18 March 2016: The 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 60), currently underway in New York, US, held meetings and side events during its first week that addressed gender equality and women’s empowerment in relation to: humanitarian action; economic development; political leadership; health; collective action; and rural development. The nine-day session includes a ministerial segment with roundtables and other high-level interactive dialogues, a general discussion, as well as numerous interactive dialogues and panel discussions.

CSW 60 is taking place from 14-24 March 2016. The formal proceedings of the session are: addressing women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development; evaluating progress in the implementation of the agreed conclusions from CSW 57 on ‘The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls;’ and discussing the Commission’s multi-year programme of work.

During an event on ‘The Roadmap to Realizing Rights: Every Woman Every Child’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health,’ co-organized by the Every Women Every Child (EWEC) office and UN Women on 15 March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged everyone to make a new commitment or renew an existing one to the EWEC movement, which aims to end preventable deaths among all women, children and adolescents, and to improve their health and well-being.

During a public conversation at UN Headquarters on 16 March, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, said gender equality and women’s empowerment are not a women’s movement but a global movement. Trudeau said he asks every leader that says he would love to have a gender-equal cabinet but “just can’t do that with the current configuration,” what is he doing to change that configuration. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, thanked Trudeau for his feminist leadership and pinned him as the newest champion of UN Women’s HeForShe campaign.

At a side event, titled ‘How will you join rural women in implementing the SDGs?’ on 16 March, David Nabarro, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda, said the rural development experts are not in universities or institutes, but they are the women who farm the land, carry the children and feed the animals, making them the world’s Rural Development Professors. Noting that rural women are also the “auditors” of the SDGs’ implementation, Nabarro stressed the need to engage them as activists for the 2030 Agenda. The event was organized by the Huairou Commission, United Methodist Women, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

During a side event on 17 March, UN high officials called on leaders to attend the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul in May 2016, and make concrete commitments to enhance gender equality, as women and girls are “central” to humanitarian action. Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, insisted that humanitarian action cannot be effective unless it delivers equally for all women, men, girls and boys. He underlined that “if you get it right for girls and women, you get it right for humanitarian action.” Mlambo-Ngcuka highlighted that women are essential to recovery and building resilience.

The week also included the inaugural meeting of the High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, on 15 March, and an annual event on the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP), on 15-16 March.

The CSW is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. [CSW 60 Brochure] [CSW 60 Website] [UN Press Release on EWEC Event] [UN Press Release on High-level Event with Justin Trudeau] [UN Press Release on WHS Gender Equality Event] [IISD RS Story on CSW 60 Opening Day] [IISD RS Story on Women’s Economic Empowerment Panel] [IIDS RS Story on WEP Annual Event]