NGO CSW/NY organizes the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). This provides civil society who might not be able to access the UN the opportunity to engage in the processes and CSW sessions.
NGO CSW Forum FAQs
The NGO CSW Forum is the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The Forum runs parallel to the official CSW session taking place at the UN Headquarters. This provides civil society the opportunity to engage in the processes and CSW sessions without ECOSOC-accreditation or a UN grounds pass (both of which are needed to attend the CSW).
Over the two weeks of the UN CSW, NGO CSW/NY organizes hundreds of events that inform, engage and inspire grassroots efforts and advocacy needed to empower women and girls. Some of the events that we host are Consultation Day, Orientation & Advocacy Training, Regional Caucuses, Conversation Circles, and Parallel Events organized by CSOs around the globe.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principle global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
During the two-week session, UN entities, Member States, and civil society discuss issues pertaining to women, girls, and gender equality. The Commission assesses progress and gaps in the implementation of global women's rights documents like the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), as well as issues happening on the regional, national, and local levels.
Each year, the Commission focuses on specific themes related to gender equality, known as the 'priority' and 'review' themes. The CSW66 themes are:
Priority theme: Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes;
Review theme: Women's economic empowerment in the changing world of work (agreed conclusions of the sixty-first session)
For more information about the CSW, visit UN Women's website.
The NGO CSW Forum is totally separate from the official UN Commission on the Status of Women session. Below are some important distinctions between the two events.
NGO CSW Forum:
- Organized by NGO CSW/NY (a civil society organization)
- Civil society forum (not part of the formal UN system)
- Do not need to be ECOSOC-accredited to attend
- Has Parallel Events hosted by civil society
UN CSW:
- Organized by UN Women (a UN agency)
- Official United Nations Commission
- Must be ECOSOC-accredited to attend
- Has Side Events hosted by Member States, UN agencies, and ECOSOC-accredited NGOs
NGO CSW Forum Testimonials
It was an incredible experience and I loved connecting with women and NGOs around the world, and learning about their challenges and successes.
The range of topics in the Parallel Events was tremendous and the quality of the speakers very high. I learned a lot - and it gave me hope in time when equal rights seem to be going backwards.
Thank you for making the effort to continue to bring forth a forum that is not only enjoyable, but needed for the women of our world today.
This was a great experience, and I am honored to have met these amazing girls!
The forum has great potential to democratise UN spaces as well as regional collaboration among feminist groups...The decentralisation that came with the virtual forum, listening to speakers from locations across the world was a very empowering experience.
We have learned so much from this annual forum and our participation was one of the milestones of our organization.
A very successful, participatory forum it was!
I am very grateful for this learning and networking event. What an opportunity!
I am so humbled to get the chance to participate at the NGO CSW. Thank you ! Being at home with a toddler and two other children feeling a little cut off to my activists' life and world, it meant so much to me to see other strong women fighting for women's rights.
Everything was well organized and enriching. It was a pleasure to participate within conversation circles.