Commission on the Status of Women

 

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The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), part of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), promotes gender equality and the advancement of women. Its charge is to measure progress towards equality and highlight challenges, set standards and formulate concrete policies to promote equality and women’s empowerment, and encourage mainstreaming of the gender perspective in all UN activities worldwide.

FAWCO is a member of the NGO Committees on the Status of Women (NGO CSWs) in NY, Geneva and Vienna. FAWCO members and UN Representatives regularly attend the annual CSW in New York. You can read blogs by members of FAWCO's delegations to CSW. 

FAWCO signs on to Written and Oral Statements submitted to UN Women for consideration by CSW, joining our partner women's NGOs with consultative status to ECOSOC. You can read these statements on the Advocacy page. 

 



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Nuggets from CSW65

By Erica Higbie, UN Rep, FAUSA

  • Advocate for financing – no meaning to any promises without a budget.
  • Opportunity to influence to Outcome Document during negotiations is very limited.  
  • We need to have access to government caucuses if we are to have any influence during negotiations.
  • Need to better understand CSW Methods of Work, which are scheduled to be discussed CSW66.
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What a whirlwind!

By Stacey Kimmig, UN Rep, AIWC Cologne

 
There were too many good sessions to mention here, so I will focus on one session about forced marriage. One expects these stories to come from women in South Asia, but these women were from the US. Child marriage (marrying before the age of 18) is legal in 46 states, with 20...
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A silver lIning

By Ayuska Motha, UN Rep, AIWC Cologne

What is it called when fifty FAWCO feminists join hands across time zones to virtually and collectively inform ourselves on the status of women and their rights?

CSW65 (the UN Commission on the Status of Women)!

This was my first time attending this 2 week conference that I had been wanting to attend for...

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Outrage and Optimism

By Kathy McMillan Wilhelm, AIWC Cologne

Attending CSW65 was a powerful experience, and I am grateful for those at FAWCO who not only encouraged us to join but also guided us during the convention.  The WhatsApp group made it feel like we were a team.  

The term “Outrage and Optimism” was ever-present in my mind. I was shocked, and deeply...

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Tragedies occurring in your own backyard

By Therese Hartwell, FAUSA

The UN Commission on the Status of Women proved to be rather overwhelming online, as it is in person, at least minus the need to travel from site to site for sessions. So much information—both disturbing and inspiring.

One of the most moving sessions for me was one on forced (often under-age) marriage in the United...

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The strength of civil society in fighting for women’s rights

By Mimi Gilmore, AWA Aberdeen

The COVID 19 pandemic has proven disruptive and tragic to so many around the world. What the UN CSW65 brought into sharp relief this year was that not only does the pandemic disproportionately affect women and girls all over the globe in terms of curtailment of rights, cuts to health budgets, increased risk of infection...

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Notes from CSW65

By Magda Honffy, AWC Antwerp

This was my first participation at a UN CSW. First I tried to assimilate myself with the history of CSW.
I looked up all of the past statements and achievements of the previous CSW sessions and read UN Women’s Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan 2018–2021 outlines direction, objectives and approaches to support efforts to achieve gender...
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Five building blocks for gender equality

 We whole-heartedly agree with all of his proposals! 
 
During his speech at the opening session of CSW65, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed five measures that world leaders can take to advance the cause of gender equality:
 
  1. Realize women’s equal rights fully, including by repealing discriminatory laws and enacting positive measures.
  2. Ensure equal representation – from company boards to...
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UN Secretary-General's Townhall Meeting with Civil Society

On March 16, 2021, at a virtual Townhall Meeting for civil society as part of CSW65, UN Secretary-General Guterres said that women must be “front and centre” of the pandemic recovery as a matter of economics, efficiency, effectiveness and social resilience. “Male-dominated teams will come up with male-dominated solutions... We cannot go back to the failed man-made policies that have...

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Impacts of COVID-19 on Women in the Asia-Pacific Region

By Cecilia Zhuang, UN Rep, AWC Philippines

On October 23, a webinar was hosted by the NGO Women's Rights & Gender Equality Caucus, Australia and Asia-Pacific Women's Watch (APWW). Four female leaders shared their observations of how COVID-19 has impacted women's livelihoods in the Asia Pacific region.

Yukiko Oda from Japan Women's Watch covered the East Asia region. Despite the...

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