Ei-iE

The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will review the progress achieved on the commitments made in the Beijing Platform for Action, a global policy framework to advance gender equality formulated in 1995.

The CSW 54th session will take place in New York from 1-12 March, bringing a record number of participants, including labour and women’s groups.

Education International representatives will be present at this major event, as part of the joint trade union delegation, together with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Public Services International (PSI). A Trade Union Statement to the UN Secretary General has been submitted under the title: Women in the Global Economy in a Time of Crisis.

A workshop will be held on this topic on 4 March as one of the CSW parallel events, organised jointly with Union Network International (UNI), outside the UN compound. The aim is to bring critical issues to the forefront and provide additional opportunities for information exchange and networking.

It will also enable women unionists from all around the world to engage in a dialogue with representatives of NGOs, women's movements and governments. Commencing with presentations by expert panelists, the event will stimulate discussions on the impacts of the multiple food, financial, job and climate crises on women's prospects for achieving decent lives.

On 5 March, the delegation will also organise another workshop on Trade Union Review of Beijing +15, Country Perspectives, which will evaluate national performances from the trade union perspective.

After 15 years of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, which seeks to achieve the full participation of women in the decision-making process as a fundamental condition “for the achievement of equality, development and peace,” new and remaining obstacles still need to be overcome, such as the gender gap in primary education, pay inequities, unemployment and violence against women.

“We have experienced significant progress for women both in the unions and in education. However we have to keep working on it. My experience is that we can easily slip back,” said EI President Susan Hopgood.

This is the reason why EI is organising the First World Women's Conference in Bangkok in May this year.

For more information about EI’s work at the UN CSW, please refer to the links below.