Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) 2024

The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) got under way this week, taking place from 11 to 22 March 2024 in New York. This year’s theme is ‘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’. There are a significant number of events taking place which we encourage you to take a look at.

NGO CSW Forum

The NGO CSW Forum is organised by and for global civil society, non-governmental organisations, and feminists to connect them with the official CSW process. Alongside the UN organised meetings and side events, they have coordinated over 750 parallel events which occur outside the formal program to encourage further discussion of gender equality issues. You can register for the portal here to access these events and find out more.

Watch events virtually

UN CSW events consist of official meetings between member states and civil society representatives, as well as side events which you can view live or re-watch on UN Web TV (see below).

WILPF Vice-President Melissa Torres spoke at an official CSW side event hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on Wednesday 13th: ‘Equal participation and leadership for a more peaceful world: Lessons learned and the way forward‘. This event focussed on the WPS agenda and gender equality in decision-making. 

Monday 11: 

• What Adolescent Girls want: Priorities and Solutions (CSW68 Side Event)
• 2nd plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – 1) Opening of the session. 2) General discussion
• Heroes of October 7th and beyond (CSW68 Side Event)
• Breaking the Single Parent Poverty Trap (CSW68 Side Event)
• Improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas: Ensuring equal access to quality public services and economic empowerment (CSW68 Side Event)
• Nordic Ministers panel: A Gender Equal Future for Financial Freedom (CSW68 Side Event)
• High-Level Side Event of the Group of Friends for the elimination of violence against women and girls: Investing in the prevention of violence against women and girls (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financial Empowerment of Women and Girls over the Whole Life Cycle (CSW68 Side Event)
• 3rd plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) General discussion (continued)
• Catalysts for change: breaking down gender stereotypes in media and advertising (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financial Inclusion to Empower Women in Humanitarian Contexts, including Survivors of Sexual Violence in Conflict (CSW68 Side Event)
• Ending Economic Gender-Based Violence (CSW68 Side Event)

Tuesday 12:

• Leveraging the synergies between the CEDAW and the Women, Peace and Security Framework – UN Security Council Arria Formula Meeting
• Gender-sensitive parliaments: Advancing gender equality to end poverty (CSW68 Side Event)
• 4th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) General discussion – Ministerial round tables on the priority theme
• Crimes Against Humanity in Afghanistan with a Gender Lens: Strengthening Global Coordination (CSW68 Side Event)
• Harnessing Social Protection to Tackle Poverty and Empower Women and Girls (CSW68 Side Event)
• The Impacts of Poverty and Criminalization on Access to Abortion (CSW68 Side-Event)
• Empowering Peace: Cost-Effectiveness and Value-Added of Women’s Conflict Prevention Work (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financing the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation (CSW68 Side Event)
• Closing the gender gap in education: How to address long-time barriers and emerging challenges in a world of complex crises? (CSW68 Side Event)
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Gender-sensitive parliaments: Advancing gender equality to end poverty (CSW68 Side Event)
• The Care Economy in an Evolving World: Equal Sharing of Caregiving and Household Responsibilities between Men and Women as a Tool for Social Equity and Cohesion? (CSW68 Side Event)
• 5th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) General discussion (continued)
• Indigenous Women’s Voices on the Barriers and Opportunities Towards their Inclusive Socio-Economic Development (CSW68 Side Event)
• High-Level Dialogue for Latin America and the Caribbean “Financing for Gender Equality: reducing inequalities and strengthening democracies” (CSW68 Side Event)

Wednesday 13:

• No woman’s land? Unpacking the nexus and finding solutions to gender, corruption and access to natural resources (CSW68 Side Event)
• War on Gaza: impact on Palestinian women and children (CSW68 Side Event)
• Townhall Meeting of Civil Society and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (CSW68 Side Event)
• WILPF – Equal participation and leadership for a more peaceful world: Lessons learned and the way forward (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financial Inclusion for Gender Equality (CSW68 Side Event)
• Economic empowerment of women and girls a lever for achieving inclusion and confronting poverty (CSW68 Side Event)
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financing for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: ‘Public and Private Commitments to Financing for Gender Equality’ (CSW68 Side Event)
• Eliminating Poverty: Structural Interventions Through Education, Culture and Science (CSW68 Side Event)
• Enforcement of the International, National laws and legal frameworks in protecting women during times of War – Building on Arab experiences (CSW68 Side Event)
• Nordic Experts panel: Paving the Way for a Gender-Equal Economy (CSW68 Side Event)
• Ukraine’s post-war recovery: gender mainstreaming for women’s empowerment (CSW68 Side Event)

Thursday 14:

