The Commission on the Status of Women event (CSW 70) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 9-19 2026. It is the largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights.
The event was attended by thousands of Member State representatives, UN entities, non-governmental representatives (NGOs) along with women and girls advocates from all regions of the world. Participants attended organized parallel and side-events based on the CSW70 priority theme of justice. There were panel discussions, interactive plenaries and agreed upon recommendations and outcomes.
This year’s themes were:
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- Priority Theme: Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barrier.
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- Review Theme: Women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
CSW70 offered a platform that brought evidence into the public domain while fostering collective reflection and advocacy. The Commission highlighted barriers to justice in classrooms, communities and digital spaces. Justice is about laws, courts, participation, gender equality, funding, jobs and careers, leadership, girls and women with disabilities, and the rights of victims of violence.
Three of ICJW’s team of representatives to the UN in New York have written reports on sessions that they attended.
Sara Winkowski, writes:
“This year’s session of the CSW was a very different experience for me. I have been attending these meetings since 1992. For many years, I went together with June Jacobs and Donna Gary to ensure that the voices of Jewish women were heard. We would meet around 10 a.m. every morning and stay until 5 or 6 p.m., moving from one session to the next. This year, however, due to ongoing issues with the trains going to Manhattan from New Jersey where I live, I decided to participate only in the virtual sessions. Click on the text links below to read my reports about each of these five virtual events.”
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- Heeding Women/Girls Victims/Survivors/Witnesses: Dimensional Challenges for Transforming Retributive to Reparative Justice for our Generation and for Generations to Come
- EveryWoman: Access to Justice for Survivors: How Can International Laws Strengthen Accountability for Ending Violence Against all Women and Girls?
- Ending Trafficking of Women and Girls – Good Practices and Global Insights
- The Forgotten Issue of Older Women Living in Extreme Poverty
Judy Lear also attended some of the sessions on ageing, and shares her overall impressions of the CSW70 events:
“CSW70 was fraught with issues and anger. The United States questioned the Agreed Upon Conclusions that is the product of the CSW! They questioned past Agreed Upon Conclusions dealing with everything from violence against women to reproductive rights. They were defeated when they called for a vote! This happened again on the last day, and again, their motion was defeated. This revolved around a definition of gender. It seemsthe pendulum is swinging towards a more conservative view! As an American who believes in equality, I am embarrassed by the actions taken by the USA. Ageing issues, especially older women, were well attended. The feedback I received from SCOW colleagues was positive”. - Heeding Women/Girls Victims/Survivors/Witnesses: Dimensional Challenges for Transforming Retributive to Reparative Justice for our Generation and for Generations to Come
Judy Mintz reports on two events that she attended – the first co-hosted by ICJW with the World Jewish Congress: