Indigenous Women and the Commission on the Status of Women

The 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 11 to 22 March 2024. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to contribute to the session.

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);

The 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place from 6 to 17 March 2023.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world were invited to contribute to the session.

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);

References pertaining to Indigenous women within the Report of the Secretary-General on Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Commission on the Status of Women (E/CN.6/2023/3)

References pertaining to Indigenous women in the Interactive expert panel on Interactive expert panel on innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Chair's Summary. (E/CN.6/2023/12)

Reference to Indigenous women in Agreed Conclusions of the CSW67

Agreed Conclusions

8. The Commission further recalls the Declaration on the Right to Development,²⁰ the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ²¹ and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants. ²²

20. The Commission notes the potential of digital technologies to strengthen birth registration systems. It also notes the vital importance of birth registration for the realization of human rights, including the right to education, as well as access to social protection systems, and for participation and decision-making in public life, and expresses concern at the low levels of birth registration among some Indigenous women and girls, women and girls with disabilities, migrant women and girls, women and girls in rural, remote and maritime areas, and women and girls belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.

22. The Commission notes the importance of ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, including oceans, and the protection of biodiversity. It recognizes that technology and innovation can assist countries in improving climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly efforts to achieve the long-term temperature goal in accordance with article 2 of the Paris Agreement. It emphasizes the importance of promoting equal access to technologies that are affordable and accessible, and to the Internet for all women and girls, as well as digital literacy, finance and capacity - building, working towards closing digital divides, including the gender digital divide, and encourages countries to increase the full, meaningful and equal participation of women in climate action and decision-making. It encourages countries to promote the deployment of gender-responsive technological solutions to address climate change, including by strengthening, protecting and preserving local, Indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices in different sectors, improving climate resilience and fostering women’s and girls’ full participation and leadership in science, technology, research and development, in accordance with the enhanced Lima work programme on gender and its gender action plan adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

78. The Commission stresses the importance of the empowerment and capacity building of Indigenous women and girls, including women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in developing policies and programmes and determining resources, where relevant, that target the well-being of Indigenous women and girls, in particular in the areas of innovation and technological change, access to the Internet and digital services, quality education, financial services and the transmission of traditional, scientific and technical knowledge, languages and spiritual and religious traditions and practices, including through digital technologies, as well as productive employment and decent work for Indigenous women. It also stresses the importance of taking measures to promote awareness and understanding of their rights, including in relation to digital infrastructure development on communal and traditional Indigenous lands and the use of their natural resources. It recognizes that Indigenous women and girls, regardless of age, often face violence and discrimination and have limited access to digital health-care services and to digital infrastructure and technologies.

82. The Commission welcomes the major contributions of civil society organizations, especially women’s, young women’s, girls’, youth-led, grass-roots and community-based organizations, rural, Indigenous and feminist groups, women human rights defenders, women journalists and media professionals and trade unions in promoting and protecting the human rights of all women and girls, in placing their interests, needs and visions on local, national, regional and international agendas and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of measures to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including in the context of innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age. It expresses concern that such civil society organizations face many challenges and barriers to full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership, including diminishing funding, as well as violence, harassment and reprisals directed at, and threats to the physical security of, their members.

Prioritizing digital equity to close the gender digital divide

(f) Enhance efforts to achieve universal and affordable connectivity, expand digital learning and literacy and facilitate access to information and communications technology for women and girls, who are disproportionately affected by the gender digital divide, including women and girls living in rural and remote areas and on islands, women and girls with disabilities, migrant women and girls, Indigenous women and girls, and displaced and refugee women and girls, and strive particularly to remove barriers and provide support for non-users and the least connected;

(u) Promote and protect the rights of all Indigenous women and girls by addressing the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and barriers they face, ensuring access to quality and inclusive education, the Internet and digital services, and Indigenous women’s access to employment and economic resources, including land and natural resources, and promoting their full and effective participation in the economy and in decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, taking into account the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples and their ancestral knowledge and practices, and recognizing their cultural, social, economic and political contributions and priorities and the preservation, revitalization and promotion of their languages, with the support of digital tools, as well as the transmission of their traditional, scientific and technical knowledge;

The 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place from 14 to 25 March 2022. Due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, CSW66 took place in a hybrid format. All side events and parallel events were fully virtual.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world were invited to contribute to the session.

