The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) is one of the events and mobilizing points for Anglican women. Each year Anglican women from around the world attend. We have strong Anglican networks of women working around UNCSW issues. There have been vital additions such as training in economic literacy and advocacy, and gender budgeting analysis of Aid Effectiveness. Women have had direct engagement with UN Missions and this has deepened the women’s skills and delivery capacity. The women are equipped to:
Our view on Women's Rights and Gender Justice
The empowerment of women is a critical issue facing the world in the 21st century. Since the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, this has been a focal point for our work. Each year Anglican women have returned to their communities committed to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2020, the sixty-fourth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW64) was postponed after a brief opening session, in response to the global Covid-19 health emergency. This year, the sixty-fifth session will take place in a hybrid format, with most meetings taking place online.
CSW65 will take place from 15 to 26 March, with the priority theme “Women's full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. The review theme will be “Women's empowerment and the link to sustainable development”, looking at the conclusions from CSW60.
The official Anglican Communion delegation to CSW65 will be the same people chosen to represent the Communion at CSW64. They will be undertaking advocacy in a number of different ways. A joint Anglican Communion / Mothers’ Union webinar, “What’s faith got to do with it?”, has been chosen by the UN as an official parallel event for CSW65.
Click here to find more about the “What’s faith got to do with it?” webinar and the Anglican Communion’s involvement in CSW65
Priority theme: The review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly.
Review theme: An assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission on the Status of Women convened, on 9 March 2020, for a meeting that included opening statements followed by the adoption of the draft Political Declaration. The session was then suspended. The Anglican Communion delegation chosen for CSW64 in 2020 have been retained as the delegation for CSW65 in 2021.
The report is a snapshot of Anglican engagement at the 63rd Session of the UNCSW, including reflections from the delegates themselves and examples of the various opportunities they had to share their own experiences throughout the two weeks, with support from the ACOUN staff.
In it, you will find testimonies from this year’s delegates, stories about how they advocated on topics of concern, and how they are taking their experiences at the UNCSW back to their home provinces.
CSW63 - Learn more
Priority theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls;
Review theme: Participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women (agreed conclusions of the forty-seventh session);
CSW62 - Learn more
Priority theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work
Review theme: Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls (agreed conclusions of the fifty-eighth session)
Emerging issue/Focus area: The empowerment of indigenous women
Priority theme: Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development
Review theme: The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls (agreed conclusions from the fifty-seventh session)