The sixty-seventh session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place from 6 to 17 March 2023. The great news is that there are opportunities to get involved online in CSW and connect with gender equality advocates from across the globe.
Through our CSW67 Virtual Experience, you will:
- Develop an understanding of how gender equality policy is undertaken at an international level
- Connect with and learn from other gender equality advocates from around the globe
- Build up your skills in the gender equality advocacy space to support YWCA’s advocacy work in 2023 and beyond
To join our CSW67 Virtual Experience, you must be a member of YWCA Australia.
What is the Commission on the Status of Women?
CSW is the central policy-making body on women’s rights and gender equality at the United Nations. CSW promotes and monitors women’s rights around the world and is a functional commission of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The main outcome achieved at CSW is the Agreed Conclusions, international soft law commitments for governments to implement domestically.
Agreed Conclusions are reached through weeks of negotiations both in the lead up to and at CSW. These negotiations take place among government delegations of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
What does YWCA Australia do at CSW?
YWCA forms part of Australia’s civil society delegation. As a country, Australia has a very large and active civil society delegation that plays an important role in supporting and influencing the government. While we can’t be in the room where the negotiations are happening, the civil society delegation influence the Australian Government’s position on what language should be included in the agreed conclusions, and what issues are important to women in Australia. It might not seem like it, but the choice of words matters. The choice of words and phrases can mean the difference between countries actually having to take action, or can simply commit to a principle or idea with no follow-through.
CSW is also an opportunity for YWCA to connect with World YWCA and other YWCAs around the world, along with other international gender equality advocates.
