62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be held between 12 and 23 March 2018 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Every year, representatives of Member States, United Nations entities and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) gather at the Commission’s annual session. The session provides an opportunity to review progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women, identify challenges, set global standards and norms and formulate policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide. The session is also a key opportunity for policy makers, advocates, researchers and activists for networking. Nearly 6000 representatives of non-governmental organizations participate in the CSW each year. Representatives from women’s organizations in Turkey also attend annual sessions of CSW.

The priority theme of the 62nd Session is set as challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. The review theme is participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women.

CSW is a functional commission of ECOSOC and is a global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission was established by ECOSOC Resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946 with a mandate to prepare recommendations on promoting women’s rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission is also responsible for monitoring, reviewing and appraising progress achieved and problems encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995 and of the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly of 2000, at all levels, and to support gender mainstreaming. The Commission also contributes to the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in order to accelerate the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. 

► Further information on CSW 62nd Session

► Brochure on CSW 62nd Session

Source: UN Women