UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

India has been elected as the member of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). India will be a member of the prestigious body for four years from 2021 to 2025 on 15th Sep, 2020.


ECOSOC, a 54-member body held its first plenary meeting of its 2021 session and held elections for two seats in the Asia-Pacific States category for which India, Afghanistan and China had contested the elections to the Commission on Status of Women.

While India and Afghanistan won the ballot among the 54 members, China failed to cross the half-way mark.

Number of votes received:

  • Afghanistan: 39 votes of the 54 ballots cast
  • India: 38 votes of the 54 ballots cast
  • China: 28 votes of the 54 ballots cast - could not even cross the half-way mark of 28 votes.

Topics Covered:

1) What is UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)?

2) Members of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

3) Aim of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

4) Functions of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

5) Annual session of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

6) Priority and review themes for 2020–2024

7) Significance of becoming member of UN's Commission on Status of Women 



What is Commission on Status of Women (CSW)?

Commission on Status of Women (CSW) is the functional commission of the ECOSOC.

1) It was established by ECOSOC resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946. 

2) The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) first met at Lake Success, New York, in February 1947, soon after the founding of the United Nations. All 15 government representatives were women.


Member States of CSW:

  • 45 member states of the United Nations serve as members of the Commission at any one time.
  • The Commission consists of one representative from each of the 45 Member States elected by the Economic and Social Council on the basis of equitable geographical distribution:

    1. 13 members from Africa
    2. 11 from Asia
    3. 9 from Latin America and Caribbean
    4. 8 from Western Europe and other States
    5. 4 from Eastern Europe

  • Members are elected for a period of 4 years.


Aim of Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

It promotes women’s rights, highlights the reality of women’s lives throughout the world and helps in shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

In 1996, ECOSOC expanded the Commission's mandate and decided that it should take a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and problems in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and in mainstreaming a gender perspective in UN activities.

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, that was held in Beijing in 1995.


Functions of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW):

The functions of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW) are:

  1. Leadership and political participation
  2. Economic empowerment
  3. Ending violence against women
  4. Peace and security
  5. Humanitarian action
  6. Youth
  7. Governance and national planning
  8. Sustainable development agenda
  9. HIV and AIDS

Annual session of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW)

1) During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of: 

  • UN Member States, 
  • civil society organizations and 
  • UN entities
gather at UN headquarters in New York. 


2) Important Annual Sessions

  • CSW64 / Beijing+25 (2020)

In 2020, the global community will mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). 

A five-year milestone will be reached towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

2020 is therefore a pivotal year for the accelerated realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, everywhere.



  • CSW65 (2021)

The 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 15 to 26 March 2021.


3) Purpose of Annual session:

1) Discuss progress and gaps in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on gender equality, and the 23rd special session of the General Assembly held in 2000 (Beijing+5).

2) Discuss as well as emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women. 

3) Member States agree on further actions to accelerate progress and promote women’s enjoyment of their rights in political, economic, and social fields. 

4) The outcomes and recommendations of each session are forwarded to ECOSOC for follow-up.


Priority and review themes for 2020–2024

Based on the resolutions from 2018 and 2020, priority and review themes for 2020–2024 are:

a) 2020: 

Review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.


b) 2021: 

  • Priority 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. 
  • Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development (agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session).


c) 2022: 

  • 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).


d) 2023: 

  • Priority theme: Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. 
  • Review theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-second session).


e) 2024: 

  • Priority theme: Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective. 
  • Review theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-third session).


Significance of becoming member of UN's Commission on Status of Women 

India becoming a member of UN's Commission on Status of Women (CSW) holds immense significance in geopolitics of the world.

1) India and Afghanistan will join Argentina, Austria, Dominican Republic, Israel, Latvia, Nigeria, Turkey and Zambia, which were elected by acclamation, to the Commission on the Status of Women for a four-year term beginning from 2021-2025.

2) India becoming a member of UN's CSW is highly significant as India would be starting its two-year term beginning January 1, 2021 as the non-permanent member at the UN Security Council.

3) It signifies that world recognizes the contribution made by India in evolving global women's human rights standards in UN including achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5) in Agenda 2030 which relates to achieving gender equality and empower all women and girls.


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