The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)

1. Introduction
It is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively
dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, the rights and the
empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by ECOSOC
resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946.
The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s and girls' rights,
documenting the reality of their lives throughout the world, and
shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of
women and girls.
In 1996, ECOSOC in resolution 1996/6 (see p. 20) 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, 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 1995 Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on
gender equality, and the 23rd special session of the General
Assembly held in 2000 (Beijing+5), as well as emerging issues that
affect gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
Member States agree on further actions to accelerate progress and
promote women’s and girls' enjoyment of their rights in political,
economic, and social fields. The outcomes and recommendations of
each session are forwarded to ECOSOC for follow-up.
2. Recent Session
The 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68),
the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s
empowerment, took place in the year 2024 from 11 - 22 March under
the priority theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender
equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by
addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing
with a gender perspective”.
The world is at a crucial crossroad for gender equality. Globally 10.3
per cent of women live in extreme poverty today, and they are poorer
than men. Progress towards ending poverty needs to be 26 times
faster to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Accelerated progress requires investment. Data from 48 developing
economies shows that an additional $360 billion is needed per year to
achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment across key
global goals, including to end poverty and hunger.
In this decisive year, as 2.6 billion people go to the polls to cast their
votes, they have the power to demand higher investment in gender
equality.
Solutions to end women’s poverty are widely recognized: investing in
policies and programmes that address gender inequalities and
boosting women’s agency and leadership. Such investments yield
enormous dividends: Over 100 million women and girls could be
lifted out of poverty if governments prioritized education and family
planning, fair and equal wages, and expanded social benefits.
Almost 300 million jobs could be created by 2035 through
investments in care services. Closing gender gaps in employment
could boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita by 20 per cent
across all regions.
At CSW68, governments, civil society organizations, experts and
activists from across the world will come together to agree on actions
and investments that can end women’s poverty and advance gender
equality.
 3. The Next Session: CSW 69/Beijing+30 (2025)
The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and
appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session
of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of
current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for
Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment
of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary
of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995).
The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of
Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York
from 10 to 21 March 2025.
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-
accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions
of the world are invited to attend the session.
Themes
The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and
appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of
the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of
current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for
Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment
of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.
4. What is Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action?
The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China was the
most important of the four conferences on women held between 1975-
1995, because it built on political agreements that had been reached at
the three previous global conferences on women, and it consolidated
five decades of legal advances aimed at securing the equality of
women with men in law and in practice. More than 17,000
participants attended the conference, including 6,000 government
delegates at the negotiations, more than 4,000 accredited NGO
representatives, a host of international civil servants and around 4,000
media representatives. A parallel NGO Forum held in Huairou near
Beijing also drew some 30,000 participants.
The conference marked a significant turning point for the global
agenda for gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, was an agenda
for women’s empowerment that is now considered the key global
policy document on gender equality. It set strategic objectives and
actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender
equality in 12 critical areas of concern:
• Women and poverty
• Education and training of women
• Women and health
• Violence against women
• Women and armed conflict
• Women and the economy
• Women in power and decision-making
• Institutional mechanism for the advancement of women
• Human rights of women
• Women and the media
• Women and the environment
• The girl-child
 5. What is 23rd special session of the General Assembly?
The twenty-third special session of the General Assembly on "Women
2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first
century" took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York from 5 June to 9 June 2000 and adopted a Political
Declaration and outcome document entitled "further actions and
initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action". This briefing note summarizes the steps leading up to the
special session and immediate implications of its outcome for the
work of the Commission on the Status on Women, one of the main
functional commissions of ECOSOC and the main intergovernmental
body tasked with the responsibility of promoting the advancement of
women and gender equality.
The special session was to take place five years after the Fourth World
Conference on Women (FWCW) which was held in Beijing in 1995.
At the opening session, the Secretary-General emphasized the
progress made since the Fourth World Conference in Beijing. Human
rights of women had gained recognition, violence against women
was now an illegal act in almost every country, and there had
been worldwide mobilization against harmful traditional
practices. But the Secretary-General noted that much still remained
to be done, including addressing new challenges such as HIV/AIDS
and increased armed conflict. While women entered the labour
market in unprecedented numbers, the gender divide still persisted,
women earned less, and were involved in informal and unpaid
work. There has been no breakthrough in women's participation in
decision making processes and little progress in the legislation in
favour of women’s rights to own land and other property. In his
statement, the Secretary-General focused on the importance of
education, stressing that it was both the entry point into the global
economy and the best defense against its pitfalls. Once they were
educated and integrated into the workforce, women would have more
choices and be able to provide better nutrition, health care and
education for their children.
 6. Member States
Forty-five Member States of the United Nations serve as members
of the Commission at any one time. The Commission consists of
one representative from each of the 45 Member States elected by the
Economic and Social Council on the basis of equitable geographical
distribution:
• 13 members from Africa
• 11 from Asia
• nine from Latin America and Caribbean
• eight from Western Europe and other States
• four from Eastern Europe
Members are elected for a period of four years.
7. Bureau of the Commission
The Bureau of the Commission plays a crucial role in facilitating the
preparation for, and in ensuring the successful outcome of the annual
sessions of the Commission. Bureau members serve for two years.
8. Outcomes
The principal output of the Commission on the Status of Women is
the agreed conclusions on priority themes set for each year.
Agreed conclusions contain an analysis of the priority theme and a set
of concrete recommendations for governments, intergovernmental
bodies and other institutions, civil society actors and other relevant
stakeholders, to be implemented at the international, national, regional
and local level.
9. NGO participation
The active participation of non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) is a critical element in the work of the Commission on the
Status of Women (CSW). NGOs have been influential in shaping the
current global policy framework on women’s empowerment and
gender equality: the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
They continue to play an important role in holding international and
national leaders accountable for the commitments they made in the
Platform for Action.
UN Women facilitates the participation of ECOSOC accredited NGOs
in the sessions of the CSW. NGOs that are accredited to and in good
standing with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
contribute to the annual sessions of the CSW.