Need ‘to make gender equality mainstream through all other goals’.

Held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10-21 March 2014, the 58th edition of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) once again gathered together a large number of civil society organisations.

This time around the priority theme was “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls”.

After two intense weeks of negotiations, the Commission finally agreed on its conclusions.

These emphasise the need to address, among others, issues of violence against women, women and girls sexual and reproductive rights, women’s empowerment and right to development, and unpaid care work, in the post-2015 global development agenda.

These conclusions included strong vocabulary on the global issue of violence against women, and emphasise the necessity for States to use due diligence in protecting – as well as providing support to – women survivors of violence, and prosecuting and punishing perpetrators.

The Commission on the Status of Women also emphasised the need to keep a stand-along goal on gender equality (establishing combating violence against women and girls as an essential target) in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework, and to make gender equality mainstream through all other goals.

The Commission on the Status of Women also adopted:

a draft resolution on the “Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women”, by a recorded vote o 22 in favour to 1 against, with 10 abstentions, for action by the Economic and Social Council;

a resolution on “Release of women and children taken hostage, including those subsequently imprisoned, in armed conflicts”, without a vote;

a resolution on “Gender equality and the empowerment of women in natural disasters”, without a vote;

and a resolution on “Women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS” (advance unedited version), by a recorded vote  of 22 in favour to none against, with 16 abstentions.

To read an unedited version of the CSW58′s Agreed Conclusions click here.