Wednesday, 17 March 2015. It is 1am in the morning when a round of applause and cheers marks the end of a long night of difficult negotiations in the UN Headquarters. At last, the resolution on the Future organisation and methods of work of the Commission on the Status of Women has been adopted.

CSW59

After the disappointing outcome of the CSW’s Political Declaration – the negotiations of which took place prior to the CSW59, behind closed doors and with no input from civil society organisations – this resolution was of great importance to the NGOs present in New York. Even more so because the expectation was that this document, which reviews the Commission’s institutional design and procedures, would provide more clarity on the role of civil society in the CSW process. The room for participation by NGOs up until now has remained small, in comparison to other UN bodies where civil society constituencies are included in the official process.

Not bad…

While the resolution has not broadened the political space for civil society organisations, it does reaffirm the space that they have had thus far in the CSW. This can be regarded as positive in the way that it ‘holds the line’ in a world where civil society is suffering from a shrinking political role. Overall, the feeling amongst civil society is that the text could have been stronger on some contentious issues, but that considering the particular conservative forces at work this year, the outcome is not bad.

Not bad indeed is the adoption of a mechanism to review the implementation of the Agreed Conclusions of past CSW sessions. Also very positive are the explicit links between gender equality and human rights throughout the text and the references to the post-2015 agenda. A final paragraph has even been added stating that the Commission should review its Working Methods next year, in order to align them with the post-2015 Development Agenda, which will be adopted in September this year.
CSW working methods resolution as agreed

Commission on the Status of Women

TheCommission on the Status of Women(CSW) is the UN body that deals with women’s rights and gender equality. Members of the CSW gather annually in New York and represent 45 Member States of the UN. Membership rotates every four years. The current Dutch membership ends in 2015. This year marks the 20thanniversary of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, which will be celebrated world wide. Central theme of CSW59 therefore is the post-2015 agenda: where do we stand 20 years after Beijing and how do we proceed from here?

CSW59 took place from 9 until 20 March 2015 in New York. Antia Wiersma, Renée Römkens and Catherine Bij de Vaate were present on behalf of Atria.