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Commission on the Status of Women
About the Commission
The UN Commission on the Status of Women is run by UN Women and is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Every year, representatives of Member States and non-profit organisations gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide.
UN Women Australia Delegation
Each year, UN Women Australia sends a delegation of representatives to the Commission on the Status of Women made up of our Executive Director, a Board Member and the Youth Representative.
This year, our delegation includes Julie McKay, Fran Raymond and Lauren Burke.
To contact the delegation, please email admin@unwomen.org.au
The UN Women Australia CSW delegation is proudly supported by the Country Women's Association and the Australian National University:
UN Women Australia Youth Representative
Each year, UN Women Australia selects a young woman to participate in our delegation to CSW. The position is made possible thanks to the generous contribution of organisations like the CWA of NSW.
Lauren Burke was selected as the 2012 Youth Representative. Growing up in Dubbo, Lauren has experienced the challenges facing young women in regional Australia first hand. Her experiences led her to study her Masters in Health Policy focusing on access to health services in regional communities. Lauren works for Prime Minister & Cabinet and remains a passionate advocate for rural and regional women.
The 2012 Youth Delegate is currently undertaking a survey in the lead up to CSW for the purpose of exploring the key issues facing young Australian women and women in rural communities.
All responses to this survey will be used to inform the representation of young Australian Women at CSW. Input is particularly sought from young women and women in rural areas.
Priority Themes
Agreed conclusions from the fifty-second session
Fact Sheet: CSW 2012 Priority Theme
Fact Sheet: CSW 2012 Review Theme
2012 Themes
Priority theme:
The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges
Studies show persistent gaps that impact the lives of rural women, including:
•While women have equal property ownership rights in 115 countries and have equal inheritance rights in 93 countries, gender disparities in land holdings persist worldwide.
•Only 5 percent of agricultural extension services are provided for women farmers, and in rural sub-Saharan Africa, women hold less than 10 percent of the credit available to smallholder agriculture.
•Rural women also face more difficulty than men in accessing public services, social protection, employment and markets, due to cultural norms, security issues and lack of identification documents. For instance, recent UN Women research shows that the proportion of women without identification cards is as high as 80 percent in some villages in rural Egypt, which hampers their access to health, education, pensions, application for property title or deed, and other social services in addition to their ability to vote.
•A recent study covering 17 countries in Asia and the Pacific shows that the proportion of elected representatives in rural councils who are women range from 0.6 percent to 37 percent.
•The international community contributed USD 7.5 billion in official development assistance to rural development and the agricultural sector in 2008–2009. However, only 3 percent of the amount was allocated to programmes where gender equality was the main objective.
Bringing together government officials and representatives of the United Nations, civil society, the media and the private sector, the Commission will review progress and gaps and agree on actions to empower rural women. Panel discussions will also highlight financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women, the review theme for this year; along with the emerging issue of engaging young women and men, girls and boys in advancing gender equality; and the priority theme for next year — elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.
2012 Review theme: Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women Emerging issue: Engaging young women and men, girls and boys, to advance gender equality
2013 - Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls
2014 - Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls
For more information on the Commission on the Status of Women, please see the following links:
Commission on the Status of Women
A Brief History of the Commission on the Status of Women