- No one seated in the airplane seat next to me, just like last year.
- The exact same appartement 335 D at East 94th Street on Manhattan.
- The same password which is recognised by my phone, my laptop, and my kindle.
- Shopping at Aldi on 117th street for my groceries. Same lay-out of this supermarket, same amount of well-priced vegetables, fruits. Luckily, much lower prices for milk and eggs.
- Using my Wise debit card loaded with enough dollars so I do not pay for any conversion fees.
- The weather is about the same as last year too. Starting with a relative colder (10-12 C) first days and promising the climb to 16-22 C for the coming days.
- Using the Fed-ex PO box of the company I am renting my appartment from for delivery of the amazon.com stuff.
- Getting my UN grounds pass for 2026 on 302 East 45th street quickly and efficiently.
Then the things that are different:
- ‘My driver’ Isak is not in town and I order a ride from CarmelLimo, supposedly a good alternative. Well, it was not. Dirty car, driver is 20 minutes late, not very helpful, and demands a 20% tip. That was a hard NO.
- What is disturbing to me is that the program of the Side Events is so very empty. This is blatantly obvious to me when I convert the Side Events word document to an excel spreadsheet, just like I did the previous few years. I observe many fewer government-lead Side Events to copy into the excel spreadsheet. Only the first three days are kind of busy, after that the CSW70 Side Events schedule peters out.
Is this the ICE effect on our governments? - Far fewer civil society members from the Netherlands are attending this year. Many did not try to get a visa (ESTA or other visa), because of stricter rules on which countries you can have visited in the last 10 years. Plus, the fear of ICE operating on the streets of American cities.
- The Dutch foreign Office is apparently worried about us, civil society attendees, giving us a letter to present at passport control ‘in case we encounter problems’; plus the direct phone number of the first secretary of the PM.
- Judging by the non-existing lines before the UN ID and Pass Office, not just Dutch civil society is giving this CSW a pass.
This is a shame as the CSW has this critical element for her proper working: Civil Society meets their (and other countries) government to interact with the officials directly.
It makes for a somewhat subdued mood on this 8th of March: International Women’s Day.
Still, we march on. Literally, in New York, in Amsterdam; in Brussels, and many other cities, today.
As we will march on in the years to come.
You will NOT silence us!