The fifty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women

Participants

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the session. For more information o­n NGO participation, please click here.

In accordance with its multi-year programme of work (ECOSOC resolution 2009/15), the Commission will consider the following themes through interactive activities.

Access and participation of women and girls to education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work

• A round table for high-level participants from capitals (at the level of ministers, deputy-ministers and principal secretaries) focused o­n experiences, lessons learned and good practices, including results with supporting data, where available
• An interactive panel of technical experts to identify key policy initiatives in order to accelerate the implementation of commitments related to the priority theme
• An interactive panel of technical experts which will focus o­n capacity-building for gender mainstreaming in relation to the theme, and will provide an opportunity for an exchange of national and regional experiences, lessons learned and good practices, including o­n results with supporting data, where available

Following these interactive events in the first week of the Commission, Member States will negotiate agreed conclusions (new policy recommendations) to accelerate implementation of existing commitments, including those in the Beijing Platform for Action.

The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child (agreed conclusions from the fifty-first session of the Commission o­n the Status of Women)

An interactive dialogue will evaluate progress of implementation of these agreed conclusions.

Gender equality and sustainable development

The emerging issue will be assessed through an interactive expert panel meeting.

• Panel discussion o­n the priority theme of the fifty-sixth session of the Commission (2012): "The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges"
• Panel discussion o­n the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and the empowerment of women, including an interactive discussion with the relevant United Nations Funds and Programmes, agencies and offices, as well as representatives of the private sector and civil society

A programme of parallel events or activities which will be organized outside the formal programme of the fifty-fifth session of the Commission provides an excellent opportunity for Member States, UN entities and NGOs to discuss themes of the Commission and other critical gender equality issues.

Permanent Missions and United Nations entities wishing to hold parallel events o­n United Nations premises during the CSW session should contact araiza[at]un.org to obtain instructions.

For more information o­n parallel events please click here.

In preparation for the fifty-fifth session, the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), now part of UN Women, organized an online discussion o­n gender, education and employment from 7 to 20 July 2010, as well as a podcast in cooperation with UN Radio.

In collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), DAW convened an expert group meeting (EGM) o­n gender, science and technology from 28 September to 1 October 2010 in Paris, France.

A preparatory expert panel was also held during the fifty-fourth session of the Commission o­n Thursday, 4 March 2010.