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Over the next several days,
the UN Commission on the Status of Women, known as the CSW,
will be meeting in New York.
It consists of about 45 governmental delegations,
and a lot of civil society organizations attend, as well.
It's meant to be the body, the advisory body that,
on an annual basis, sets out the recommendations
for the major international women's issues of the day.
Now, let me be brutally frank.
It is the quintessential UN talk shop.
If you're really having trouble sleeping, you have insomnia,
and you need a soporific, then attend the debates of the CSW.
The debates are fatuous, vacuous, pointless, repetitive,
all sound and fury, leading nowhere.
Except, maybe, this year.
This year, the theme is Violence Against Women.
This year, the CSW has an opportunity to make recommendations
about the prevention of violence which are concrete.
Never mind the rhetorical bafflegab.
Concrete recommendations
which will make a difference to the lives of women
harassed by the contagion of violence around the world.
Hope springs eternal.
Let's see what happens.
I'll give you an update.
I'm Stephen Lewis.