UN women will be inclusive in implementation

How do we ensure freedom of the press (ex. Philippines, ) Protection of women–journalists, politicians, etc.

UNSC, CSW –form a feminist independent accountability body–where we evaluate WPS.

Root causes of conflict and constutiounal reform.

Accountability measures and security (ex police have the power of exercising what they deem fit in the security measure, that entails lack of accountability, what is secure? Language of legislation and exceptions.  Binding and legal measures. Research on how military works , some acocuntability to military organizations—need to understand the actors

State and non-state—how do we make them accountable for actions and inactions.

Summary Intervention

1. Revisit terms–peace (definition, time), WPS,   security; and the importance of addressing the root causes of conflict to influence and constitutional, structural and institutional reform such as in the military.

2. State and non-state accounability

3. Implementation -localization of WPS, Transparency in processes, *WPs  not be limited to legislation only, need ot be mainstreamed such as through the creation of a feminist independent accountability body; funding and the like.

4. Strengthened solidarity with countries who are not experiencing conflict. Their silences promoting conflict.

5. Recognise Diverse and intersecting identities ; violation of a range of rights and safety ex. Of journalists, indigenous peoples, refugees such as the Rohingya,  persons with disabilities, citizenship, climate, the need to address structural imperatives of conflict—human and climate security  ,cybersecurity, climate change, human trafficking

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Care systems should be resilient to climate change to be adaptable to meet the needs of people especially vulnerable groups. All projects under the names of just transition should be transparent and consult the impacted communities

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1.The recognition of traditional and local community-based Natural Resources conservation must be a priority, not just the state version. Because customary conservation has been proven effective and answers the impact of national and global ecological crises.

2.The adaptation program is not only aimed at sustainability (sutainibility) but also must meet the requirements of justice. So it is important to recognise the forms of adaptation and mitigation carried out by the people.

3.⁠ ⁠The root of the global crisis is not only due to the use of fossil fuels and glass rmh gas. But also because the world development system is still oriented towards exploitative and extractive economic growth over SDA. This spt development model is not changed, it is difficult to hope that the ecological crisis will be overcome.

4.⁠ ⁠Climate mitigation and adaptation must mainstream women's groups. Because the impact of the climate crisis makes women's groups's duties and roles heavier. For example water drought.

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fishing and fishing communities along with agriculture and farmers who are affected and should be part of co-creating solutions

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Engagement planning for disability inclusion in climate change action involves creating a structured approach that actively includes people with disabilities in all stages of climate-related projects, policies, and advocacy.

Engage with disability-focused organizations, local disability advocates, policymakers, and environmental groups.

Include people with disabilities in the planning team to ensure that diverse perspectives

Raise awareness of how climate change disproportionately impacts people with disabilities.

Ensure that climate policies and adaptation plans address the specific needs of the disability community.

Increase representation of people with disabilities in climate discussions, decision-making, and action

Ensure accessibility in all materials and meetings, including sign language Provide training on disability-inclusive practices for climate organizations

This plan encourages climate resilience, accessibility, and representation, making climate actions equitable for people with disabilities.

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Critical Issues

1. Equitable Development

1. Digitalization efforts should not overshadow the SDG 30 agenda. Address structural  development issues like lack of access to water, food, social protection, education and health before prioritizing digital initiatives.

2. Post-Digitalization Accountability

1. Insufficient accountability of tech and social media platforms. Platforms like Facebook, X, and TikTok are not being held responsible for their societal impact.

1. Recommendation: These platforms must be brought to global platforms like the UN General Assembly to discuss transparency, database content, data monitoring, and algorithmic processes.

3. Outdated Laws and Anti-Competitive Practices

1. Digitalization has facilitated new forms of anti-competitive practices, which remain unaddressed due to outdated legal frameworks.

1. Recommendation: Update existing laws to tackle these evolving challenges.

4. Delinking of Welfare Schemes from Digital IDs

1. Welfare programs are increasingly tied to digital identities, often excluding vulnerable populations.

5. Taxation of Digital Platforms

1. Tech giants operate in tax havens, depriving governments of rightful revenues.

1. Recommendation: Impose fair taxation on these platforms to ensure equitable contributions.

6. Ecological Impact of Digitalization

1. The environmental costs of data storage like mining and extraction, depletion of fresh water resources and competition for land, and tech infrastructure are not adequately addressed.

7. Gigification and Labor Exploitation

1. Digital platforms exploit workers through practices like extracting and selling employee data.

1. Recommendation: Strengthen labor laws to address these concerns, emphasizing workers' rights, collective bargaining, and platform-specific unions.

