Preparations

The 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2016 has as its priority theme ‘Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development’. This topic is especially timely in the context of the twenty-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the Political Declaration on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, adopted by the Commission at its 59th session, Member States pledged to take further actions to ensure the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. They pledged to achieve measurable results by 2020 and to strive for full gender equality and the empowerment of women by 2030.

As the international community begins implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the 60th session of the Commission provides an important opportunity for ensuring that this work accelerates the momentum towards achieving gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment.

In order to take stock of current research and assist the Commission in its deliberations, UN Women convened an expert group meeting on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for realizing substantive gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment, from 2-4 November 2015, in New York. The expert group meeting:

examined the gender-responsiveness of the 2030 Agenda in terms of the challenges for implementation, and in relation to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and other relevant frameworks;
identified the key areas required to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment through the 2030 Agenda and SDG framework; and
developed action-oriented recommendations to help drive gender-sensitive implementation of the 2030 Agenda, based on the commitment to achieve gender equality and the realization of women’s and girls’ human rights by 2030.

Asia Pacific Regional Seminar in preparation of the CSW60: “Transformative financing for the achievement of gender equality”

On 18 -19 19 February 2016, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations Development Programme, and the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with members of the Asia-Pacific United Nations Regional Coordination Mechanism on Gender Equality and Empowerment, held a Regional Seminar on “Transformative financing for the achievement of gender equality by 2030” in Bangkok, Thailand. The objectives of the Seminar were to prepare government representatives for CSW60 by reviewing research findings and sharing country experiences; identifying good practices and lessons learned, and articulating policy recommendations on financing and investment mechanisms for the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.

See full report (in English) of the Seminar in: http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2016/03/transformative-financing-for-the-achievement-of-gender-equality-by-2030

Latin American and Caribbean CSW60 Preparatory and Consultative Meeting

On 26 – 28 January 2016, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) with the support of UN Women convened Ministers and High-level Authorities of national women’s machineries and the empowerment of women and girls in Santiago, Chile. The participants adopted a Declaration entitled “Women’s Empowerment, Women’s Rights and Autonomy and their link to Sustainable Development” (available in English and Spanish) prior to the 60^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Africa Regional CSW60 Preparatory and Consultative Meeting

On 21 January 2016, the African Union Commission, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and UN Women partnered to host the Africa Ministerial Pre-Consultative Meeting in preparation for CSW60 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs, Senior Government Officials and Ambassadors to the African Union agreed on Key Messages and Strategies (available in English and French) to inform Africa’s positioning and advocacy for the 60^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

Multi-Stakeholder Forum

On 21 January 2016, UN Women convened a forum to engage a range of stakeholders in the preparations for CSW60 at UN Headquarters in New York.

Programme
Concept note and discussion guide
Opening statement Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri
Panel 1: Institutional arrangements for gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Panel 2: Financing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Panel 3: Strengthening the evidence for gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Panel 4: Participation and leadership of women’s organizations and gender equality advocates in the monitoring and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Expert Group Meeting

In preparation for the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2016, UN Women convened an expert group meeting on ‘Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development’ with a particular focus on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for realizing substantive gender equality, women’s rights and empowerment, from 2-4 November 2015 in New York, USA.