Commission on the Status of Women

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Commission on the Status of Women, in New York today:

Highlighting the new opportunities digital technology is creating for women and girls around the world, speakers renewed calls for investments to bridge the gender digital divide, ensure a safe digital environment and ensure the full participation of women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and math, as the Commission on the Status of Women opened its annual session today.

Amid spirited debate, the Economic and Social Council today adopted a draft resolution on removal of Iran from membership in the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022‑2026 term, citing its oppression of women and girls.

The Commission on the Status of Women approved the first‑ever set of agreed conclusions focused on empowering women and girls in the context of climate action, as it concluded its sixty-sixth session late tonight.

A crisis, whether it is the COVID-19 pandemic or the devastating effects of climate change, can be an opportunity to empower women and advance gender equality by putting women in the centre of the recovery process, speakers told the Commission on the Status of Women during a panel discussion today.

Despite progress in bringing women to the table when shaping climate change responses, more must be done to ensure equality in local to global decision-making roles, delegates and civil society representatives said today, as the Commission on the Status of Women concluded the general discussion segment of its sixty-sixth session.

The Commission on the Status of Women continued its work today, hearing presentations from 12 Member States about their national efforts to implement the agreed outcome on its 2017 session’s theme “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work”.

Strong female-based societies, indigenous women, women legislators and girls are agents of positive change and role models for sustainability, protecting the Earth and forging monumental achievements along the common global path towards sustainable development, delegates said today, calling for action to include their knowledge and experiences, as the Commission on the Status of Women continued the general discussion segment of its sixty-sixth session.

Delegates urged the Commission on the Status of Women, on the third day of its annual session, to account for the differentiated impact climate change has on vulnerable groups ill-equipped to address the phenomenon — particularly rural, coastal and indigenous women — and empower these individuals to lead national and international efforts in response.

Targeted investments to promote gender equality — from global to local levels — must ensure that promises made are kept as the world forges an inclusive, sustainable path to tackle climate change consequences, delegates told the Commission on the Status of Women on the second day of its annual session.