CSW66 agreed conclusions and ways forward for addressing VAWG and climate change linkages in policies, decision making and programming
In 2022, the 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) convened Member States and key stakeholders from around the world to consider the priority theme of “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”. This marked the first time CSW placed primary focus on gender and climate change linkages and represented a key opportunity to build on the information and progress made on these linkages in climate change decision-making spaces over the last several decades. CSW66 also represented an opportunity to increase international attention to emerging topics and issues, including the growing evidence base detailing the devastating impacts and intersections between climate change and violence against women and girls (VAWG).
This paper highlights how VAWG and climate change linkages have been integrated within the CSW66 agreed conclusions and recommended actions, and discusses key opportunities drawn from examples of promising practices and adaptable resources for implementing them. The inclusion of the linkage between VAWG and climate change issues as part of the agreed conclusions is a vital step for driving progress and supporting collaboration between ending VAWG and climate action decision makers and practitioners.
This paper supplements an earlier publication titled “Tackling violence against women and girls in the context of climate change”.