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);

References pertaining to Indigenous Women within the Report of the Secretary-General on 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. Commission on the Status of Women (E/CN.6/2022/3)

References pertaining to Indigenous Women in the Interactive expert panel on building resilient futures: bridging the gap between the physical science and social science communities to advance gender equality in the context of climate change, environment and disaster risk reduction. (E/CN.6/2022/14)

Reference to Indigenous women in Agreed Conclusions of the CSW66:

Agreed Conclusions

11. The Commission further recalls that Member States should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, loc al communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations, and the right to development, as well as gender equality, the empowerment of women and intergenerational equity. The Commission encourages Member States to increase the full, meaningful and equal participation of women in climate action and to ensure gender-responsive implementation and means of implementation, which are vital for raising ambition and achieving climate goals.

16. The Commission further recalls the Declaration on the Right to Development, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.

18. The Commission expresses concern that climate change, the pollution of air, land and water, biodiversity loss and decline in ecosystem functions and se rvices threaten the full enjoyment of human rights of all women and girls and have acute impacts on women and girls, especially on rural, indigenous and migrant women and girls.

22. The Commission reaffirms that climate change is among the greatest challenges of our time and affects all regions. It expresses profound alarm that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise globally. It recognizes that countries are already experiencing increasing impacts, including biodiversity loss, extreme weather events, land degradation, desertification and deforestation, sand and dust storms, persistent drought, sea level rise, coastal erosion, ocean acidification and the retreat of mountain glaciers, causing severe disruptions to societies, economies, employment, agricultural, industrial and commercial systems, global trade, supply chains and travel, with devastating impact on sustainable development, including on poverty eradication and livelihoods, threatening food security and nutrition and water accessibility. It remains deeply concerned that all women and girls, particularly in developing countries and small island developing States, are disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters and are disproportionately exposed to risk and increased loss of livelihoods during and in the aftermath of disasters. It further acknowledges the important role of women and girls as agents of change, along with indigenous peoples and local communities, in safeguarding the environment.

27. The Commission reiterates the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective into disaster risk management, taking into account the perspectives of all women and girls, including those in vulnerable situations and women and girls with disabilities. It recognizes the need for the inclusive participation and contribution of all women and girls, older women, widows, indigenous women and girls, local communities, youth, volunteers, migrants, academia, scientific and research entities and networks, business, professional associations, private sector financing institutions and the media, in all forums and processes related to disaster risk reduction, in accordance with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

32. The Commission recognizes the need to take a whole-of-government approach to ensure that climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes are gender-responsive, including through the coordination and capacitybuilding of parliamentarians, national gender equality mechanisms, mayors, local elected officials, and municipalities and the institutions responsible for measures to address climate change, environment and disaster risk reduction. It emphasizes the importance of the work of the scientific community in support of strengthening the global response to climate change, environmental degradation and disasters and respecting and protecting traditional and ancestral knowledge, including of indigenous peoples.

35. The Commission welcomes the major contributions of civil society organizations, especially women’s, young women’s, girls’, youth-led, grass-roots and community-based organizations, rural, indigenous and feminist groups, women human rights defenders, women journalists and media professionals and trade unions in promoting and protecting the human rights of all women and girls, placing th eir interests, needs and visions on local, national, regional and international agendas and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of measures to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, including in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. It expresses concern that such civil society organizations face many challenges and barriers to full, equal and meaningful participation and leadership, including diminishing funding, as well as violence, harassment, reprisals directed at, and threats to the physical security of, their members.

57. The Commission recognizes the important roles and contributions of indigenous women, rural women, women smallholder farmers and women who use coastal marine resources as agents in eradicating poverty and enhancing sustainable agricultural and fisheries development and food security, and as guardians of biodiversity. It highlights the importance of ensuring that the perspectives of all indigenous and rural women and girls are taken into account and that they fully and equally participate in the design, implementation, follow-up to and evaluation of policies and activities that affect their livelihoods, well-being and resilience. It underlines the fact that meaningful progress in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls necessitates closing gender gaps, introducing gender-responsive policies, interventions and innovations, including in agriculture and fisheries, and ensuring women’s equal access to agricultural and fisheries technologies, technical assistance, productive resources, land tenure security and access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance and natural resources, as well as access to and participation in local, regional and international markets.

