Commission on the Status of Women set for 61st Session
The 61st Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61), is slated for March 13– 24, 2017, in New York on the theme: “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.”
The CSW61 is one of the largest annual gatherings of global leaders, Non-governmental Organisations, private sector actors, United Nations partners and activists from around the world focusing on the status of rights and empowerment of all women and girls everywhere.
Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from all regions of the world would be attending the session.
CSW61 working document obtained by the Ghana News Agency indicates that the global meeting would focus on progress on the implementation of the agreed conclusions from the 58th Session (2014) on ‘Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls’.
It would also discuss as a focus area/emerging issue the ‘Empowerment of indigenous women’. The ten-day session will include a ministerial segment with round tables and other high-level interactive dialogues, a general discussion, as well as interactive and expert panel discussions.
The CSW61 working document indicates that stakeholders would organise many side events to draw attention to critical aspects of the work on gender equality.
The Commission would also consider a number of reports prepared by UN Women, including a report on the priority theme and a report on progress made on the review theme at national level. Statements submitted by NGOs also form part of the documentation for the session.
It would also analyse the adverse impact of climate change, humanitarian crisis, rising informality of labour and economic inequality especially its impact on women.
“For sustainable and healthy economies, the world of work must empower women and remove the persisting inequalities that hold women back from getting on equal footing with men.
“From equal pay and women’s unpaid work to decent work, removing the barriers of discrimination and investing in women’s access to digital and green economies, UN Women unpacks the key issues for women in the changing world of work,” the CSW61 working document revealed.
Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Women Executive Director, explained that the world of work was changing fast, through innovation, increasing mobility and informality. But it needs to change faster to empower women, whose work has already driven many of the global gains in recent decades.
“Women still predominantly occupy jobs that pay less and provide no benefits. They earn less than men, even as they shoulder the enormous—and economically essential—burden of unpaid care and domestic work.
“Realizing women’s economic empowerment requires transformative change so that prosperity is equitably shared and no one is left behind. The international community has made this commitment in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“Every woman should enjoy her right to decent work”.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), is a global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Source: GNA