Just before midnight, on the 24 March, governments, civil society and other organisations celebrated the adoption of CSW60’s agreed conclusions. These celebrations came after nearly 80 hours of negotiations, and the conclusions will help develop how gender equality will be included in development efforts moving forward.

“Countries gave gender inequality an expiry date: 2030. Now it is time to get to work. These agreed conclusions entrench and start the implementation of a gender-responsive agenda 2030 with which we have the best possibility to leave no one behind.” – UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

During these negotiations there are opportunities for civil society organisations, like Soroptimist International, to provide input and influence the negotiators. This is a key activity that the SI delegation undertook – by influencing government representative it is possible to improve and develop what commitments are made in the document. Each year the agreed conclusions focus on the main theme of CSW, which this year was ‘women’s empowerment and it’s link to sustainable development’.

As this was the first CSW after the agreement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it was extremely important to reaffirm the same level of commitment made in those new global goals. If the level of commitment had reduced, or there was ‘push back’ on commitments made then it could be harder to hold governments to account for what was agreed in the SDGs. However, as discussions around women’s and girls’ empowerment and its link to sustainable development had been discussed so recently, it was hoped that discussions would not be too contentious.
Unfortunately this was not the case for all issues. Health, violence against women and girls, the role of civil society, and ensuring global accountability were all controversial subjects. This was largely due to different perspectives on these areas. Finding language that applies globally is difficult, and so reaching a consensus can be challenging.

However there was significant progress made on other issues. There was specific attention given to the role of men and boys as allies and contributors in achieving gender equality. Increasingly, there is agreement that it will be impossible to fully empower women and girls in all areas of life, without everyone being involved. Additionally, consensus around the need to mainstream gender perspectives in order to accelerate progress was clear.
For many, that a final consensus was reached was indicative of the mood at the CSW. Since the agreement of the SDGs there is a renewed drive to achieve the ambitious vision of the Sustainable Development Goals. This boosted political will be critical in driving action, and at this CSW, this positivity did mean steps forward in commitments could be made. Now it is important to make sure that these commitments are implemented at the grassroots. Civil society, and organisations like Soroptimist International, will be key players in pushing for the achievement of gender equality.

Please click on the link to read the Agreed Conclusions from CSW60.
http://www2.unwomen.org/~/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/csw/60/csw60%20agreed%20conclusions%2024march.pdf?v=1&d=20160408T142735