TEHRAN – A delegation headed by the vice president for women and family affairs will participate in the 68th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which will take place in New York from March 11-22.

CSW 68 will take place this year under the 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”.

Ensieh Khazali along with Khadijeh Karimi, the Vice Presidency’s director for international affairs, will attend the event.

During the meeting, Khazali is scheduled to hold talks with the president of the National Commission for Lebanese Women, the minister of gender and children's affairs of Sierra Leone, the secretary general of the Family Affairs Council of Saudi Arabia, the minister of social security of Finland, the minister of social development and family of Qatar, the minister of family and social services of Turkey, and the minister of labor and social affairs of Armenia.

She will also hold meetings with the speaker of the parliament of Uzbekistan, the coordinator of women's affairs, gender policy, and women's empowerment, the minister for social development and family of Singapore, the head of the Women's Status Commission, the ambassador of the Philippines, the minister of culture and equality of Norway, and the minister of women's affairs of Libya.

Moreover, Khazali will take part in a meeting of Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE), family empowerment, and community development.

She is going to deliver a speech on social security systems access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and women and family empowerment.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.

CSW 68

The world is at a crucial crossroads for gender equality. Globally 10.3 percent of women live in extreme poverty today, and they are poorer than men. Progress towards ending poverty needs to be 26 times faster to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Accelerated progress requires investment. Data from 48 developing economies shows that an additional $360 billion is needed per year to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment across key global goals, including ending poverty and hunger.

Solutions to end women’s poverty are widely recognized: investing in policies and programs that address gender inequalities and boosting women’s agency and leadership.

Such investments yield enormous dividends: Over 100 million women and girls could be lifted out of poverty if governments prioritized education and family planning, fair and equal wages, and expanded social benefits.

Almost 300 million jobs could be created by 2035 through investments in care services. Closing gender gaps in employment could boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita by 20 percent across all regions.

At CSW68, governments, civil society organizations, experts, and activists from across the world will come together to agree on actions and investments that can end women’s poverty and advance gender equality.

MT/MG