8. Data Privacy and Transparency

1. Lack of transparency in how data is stored, shared, and used.

2. Environmental impacts from data storage systems are also overlooked.

9. Access and Inclusion Gaps

1. Generative AI (GenAI) has widened the access gap for women and marginalized groups.

1. Recommendation: Bridge this gap through targeted inclusion efforts and gender-responsive digital policies.

10. Emerging Abuses of Technology

1. Issues like deepfakes, forced app updates which lock users out of applications, and inadequate privacy measures (e.g., surveillance and financial scams).

1. Recommendation: Strengthen regulations to curb these abuses and uphold the right to repair.

11. Digital Exploitation and Sex Work

1. Online sex workers require updated national and regional laws to protect them from exploitation.

12. Anti-Gender Movements and State-Sponsored Misinformation

1. Anti-gender movements thrive on digital platforms, and states sometimes misuse these platforms to spread disinformation against CSOs.

1. Recommendation: Platforms must be held accountable for failing to protect marginalized groups and enabling misinformation.

13. Gender Digital Divide

1. Women, girls, and aging populations are disproportionately left behind in digitalization efforts.

1. Recommendation: Invest in equitable internet access and ensure affordability for marginalized groups.

14. Intersection of Gender and Digitalization

1. Insufficient evidence and awareness of the gendered impact of digitalization.

1. Recommendation: Increase investments in research on the gendered effects of digitalisation and ensure gender-responsive financing mechanisms to support said research.

15. Digital Infrastructure Development

1. Emphasis on inclusive, equitable infrastructure that integrates women-led designs

16. Digital Literacy Without Protections

1. Training programs lacking sufficient legal protections exacerbate vulnerabilities: more data ends up getting harvested from marginalised groups for Big-tech profits.

17. Traditional Justice Mechanisms Are Inadequate

1. Online gender-based violence (OGBV) requires sustainable funding for feminist advocacy and innovative justice mechanisms.

18. Freedom of Expression and Surveillance

1. Surveillance, app restrictions, and limited freedom of expression hinder online safety and empowerment.

19. Right to Be Forgotten

1. Need for mechanisms to mitigate the long-term consequences of online gender-based violence and other forms of digital exploitation.

Recommendations

1. Recognition of digital infrastructure as public goods

1. Public sector ownership of digital infrastructure, to allow for public accountability and legislation.

2. Enabling and creating space for community-led design and ownership of data platforms and databases.

2. Recognition of the unique risks faced by women and LGBTQIAP+ persons in digital spaces

1. Develop and implement suitable legally binding frameworks to allow for safe digital access and inclusion for women and LGBTQIAP+ persons, especially from marginalised social and economic groups, protecting them from exploitative and extractive practices of large tech corporations.

3. Developing Comprehensive Legal Frameworks

1. Work collaboratively with and Update ILO, UNCTAD and UNCITRAL agendas to address labor rights and digitalization-related issues.

2. Enact legislation for online sex work and exploitation.

4. Gender-Responsive Policymaking

1. Mandate gender quotas in digital policymaking to increase female and youth participation.

2. Ensure gender mainstreaming in digital laws and corporate policies.

3. Invest in community-led and publicly owned digital infrastructure to enhance transparency, accountability, equitable access, and user rights.

5. Global Standards and Collaboration

1. Develop international standards for investment in gender-responsive digital laws.

2. Strengthen collaboration between countries, the UN, and CSOs for inclusive policy development.

6. Inclusive Technology Design

1. Promote community ownership of accessible systems for people with disabilities and encourage women-led tech designs.

7. Digital Literacy and Legal Awareness

1. Digital literacy programs should not be conducted in the absence of adequate legal safeguards of people’s data.

8. Investments in Gendered Digital Research

1. Allocate funding to research the intersection of gender and digitalization, especially its impacts on marginalized communities.

9. Participatory Tech Assessment

1. All technologies should be assessed for their risks and social and environmental impacts both prior to and during their development, with the active participation of those most impacted by them, especially women.

3 Key Recommendations (Plenary Sharing)

1. Accountability frameworks for tech companies at national and regional level which include regular monitoring and evaluation to address technology facilitated gender based violence, hate speech in order to create a safe and inclusive future for women, queer and gender diverse in all their diversities.

2. Encouraging international bodies such as ILO, UNCTAD to introduce regulation and accountability frameworks, update and future-proof anti-trust and anti-competition laws, as well as assess and prevent the environmental and climate impacts of state and private sector digitalisation both regionally and globally.

3. Digitalization should not be allowed to supersede or replace the structural development needs in our countries and region. Neither it is a solution to cure structural and social inequalities which must be addressed through the development agenda.