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PUSH@CSW
Each year, more than 15,000 delegates, gender equality advocates, and civil society representatives gather at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women. As the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment, CSW plays a critical role in shaping global norms and commitments.
The 69th session (CSW69) focused on reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
This year also marked the kickoff of PUSH 2.0, the next phase of the campaign designed to strengthen the global movement for woman-centred care and place midwives at the heart of it. With a high-level panel on International Women’s Day and a two-week photo exhibit at UN Headquarters, PUSH is bringing together diverse advocacy partners to elevate WCC and midwives as a global priority.
In honour of International Women’s Day, we kicked-off the movement and campaign for woman-centred care with midwives as they key to get us there.
We listened to a powerful panel discussion featuring:
- Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health
- Maliha Khan, CEO and President of Women Deliver
- Helena Grant, President of New York Midwives
- Meggy Katigbak, Women of the South Speak Out fellow
Watch the recording here.
Helena kicked off the panel, sharing her experience as a midwife and reflecting on the powerful partnership between women and midwives. Midwives are partners with women, not just in healthcare but also in advocacy for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. At the core of this interconnected advocacy is rejecting and repairing the deep impacts of patriarchy, racism, and capitalism that have systematically undervalued midwives and women.
Building on this, Meggy spoke from her perspective as a youth leader and artivist. She highlighted the lessons youth leadership brings to movement building and reflected on the disruptive and unifying power of art and music. Youth make up more than 52% of the world’s population, their voices, activism, and leadership are critical in advocacy but continue to be sidelined, especially young women. Meggy highlighted the importance of valuing women, including youth and midwives: “Women's labor, especially in the care economy, is undervalued. Our competencies, our knowledge are silenced. Why? Because it’s a tool for the patriarchs, capitalists, and colonialists to exploit us and profit from our labor.”
Maliha echoed the need to center young people’s leadership as agents of change and the need for collective action to counter the growing fascist movements. Maliha spoke about the need for intergenerational and international solidarity, courage, unifying movements, and narratives of hope. She reflected on the need for urgent, inclusive, and sustainable action. In light of the growing anti-rights movement, Maliha highlighted the opportunities for new allies to collaborate as we work to promote and safeguard woman-centred care and ensure midwives are part of the solution.
Tlaleng highlighted the critical role that midwives play in providing woman-centered care and upholding health systems, yet they are not adequately compensated or protected by the systems they serve. She also reflected on the deep teaching impact that midwives had on her journey as a doctor. She highlighted the role that physicians play in promoting midwives and WCC, as part of the movement, and reminded us of the powerful healing and holistic nature of WCC: “Woman-centered care is about returning to a more holistic approach—one that considers the body, mind, and soul. It does not fragment or disconnect us from ourselves, our context, or our history.”
In addition to a vibrant discussion, we also unveiled the new PUSH Campaign Strategy (which you can download here) and launched a refreshed website with details on how to engage with the Campaign and become a Woman-Centred Care Champion. There are options available for individuals, grassroots organisations and larger organisations, as well as donors, which you can explore here.
The event was an incredible mobilisation moment! We announced the new PUSH Principles and invited the first WCC champions to join the movement and PUSH for rights, PUSH for women, and PUSH for midwives.
Become a WCC Champion! Take the first step and sign the PUSH Pledge!
A major highlight for PUSH@CSW69 was our photo exhibit at the United Nations Headquarters for the entire duration of this year’s CSW, from 10-21 March 2025.
Running for two weeks, this exhibit featured 25 compelling images showcasing midwives from 14 countries and every region, practicing across their full scope of practice. The partnership between midwives and women has ripple effects on gender equality, health, economics, and rights.
The exhibit centred around a powerful message: there is no gender equality without woman-centred care or midwives. Did you know that midwives are a high-impact, low-cost, climate-smart solution to gender equality?
The exhibit was co-hosted with the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the UN and was opened by Margareta Maderić, State Secretary and head of the CSW Delegation fromCroatia, alongside Daniela Drandic, ICM Head of Advocacy and Communications. We were honoured to have various dignitaries, policymakers, UN partners, and civil society leaders visit the exhibit and to join the PUSH Campaign and the movement advocating for midwifery and woman-centred care.
The response from those visiting the exhibit was clear: women’s rights are reversing, preventable maternal mortality rates are stagnating, and access to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health services is becoming increasingly difficult – investing in midwives is the way to address all these issues in a sustainable, cost-effective way that will help societies become more gender equal.
Photos from the exhibit are available on PUSH’s social media accounts:
Instagram: @pushcampaign
LinkedIn: PUSH Campaign
