The fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 20 March 2015. Representatives of Member States , UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the session.
The main focus of the session will be on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including current challenges that affect its implementation and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission will undertake a review of progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 20 years after its adoption at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. The review (Beijing+20) will also include the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, the first five-year assessment conducted after the adoption of the Platform for Action, which highlighted further actions and initiatives.
The session will also address opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda.
The BEIJING+20 SUMMARY REPORT is a synthesis of the Secretary-General’s report (E/CN.6/2015/3) on the 20-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly. The report provides a review of national-level implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, including current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as opportunities for strengthening gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda through the integration of a gender perspective.
The outcome of this year’s CSW will be a political declaration which is already being negotiated by Member States. The draft as of 20th January is available here.
Several ASTRA members will attend the session. Polish ASTRA member, the Federation for Women and Family Planninf prepared written statement for 59th CSW – it is available online.
On Sunday March 8th in commemoration of the 20-year anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action all are invited to join the march for gender equality on International Women’s Day – more details and route here.
List of NGO parallel events is available here.
More information: UN Women
