C’est difficile à croire que nous sommes déjà au mois d’avril. 2026 has been going great so far with numerous speaking engagements and publications being released. This is thanks, in part, to my two great research assistants at McGill – both students in the Max Bell School of Public Policy Program.
On January 14th, I had the honour of presenting to the Max Bell community on my work and I repurposed the presentation for McGill alumni on January 27th. Le sujet fut “Transformation des systèmes alimentaires dans une perspective mondiale : Enjeux et opportunités” basé sur ma publication du même titre dans Max Policy le 16 octobre, 2025. Build once, use many times as they say…
I’m also delighted that I co-authored a piece with my two research assistants, which was published in The Conversation in both English and French. The content was an update of some work I did for the World Bank before the pandemic and has yielded a nice collaboration with the Bank and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.
Despite being involved in the women’s movement for most of my adult life, I attended the Commission on the Status of Women’s 70th session (CSW70) for the first time a few weeks ago. I was a delegate of the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), which is an ECOSOC accredited NGO. Together with the NGO forum, the CSW is the United Nation’s largest gathering focused on women’s rights, which happens annually. I was honoured to be invited to speak as part of a panel organized by the United Kingdom Civil Society Women’s Alliance thanks to my name being suggested by the The Hon Dr Jocelynne A. Scutt with whom I’ve had the privilege of collaborating over more than 10 years.
The priority theme of this year’s CSW was “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” Here is the video of our panel, which was on legal literacy which, like other forms of literacy is a prerequisite for accessing justice whether it’s at home, in the workplace or with respect to property rights or other matters. Many thanks to Natalie Turney for organizing the session and to Zarin Hainsworth OBE for her expert chairing!
As I’m new to CSW, it took me a few weeks to process what I experienced and learned while attending this important gathering. An article published on Friday, March 27th by the Council on Foreign Relations has done a great job of summarizing the, tense, official proceedings. This was the first time that the “Agreed Conclusions” came to a vote with the United States voting against and attempting, unsuccessfully, to influence a variety of policy matters related to gender equity and women’s rights. They could have abstained like a handful of countries did and sometimes do. These tensions point to the fraught terrain we are dealing with when it comes to the ongoing struggle for the equality of women and girls.
The article also summarizes the proposed merger of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) – “the two principal UN agencies tasked with promoting gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, respectively”. There are proponents in favour and those who have concerns about this potential restructuring. As the article explains, this would require a vote in the General Assembly and the Secretary-General will be bringing forward a recommendation either for or against in June. This is the time for those committed to the women’s movement to engage their own member-state officials to make our views known on this matter.
Quoique le Canada n’est pas membre actuellement de la Commission, il y’a une participation aux travaux de la Commission depuis sa création en 1947. Le Canada a siégé en tant que membre élu de la Commission pour le mandat 2017-2021. Avant ce mandat, la dernière période où le Canada a siégé s’était terminée en 2007. Pour la 70e session en mars 2026, la délégation officielle canadienne fut dirigée par la ministre des Femmes et de l’Égalité des genres et de la Jeunesse. D’ici la 71e session, le mouvement féministe canadien peut envisager un leadership collectif, coordonner et stratégique pour avancer nos droits.
Since my return from the UN, I had the opportunity to be a speaker on food-systems as part of a panel co-organized by three groups of McGill students. By coincidence, one of the groups involved – the McGill Youth Advisory Delegation – had also sent delegates to CSW70. Au plaisir de continuer de bâtir des liens entre les gens et organismes qui partagent la même passion.
