Commission on the Status of Women

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

BPW/UN matters, including deadlines, can be found on the BPW and UN website

CSW67 CSW Orientation Videos Beijing+25 Generation Equality Forum Time is Now

Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 67: March 6 to 17, 2023.

The Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It was established in 1946. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In 1996, ECOSOC expanded the commission’s mandate and decided that it should take a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and problems in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (the key global policy document on gender equality) and in mainstreaming a gender perspective in UN activities.

During the commission’s annual two week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York. They discuss progress and gaps in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as well as emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Member States agree on further actions to accelerate progress and promote women’s enjoyment of their rights in political, economic, and social fields. The outcomes and recommendations of each session form the “Agreed Conclusions” document which is forwarded to ECOSOC for follow-up.

CSW67

The sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 6 to 17 March 2023 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to contribute to the session.

CSW67 Themes

Priority theme: Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls
Review theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-second session)

Session Outcomes

The outcome of the Commission’s consideration of the priority theme during its 67th session will take the form of agreed conclusions, to be negotiated by all Member States.

Zero Draft of the CSW67 Agreed Conclusions

Parallel events held by Non-governmental Organizations
Parallel events organized by NGOs are coordinated by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO CSW/NY), which is a group of New York–based women’s NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. For more information on the NGO CSW67 Forum and on NGO parallel events, please visit the website of NGO CSW/NY at https://ngocsw.org/

How can you get involved?
The parallel events hosted during the NGO CSW67 Forum are open to the public with over 400 events taking place virtually. This is a great way to get involved in CSW! You can register here: https://whova.com/portal/registration/ngocs1_202303/

LINKS AND INFORMATION: CSW67 AND NGO/CSW67

UN Women: CSW67: https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw67-2023

NGO CSW/NY: https://ngocsw.org/

UN Web TV: https://media.un.org/en/webtv/

igniteHER - Parallel Event NGO CSW

VIEW PRESENTATION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0kYEiSZp38

Parallel Event NGO CSW67

CSW66 NGO CSW66 Parallel event March 15, 2022:
Access to Clean Water in Indigenous Communities in Canada

Access to Clean Water in Indigenous Communities in Canada event was hosted by the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women. It was our pleasure to welcome to the discussion moderator Patricia Crowe with our dynamic speakers Jessica Vandenberghe, Nicole Hancock and Tasha Beeds. We were truly in awe of the work these women do and their willingness to share their time with us.

If you missed the event please check out the recording.

View moderator and panelist's bios and links here.

Europe and North America CSW Caucus Statement - Statement on Ukraine - Women, Peace and Security

CSW Orientation Videos

The NGO Committee on the Status of Women, NY (NGO CSW/NY) each year develop online Orientation video series for those who are new to CSW. This year, being virtual, the videos are useful for new and seasoned attendees. These videos contain helpful information, advice, and how-to instructions to prepare you for CSW. Click here to view the current year's videos on the NGO CSW/NY YouTube Channel.

CSW: History and Explanation (Video Produced by BPW International)

Beijing+25 - Canada's Implementation

NGO Guidance for National Parallel Reports
- Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of The Fourth World Conference On Women And The Beijing Declaration And Platform For Action (1995): English; French.
Canada's National Parallel Report: Unfinished Business - A Parallel Report on Canada’s Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, October 2019.
Canada Review: Implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) in the Context of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, May 2019: English; French.

Generation Equality Forum

"The Generation Equality Forum is a civil society–centred, global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France. Kicking off in Mexico City, Mexico, on 29–31 March 2021, and culminating in Paris, France, in June 2021, the Forum will secure a set of concrete, ambitious, and transformative commitments to achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality. The landmark effort will bring together governments, corporations and change to define and announce ambitious investments and policies.

The Forum responds to the fact that—despite the commitments made in Beijing in 1995 to take strategic, bold action on gender equality—progress and implementation has been slow. Not a single country today can claim to have achieved gender equality. With women’s rights at risk of rolling back further as a result of the COVID-19 crisis—due to heightened poverty and risks of gender-based violence—the Forum is a rallying point to finally achieve the human rights of all women and girls..." ~ Source

"Over twenty-five years after the historic Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Forum will take stock of progress and drive concrete actions to accelerate progress towards gender equality..." ~Source

Updated Generation Equality Forum Slide Deck - December 2020

The slide deck provides an overview of the structure of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) and how global civil society can become involved in the GEF process.

Download Slide Deck

Photo Essay - Generation Equality: The Time is Now!

"The 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women took stock, assessed gaps, and charted a path forward for fulfilling the promise of gender equality enshrined in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 25 years after its adoption.

This photo essay presents key milestones in the women’s rights movement, the progress and pushback, and voices and aspirations of women leaders from every corner of the world...

The movement goes global

Since the founding of the United Nations, a timeline of the landmark international agreements and conferences that pushed for women’s rights and gender equality." ~ Source