CSW
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), charged with evaluating progress on gender equality and formulating concrete policies that promote gender equality. The CSW was established in 1946, one year after the founding of the United Nations itself, and in the years since, its mandate has expanded to include the empowerment and advancement of all women, as well as identification of key trends and challenges. After the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, the CSW was additionally mandated to periodically review the Beijing Platform for Action and evaluate signatories’ progress in keeping their commitments.
This year’s CSW 57, held from March 4th to March 15th, 2013, will focus on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. Violence against women and girls is rooted in gender inequality. It is one of the most pervasive human rights violations in the world. The Beijing Platform for Action developed at the Fourth World conference on Women in 1995, defines violence as one of the 12 critical areas of concern that required urgent action to achieve the goals of equality, development and peace. In order to facilitate a focused and targeted approach to the priority theme of the Commission in 2013, emphasis will be placed on victims/survivors’ access to support services and primary prevention to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. Such a focused approach is expected to enable a thorough consideration of remaining gaps and to accelerate progress in these two key areas.
Priority theme:
Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls
Review theme:
The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS (agreed conclusions from the fifty-third session)
Emerging issue:
Key gender equality issues to be reflected in the post-2015 development framework
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WEDO Events
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March 5, 2013 (10:30am-12pm)
The Post 2015 Development Agenda: What’s at Stake for the World’s Women?, with the Post-2015 Women’s Coalition. United Nations Church Center Chapel (1st floor), 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY
March 6, 2013 (7pm-9pm)
Young Feminists at CSW Meetup. Overlook Bar & Restaurant (2nd floor), 225 E. 44th Street, New York, NY. RSVP to bridget@wedo.org
March 7, 2013 (10:30am-12pm)
Violence Against Women and Intersections with the Environment, with the Women’s Major Group. United Nations Church Center Chapel, 1st Floor, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY.
March 8, 2013 (10am-12pm)
International Women’s Day March, with the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and United Methodist Women. First Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, NY.
Resources
United Nations: Official United Nations website for the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
NGO CSW Committee: Official Website of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women
WEDO: WEDO: Overview of CSW57
Social Media
For daily updates follow @WEDO_Worldwide @UN_CSW @UN_Women on Twitter and remember to use the #CSW57 hashtag for all your posts.
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Preparation
Stakeholders’ Forum
On 13 and 14 December 2012, UN Women convened a forum to engage a range of stakeholders in the preparations for CSW57 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
» UN Women Executive Director, Michelle Bachelet, closing remarks
» UN Women Deputy Executive Director, Lakshmi Puri, opening remarks
» Concept note
» Programme
Expert Group Meeting
In preparation for the fifty-seventh session, UN Women, in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), convened an Expert Group Meeting on prevention of violence against women and girls, on 17 to 20 September 2012, in Bangkok, Thailand.
» Report of the Expert Group Meeting on prevention of violence against women and girls
» More information
Online discussion
UN Women also organized an online discussion on the priority theme from 23 July to 3 August 2012.
» Report on the online discussion on eliminating violence against women and girls: gaps, challenges and strategic directions in prevention and multisectoral services and responses
English | French | Spanish
Preparatory expert panel
A preparatory expert panel on the priority theme was held during the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on 29 February 2012.
The Latest CSW News
Women’s Rights Activists Welcome UN Agreements on Ending Violence Against Women
NEW YORK (March 15, 2013)– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Today, the UN Member States resoundingly committed to ending violence against women and girls, including strong agreements on promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and ensuring reproductive rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services.
The Agreed Conclusions of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women represent another important step forward, building on the global momentum of the past twenty years, which has …
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CSW57- Women’s Organizations DEMAND States Commitment to Advance Women’s Human Rights
STATEMENT OF FEMINIST AND WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS ON THE VERY ALARMING TRENDS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS OF OUTCOME DOCUMENT OF THE 57TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
DOWNLOAD STATEMENT HERE.
We, the undersigned organisations and individuals across the globe, are again concerned that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is wavering in its commitment to advance women’s human rights as demonstrated in the constant negotiation of the …
Women at CSW57 Confronting Unsustainable Development
NEW YORK (March 8, 2013)- Feminists Confronting Unsustainable Development’ during the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, CSW57, talk about the experiences of women and the struggle and resistance strategies of their communities against unsustainable economic activities.
Women from Guatemala, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Japan and Fiji, came together at the side-event on ‘Violence – Ecologies – Livelihoods. Feminists Confronting Unsustainable Development’ during the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status …
![image[5]](http://www.wedo.org/wp-content/uploads/image5-300x225.jpg "image[5]")
Young Feminists at CSW57
NEW YORK (March 7, 2013)– Last night, during CSW57, WEDO was excited to host a Young Feminist Meetup. With lots of engaging conversations and perspectives, as well as energy to find more formal channels for young feminists to organize and engage around CSW in the future, WEDO is planning to work with partners to hold a series of webinars around SDGs, Post-2015, etc. as well as host on online conversation on the newly …
Meet the Empower Women – Benefit (for) All team at CSW57
NEW YORK (March 3, 2013)– WEDO is proud to partner with WECF (Women in Europe for a Common Future) in the implementation of the Empower Women-Benefit (for) All (EWA) programme, which focuses on the economic and political empowerment of women from low-income rural and peri-urban regions in six developing countries (Afghanistan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, Tajikistan, Uganda). WEDO, as a global women’s advocacy organization working on the intersections of women’s rights; social, economic and environmental justice; …