• Gender equality through Financial Independence (CSW68 Side Event)
• 8th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) General discussion (continued)
• We Deserve Better: Unlocking the Power of Social Protection for Women and Girls (CSW68 Side Event)
• Leading the Way: Women’s Empowerment and Leadership in Customary and Informal Justice Systems (CSW68 Side Event)
• Generation Equality: Driving feminist financing and accountability for women’s economic justice and eradicating women’s poverty  (CSW68 Side Event)
• Innovative Patnerships to End Trafficking in Women and Girls: The Santa Marta Group Model (CSW68 Side Event)
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• 9th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – Interactive dialogue with youth representatives on the priority theme
• Closing the Gap: Women’s Empowerment in the Golf Cooperation Council Region (CSW68 Side Event)
• Gender-Lens: Financing and Innovating to End Poverty

Friday 15:

• 10th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – Interactive dialogue
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Haiti au Féminin: A face of Hope for All (CSW68 Side Event)
• Strengthening the socio-economic resilience of women and young people to prevent violent extremism (CSW68 Side Event)
• 11th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – Interactive dialogue with youth representatives on the priority theme
• CSW68 Youth Forum (CSW68 Side Event)

Monday 18:

• Maternal Health (CSW68 Side Event)
• 12th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – Interactive dialogue expert panel on priority theme
• Invisible struggles and bravehearts: Being a woman in Palestine (CSW68 Side Event)
• Beyond crisis: Driving gender equality and empowerment for women and girls of all ages through social protection (CSW68 Side Event)
• Launch of the SIGI 2024 SIGI Regional Report for Southeast Asia: Time to care (CSW68 Side Event)
• Women in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET): Unlocking Digital Empowerment – CSW68 Side Event
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Launch of the Gender Action Plan to support implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (CSW68 Side Event)
• Financing social protection and care systems for the fulfilment of human rights, gender equality and poverty reduction (CSW68 Side Event)
• 13th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – General discussion (continued)

Tuesday 19: 

• 14th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – General discussion (continued)
• Gender Equality in Climate Action: The Role of Legal and Policy Frameworks in Delivering a Gender-Responsive Just Transition (CSW68 Side Event)
• Promoting Women’s Full Inclusion in Economy and Labour Market to Address Poverty: Closing the Gender Gaps and Empowering Through Rights (CSW68 Side event)
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Women-Led Development: Challenges & Enablers for Women’s Leadership (CSW68 Side Event)
• Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of poverty and migration (CSW68 Side Event)
• Going DigitALL: Women’s Empowerment through Digitalization (CSW68 Side Event)
• 15th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – General discussion (continued)
• Fragile Contexts, Strong Women: The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Promoting Women’s Leadership (CSW68 Side Event)

Wednesday 20:

• Financing for gender equality (CSW68 Side Event)
• Too High a Cost: End Surrogacy Now – Preventing the Exploitation and Commodification of Women and Children (CSW68 Side Event)
• Investing in Prevention of Gender Based Violence (CSW68 Side Event)
• Multistakeholder Partnerships and Practices to Push Forward for Gender Equality, Human Rights and Democracy (CSW68 Side Event)

Thursday 21:

• Maternal Health (CSW68 Side Event)
• 16th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) – Interactive dialogue Focus area/emerging issue
• The gender pay gap: addressing gender income inequality (CSW68 Side Event)
• Celebrating Ability: Investing in and Accompanying Children and Adults with Down Syndrome and their Families (CSW68 Side Event)
• NGO Briefing – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68 Side Event)
• Investing in women’s leadership: Women’s Participation in Recovery and Reconstruction Efforts (CSW68 Side Event)

Friday 22:

• 17th plenary meeting – Commission on the Status of Women, Sixty-eighth session (CSW68) 1) Action and closing of CSW68. 2) Opening of CSW69
• 2024 United Nations Global Drug Free World Conference (CSW68 Side Event)

WILPF events and affiliated events:

The Impact of Israeli Aggression on Gaza on Palestinian Women – Tuesday 12 March 2024. Watch here. NGOCSW68

Equal participation and leadership for a more peaceful world: Lessons learned and the way forward with WILPF Vice-President Melissa Torres – Wednesday 13 March 2024. Watch here.

“WILPF Vice-President Melissa Torres will be speaking at an official CSW side event hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The event focuses on the WPS agenda and gender equality in decision-making. The discussion will address: 

What good practices exist when it comes to constitutional and electoral law reform, legislating on incentives for political parties/governments and international norms change, with the aim of achieving gender parity in local, national and international bodies? How to create an environment that is conducive to gender parity in decision-making and women’s participation in all their diversity? How to break down stereotypes and open up the space for women in a male-dominated political environment?Beyond the numbers, how can institutions and decision-making processes promote equal power and gender-responsive outcomes? What is the key to women’s full and equal participation, leadership and influence at all levels, including in peace processes?”

CSW68 related UN Documents and NGO Statements

Any related documents can be found here. Below is the statement from WILPF:

Socially Relevant Film Festival, March 13 – 18

SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival New York is a film festival that focuses on socially relevant film content, andhuman interest stories that raise awareness to social problems and offer positive solutions through the powerful medium of cinema. SR believes that through raised awareness, expanded knowledge about diverse cultures, and the human condition. Explore here.