The Anahuac Women's Institute at CSW68: A Laboratory of Ideas Changing Many Lives

Once again, María Eugenia Cárdenas, accompanied by collaborators, professors, students, alumnae and allies, participated in the world's most important annual women's meeting with proposals and searches for solutions.

For almost 30 years, thousands of women have arrived in New York at the beginning of March, each with her own story, hopes and problems, but also with initiatives, big hearts and determination to propose changes, influence their countries and help women.

Every year, the United Nations (UN) dedicates two weeks to reviewing the status of women and formulating new global initiatives. It also serves to establish international standards and guidelines for national policies.

For 20 years, the Anahuac Women's Institute has had the privilege of participating in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the most important annual meeting for women in the world, with its director, María Eugenia Cárdenas Cisneros, accompanied each year by different collaborators, professors, alumnae, students, and allies who contribute with their proposals and search for solutions. The participation of Noemí Sereno Ramírez (Organizational and Educational Pedagogy, gen. '20), member of the Federation of Alumni Societies FESAL, and Dr. María del Rocío Bedolla Tamayo, National President of Red Mujeres Desarrollo, Justicia y Paz, A.C., who has extensive experience in these forums, as well as young people from the Anahuac network and other academics and allies interested in contributing to improving the quality of life of women, was very important in this year’s Commission.

Governments commit to implement a series of measures and to provide feedback to the UN on achievements and obstacles. The goal is to follow up on the Fourth World Conference on Women, with member states taking action to implement the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More than 8,000 accredited participants, including public officials, diplomats, academics, and civil society representatives, gathered for CSW68 from March 11-23, 2024.

This time, the priority theme was "Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by reducing poverty and strengthening gender-responsive institutions and financing".

The CSW is an excellent laboratory of ideas, a hotbed of public policy, and although it sometimes feels like a party, it is sometimes more like a battlefield. Not all ideas align, and the consequences of their application are far-reaching. It is fantastic to see how horizons are opened, hearts are discovered, critical senses are sharpened, and extraordinary human and social projects are born. Ideas move the world, but good intentions are not enough. There is much to think about, listen to, study and share in order to promote an authentic culture of cooperation, peace, justice and development. John Paul II wrote: "God entrusts the human being to the woman," so we cannot stand idly by while millions of women live without true freedom.