14 March 2016: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a framework for action to transform gender relations and achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, making the world a better place for all, UN leaders said at the opening session of the 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). CSW 60 is expected to discuss implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and take stock of progress in eliminating violence against women and girls.

CSW 60 is convening from 14-24 March 2016, at UN Headquarters in New York, the US, and includes over 200 side events. CSW 60’s priority theme is ‘Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development.’

Observing that change is not happening fast enough for many women and girls, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka called on participants to capitalize on positive commitments under the 2030 Agenda and ‘Step It Up for Gender Equality’ with decisive, implementable and transformative plans. She also stressed that the “2030 Agenda enhances, not replaces, the Beijing Platform for Action” (BPOA).

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reflecting that the world is still full of injustices and inequalities for women and girls, made a “personal appeal” to countries without a woman in their parliament or cabinet, saying “I will be checking every day until the last day of my mandate as Secretary-General. I will keep pushing until the world has no parliaments and no cabinets with no women.”

UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Mogens Lykketoft said the 2030 Agenda embraces gender equality as an “absolute precondition for the other changes we want to bring about,” and suggested the CSW serve as a “watchdog” to ensure that implementation of the 2030 Agenda contributes to gender equality. He called on CSW 60 to provide guidance on reforms and policies to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment, and to remind governments that gender equality will require action on all of the SDGs, not just Goal 5 (Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls).

The Paris Agreement on climate change also seeks to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Vice-President Jürg Lauber (Switzerland) said, on behalf of the ECOSOC President. He welcomed CSW’s role as a catalyst for addressing and realizing gender equality, including through the review and follow up of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and as a contribution to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

At the first Youth CSW, on 11-12 March, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Youth Ahmad Alhendawi told over 300 participants “there’s no space here for baby steps.” Noting that the world is far from achieving gender equality, he called for “a big leap to protect human rights and ensure gender equality.” The event discussed: SDG implementation; women’s engagement in climate justice and migration issues; gender equality in education; and inclusion of boys and men in gender dialogues, among other issues. The Youth CSW resulted in ‘Youth-Agreed Conclusions’ for implementing the 2030 Agenda, which were presented to CSW Chair Antonio de Aguiar Patriota. Also at the event, Mlambo-Ngcuka launched UN Women’s Youth and Gender Equality Strategy.

A CSW side event organized by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women called for investing in education and reproductive health for adolescent girls to ensure sustainable development for all. UN Women is urging all countries to repeal discriminatory laws that create barriers for girls and women in access to education and health care, decent jobs and equal pay, Mlambo-Ngcuka said at the event. She called for investments in infrastructure to prevent girls from missing school due to personal hygiene needs or time spent fetching drinking water or firewood. Too many girls “are engaged to be married when they… should be learning to read,” added UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, describing the challenges faced by girls in attending class and avoiding early marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and other forms of abuse and violence. He stressed that progress for girls is not just an issue for women but “a challenge for humanity,” emphasizing that achieving the SDGs on gender equality and women’s empowerment will contribute to “advances across all of society.”

Also on women’s rights, the International Labour Organization (ILO) released a report, ‘Social protection for domestic workers: Key policy trends and statistics,’ which finds that nearly 90% of domestic workers, most of whom are women, lack access to any social security coverage, and their work is both undervalued and unprotected. ILO said this situation can be redressed, and extending social protection to domestic workers is critical in fighting poverty and promoting gender equality. [UN Press Release] [UN Press Release 2] [UN Women Executive Director Statement] [UN Secretary-General Statement] [UNGA President Statement] [ECOSOC Vice-President Statement] [UN Press Release 3] [Deputy Secretary-General Statement] [UN Women Press Release] [UN Press Release 4] [ILO Press Release] [Youth and Gender Equality Strategy] [Social protection for domestic workers] [CSW Side Events]