NEW YORK 1-12 Mar 2010 UN entity examines status of women 15 years after Beijing summit

The United Nations General Assembly convenes a meeting during the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to mark the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration in 1995. The commemoration invites a look at wins and losses for women since since the declaration, a task the CSW will undertake at their meeting. The CSW has highlighted climate change as an emerging issue for women, nothing that it exacerbates pre-existing inequalities.

The CSW is a commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The CSW describes itself as dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women, and as the principal global policy-making body. Member states gather at UN headquarters each year "to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide."

The Commission has been responsible for organizing and following up the world conferences on women in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995).

The declaration was adopted at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, the Beijing summit. in 1995. All four summits promoted equality between women and men as a matter of human rights, a condition for social justice and "a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace."

The meeting begins months of events regarded as warm up for the centenary of International Women's Day on 8 Mar 2011. (Written Feb/2010)

RELATED READING:

Commission on the Status of Women
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/

International Women's Day web
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/