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Gender and the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW): A Quick Guide

Commission on the Status of Women CSW68 (2024)

CSW68

The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 11 to 22 March 2024. 

  • Priority theme: 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
  • Review theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-third session)

About the Commission on the Status of Women

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by UN Economic and Social Council resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946.  The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In 1996, ECOSOC in resolution 1996/6 expanded the Commission’s mandate and decided that it should take a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and problems in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and in mainstreaming a gender perspective in UN activities.

Membership

Each year, ECOSOC issues a document entitled "Election of members of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council" that lists the current members of all the functional commissions in the annex [document symbol: E/YYYY/9].

Membership information of the CSW is also annexed in the Annotated provisional agenda and proposed organization of work for each session (document symbol: E/CN.6/YYYY/1). In 1984-1985, the documents were issued in A/CONF.116/PC/INF.3 and A/CONF.116/PC/INF.5 respectively.

CSW membership comprises 45 States elected by ECOSOC on the basis of equitable geographical distribution as follows:

  • 13 members from Africa,
  • 11 from Asia,
  • 9 from Latin America and Caribbean,
  • 8 from Western Europe and other States,
  • 4 from Eastern Europe.

New members are elected for a four-year term when the term of the incumbent expires.

Commission on the Status of Women Historical Documents

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women documents

Other Conventions and International Instruments on Women

Major UN Conferences on Women

The United Nations has organized four major conferences on women: 

  • 1st, 1975: The World Conference of the International Women's Year was held in Mexico City on 19 June-2 July 1975.  The report is issued as document E/CONF.66/34.
  • 2nd, 1980: The World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace was held in Copenhagen on 14-30 July 1980. The report is issued as document A/CONF.94/35.
  • 3rd, 1985: The World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace was held on 15-26 June 1985 in Nairobi. The report is issued as document A/CONF.116/28/Rev.1.
  • 4th, 1995: The World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace was held in Beijing on 4-15 Sept. 1995. The report is issued as document:  A/CONF.177/20/Rev.1.

Since the Beijing conference in 1995, the General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) have held several sessions to review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Featured Databases and Statistical Resources

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

        

        

Programmes of Work / Themes

Since 1987, the CSW has been adopting multi-year programmes of work that contain priority themes for discussion and action at its annual sessions.

Agreed Conclusions (Outcomes)

The CSW makes recommendations in the form of negotiated agreed conclusions on the priority themes. These are issued annually. They contain an analysis of the priority theme and a set of concrete recommendations for governments, intergovernmental bodies, other institutions, civil society actors, and other relevant stakeholders.

Agreed conclusions are available from the UN Women website and searchable from the United Nations Digital Library.

The Story of Resolution 1325 | Women, Peace and Security (Dur:3:12)

The first Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security was adopted as S/RES/1325 on 31 October 2000. This video tells the story of the resolution. 

Selected Books and Reports

Other Research Guides and Websites on Women and Gender