Ei-iE

A delegation of women education unionists from 12 countries represented the millions of women who power education around the world at the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW). Taking place in New York from the 10th to the 21st of March, the UN CSW is the most important global forum that works to advance gender equality and women’s rights globally.

2025 marks 30 years since the landmark adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive blueprint for advancing women’s rights in history. The 69th session of the UN CSW focused on reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, assessing the progress made and the challenges that remain.

Major victory for women’s labour rights

On the first day of the UN CSW, delegations from UN member states adopted a Political Declaration to mark the last three decades of work for women’s rights. Education unions and the global trade union movement tireless advocated for the Beijing +30 Declaration to be progressive and ambitious.

“The Beijing +30 Political Declaration is a step forward in terms of women’s labour rights and the global trade union movement was key in achieving this progress. Governments committed to enforcing labour rights, including the right to organise and bargain collectively, acting against workplace discrimination and violence in the world of work, promoting equal pay for work of equal value, and supporting the transition from informal to formal work. Important commitments were also made on the care economy and universal, gender-responsive social protection systems. Importantly, governments recognised trade unions as key stakeholders and affirmed the need to protect the right of civil society, including unions, to operate freely”, stated Haldis Holst, Deputy General Secretary of Education International.

Fátima da Silva, General Secretary of the National Education Workers’ Confederation (CNTE/Brazil), also noted that “the greatest step forward was in terms of women’s labour rights, a very positive development”, adding that “this will also require efforts on our part to make sure governments implement the Declaration.”

Progress on education but more ambitious commitments are imperative

The Beijing +30 Political Declaration features key commitments on education, including “equal access to inclusive and equitable quality education” for all women and girls. Governments pledged to promote, protect and fulfil “the right to education as a key driver of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls” by “investing in public education systems and infrastructure”.

Welcoming the Political Declaration’s focus on education, Ann Mari Milo Lorentzen, Member of the EI Executive Board and Chair of the EI Status of Women Committee, stressed that more needs to be done: “We still have to fight for free public education for every woman and every girl because when you have an education, you have the freedom to live the life you want to live and be independent. Trade unions made important edits to the Declaration, but we still need to work to strengthen the language on education.”

Reflecting on the next key advocacy moment, Heidi Yetman, President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE), noted that “Canada will be the host of the G7 in June of this year. Our union will advocate for education to be included on the G7 agenda. Particularly in these challenging times of conflict, education is absolutely essential to building peace”.

Worrying influence of regressive actors at the UN CSW

While progress has been made on women’s labour rights and education, a reference to “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” was deleted in the final version of the Political Declaration despite being a core element of gender equality and women’s rights.

“We saw aggressive attempts from a number of conservative and far-right governments to undermine the text of the Political Declaration, including by eliminating essential references to gender-related language, women’s bodily autonomy, and comprehensive sexuality education. As women’s rights activists, we must stand together and persevere in our resistance to these regressive forces. We are not backing down,” Holst emphasized.

In addition, public-private partnerships were included in the final text of the Political Declaration despite strong challenges from the trade union movement.

“We know public-private partnerships have a negative impact on the state and on the most vulnerable, especially the most vulnerable children. It is worrying that all governments were in favour of private-public partnerships in the Political Declaration. This is a development we must analyse and take action against,” stated Fátima da Silva, General Secretary of CNTE Brazil.

Solidarity and persistence in the face of pushback against women’s rights

The rise of the far right as well as violent conflicts in many parts of the world are endangering much of the progress achieved in terms of gender equity.

“I had the opportunity to participate in the UN CSW 10 years ago. It will come as no surprise to anyone that the UN today is much more fragile because of everything going on in the world”, da Silva noted.

“We live in challenging political times, and it is obvious when you go to side events and parallel events, hearing words like ‘backlash’, ‘pushback’, ‘one step forward, eight steps back’. However, the other thing that I've been hearing a lot is ‘we need to work together’. Together, we can succeed, we can push back against the pushback”, Yetman added.

Jennifer Moses from NASUWT, UK echoed these sentiments, stressing that “what I'm taking away from this particular year is that, despite the challenges and the rollback on gender equality, I know that we have a strong sisterhood amongst Education International and we have a strong commitment to ensuring we retain the rights for women and girls.”

Gladys Márquez of the National Education Association, US, stressed that “a woman’s place is in her union. We find strength in the sisterhood. I found my voice and I found agency in the labor movement. I can lock arms and find solidarity not just with sisters in my union but sisters across the world”.

Nadine A. Molloy of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and Member of the EI Executive Board, reflected on the shared sense of duty to future generations as a powerful incentive to redouble efforts for gender equity: “What is the legacy that my generation is going to leave for the next generation of young women? This is something that really resonates with me now.”

“The imperative is to come together. Irrespective of our countries, our languages, our ethnicities, as women we must join forces to advance our rights.”, concluded Isabel Olaya Cuero of FECODE, Colombia and Vice-President of Education International Latin America.