Your guide to CSW63
Everything you need to know about the largest annual gathering of gender equality champions at the United Nations, starting next week.
Two weeks. More than 9,000 representatives from civil society organizations have registered to attend, along with 193 Member States. The annual meeting of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW) is a force to be reckoned with.
Held in New York, CSW, as it’s often called within the halls of the UN, is the largest gathering of activists, academics, government officials, and policy makers to take stock of gender equality progress, renew their collective purpose, and chart a new roadmap forward.
The 63rd CSW session, 11–22 March 2019, will convene under the theme, “Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”
The marathon of a meeting will be chock-full of expert panels, interactive dialogues, Ministerial round tables, and even an artisan fair. And each year CSW is a uniquely fruitful and fortifying moment for feminists from around the world. Whether you’re moderating a discussion, attending a side event, or staying on top of the gender equality agenda through livestreams and social media updates, here’s what you need to know about CSW:
What’s the history of CSW?
It all started in Long Island, New York. In 1947, two years after the founding of the United Nations, a group of 15 women government representatives from around the world met in Lake Success, New York, to begin building the international legal foundations of gender equality. That was the first Commission.
From the get-go, these trailblazing women leaders took on projects of immense significance and scope to raise global awareness of women’s issues and change discriminatory legislation. For instance, the Commission contributed to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, argued against references to “men” as a synonym for humanity, and negotiated more gender-inclusive language. It drafted the early international conventions on political rights of women, women’s rights in marriage, the right to equal pay for equal work, and more.
In its early years, the Commission undertook an assessment of the global state of women’s rights. They produced a detailed, country-by-country picture of women’s political and legal standings. In the 1960s, as evidence from this research began to accumulate, it became evident that women were disproportionately affected by poverty, especially in developing countries. In response, the Commission began to focus its efforts on women’s needs in community and rural development, agricultural work, family planning, and scientific and technological advances.
In the following decades, the Commission organized four World Conferences on Women, established several UN offices dedicated to various aspects of women’s rights (which merged to form UN Women in 2011), and shifted to positioning women’s issues as part of the mainstream, international and intersecting development concerns.
Now, with the roadmap of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Commission takes the lead in strengthening, deepening and expanding the global framework for gender equality and monitoring the implementation of agreed-upon actions.
For more on the Commission’s history, progress, and roles, click here.
Why is CSW relevant today?
Since CSW’s inception, monumental progress has been made to integrate gender equality into mainstream international thought and action. Yet, women and girls around the world continue to face disproportionate burdens, gender biases and systemic discrimination, which hinder their autonomy, impede their access to justice, and obstruct their fundamental human rights.
In 2015, more than 736 million people lived in extreme poverty, a burden that falls disproportionately on the shoulders of women and girls. Women in their reproductive years are caught in a double bind of caring for young children while also having to earn an income to barely sustain themselves and their families, and girls experience higher rates of poverty than boys.
Currently, 740 million women make their living in the informal economy with limited access to social protections and public services. From Albania to Zimbabwe, climate change and environmental degradation is undermining the livelihoods and safety of millions of women and girls. Half of the world’s 258 million migrants are women and girls who often lose access to education, health, financial and social services when they move, and only 24 per cent of all national parliamentarians were women as of November 2018.
So, while recent decades have seen gender equality gains like never before, the fight is still on for the advancement of women and girls around the world, and CSW is here to ensure that it’s won.
What’s on the agenda for CSW 63?
Grab your notebook, pack a snack, and get a good night’s sleep because keeping up with the CSW 63 will require some stamina.
On the morning of 11 March 2019, the Commission will open the session, elect officers, and begin to discuss how social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure empower women and girls.
Over the next several days, they’ll look at best practices and policies for topics ranging from planning urban space and public transport with women’s safety and mobility in mind, to improving rural women’s access to skilled birth attendants. Experts will weigh in, representatives of NGOs will deliver statements, and, by the end of the second week, the Commission will agree upon a set of conclusions that will serve as the blueprint for improving the lives of women and girls through social protection systems, public services, and sustainable infrastructure moving forward.
In tandem with the Commission’s session, Member States, UN entities, and NGOs will host hundreds of side events to rally around critical gender equality issues. An impressive range of topics will be covered; you can attend talks on providing holistic care to survivors of wartime sexual violence, creating inclusive public services for LBTI persons, ensuring social protections for women, girls and all those with down syndrome, and many more.
To view the organization of the Commission’s formal programme, click here, and use the calendar of side events to plan your personal schedule.
Don’t forget to check out the events organized by UN Women, and tune in to live webcasts on www.unwomen.org.
Read stories about women from every corner of the world about how sustainable infrastructure, public services and social protection shape their every day reality.
Add your voice to the conversation.
During CSW 63, UN Women wants to hear your ideas and experiences on how social protection systems, public services, and sustainable infrastructure can empower women and girls.
Use #CSW63 on social media, whether you’re at a live event or joining the conversation online. Follow #CSWSpotlight to learn the stories of participants who travelled to advocate for gender equality.
Access the latest information on logistics, the official session and side-events through @UN_CSW Twitter and United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on Facebook.
Tune into our page for a special series of Facebook Live streams featuring UN, governments, missions, NGO and other activists. You can also watch the webcasts of events and meetings.
And follow UN Women’s additional coverage of CSW 63 through our website and social media accounts:
@un_women, @onumujeres, @onufemmes, @phumzileunwomen, on Twitter
UN Women, ONU Mujeres, ONU Femmes, on Facebook; and UN Women on Instagram.