58. The Commission also recognizes that indigenous women and girls, regardless of age, often face violence, discrimination, exclusion and higher rates of poverty, and limited access to health-care services, information and communications technology, infrastructure, financial services and education, and employment for women, while also recognizing their cultural, social, economic and political contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster preparedness, response and management, and environmental conservation and management.

Strengthen normative, legal and regulatory frameworks

(c) Respect and fulfil existing commitments and obligations under the Rio conventions, the Paris Agreement, the Glasgow Climate Pact and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 related to climate change, biodiversity, desertification, environment and disaster risk reduction in a holistic and integrated manner, taking into account their gender action plans and calling for the creation of such plans where there are none, and highlighting the importance of integrating a gender perspective in, and ensuring the participation of indigenous women when elaborating, nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, land degradation neutrality targets and national and local strategies for disaster risk reduction, while also noting the importance of the ongoing discussions regarding the post-2020 global biodiversity framework to be adopted at the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity;

Expand gender-responsive finance

(aa) Increase public and private financing to women’s civil society organizations, including young women’s, girls’ and youth-led organizations, feminist groups and women’s cooperatives and enterprises for climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction initiatives, including those that apply local and indigenous knowledge and solutions, and strengthen monitoring and accountability at the national, regional and international levels, as appropriate;

(dd) Promote and protect the rights of all indigenous women and girls by addressing the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and barriers they face, including violence and higher rates of poverty, ensuring access to quality and inclusive education and employment, health care, public services, economic resources, including land and natural resources, and promoting their full and effective participation in the economy and in decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, taking into account the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples and their ancestral knowledge and practices, and recognizing their cultural, social, economic and political contributions to climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental action and disaster resilience;

(qq) Support the important role of civil society actors in promoting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women; take steps to protect such actors, including women human rights defenders, particularly those working on issues related to the environment, land and natural resources, and the rights of indigenous peoples; integrate a gender perspective into the creation of a safe and enabling environment for the defence of human rights and to prevent discrimination, violations and abuses against them, such as threats, harassment, violence and reprisals; and combat impunity by taking steps to ensure that violations or abuses are promptly and impartially investigated and that those responsible are held accountable;

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

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world were invited to attend the session.

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 sixty-fifth session).

Side events during CSW65: Walking Together on the Path of Change

Thursday, 18 March 2021 | 9 – 11 a.m. (NY Time)

UNDESA, Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch-Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues co-sponsors the side event organized by the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI); MADRE and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung NYC-Office, within the framework of CSW65 that will bring together  Indigenous Women Leaders worldwide,  State representatives, and CEDAW chairperson in a conversation for the adoption of a General Recommendation for Indigenous Women and Girls in CEDAW.

• Concept_Note_side event >>>
• Side event summary

CSW64 (2020)
On 9 March 2020, the Commission on the Status of Women adopted a Political Declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

Click here for the text (E/CN.6/2020/L.1):  Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

• Reference to indigenous women in the Political Declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women

6. Express concern that, overall, progress has not been fast or deep enough, that in some areas progress has been uneven, that major gaps remain and that obstacles, including structural barriers, discriminatory practices and the feminization of poverty, persist, and recognize that 25 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women, no country has fully achieved gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, that significant levels of inequality persist globally, that many women and girls experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, vulnerability and marginalization throughout their life course, and that they have made the least progress, which may include, inter alia, women of African descent, women with HIV and AIDS, rural women, indigenous women, women with disabilities, migrant women and older women;

The 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 20 March 2020.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session.

Download the CSW64 Brochure for more information: Arabic | English | French | Spanish

Themes: The main focus of the session will be on the 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. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Side events during CSW64 pertinent to indigenous women:

Monday, 9 March, 9:45 -10:00 am – General Assembly Hall, Opening ceremony of the CSW64 Indigenous women from different regions have been invited to perform an opening ceremony before the CSW annual begins.

Monday, 9 March from 1 pm – 3:00 pm, Secretariat Building, 27 floor, Room S-2726 Briefing for indigenous women’s organizations: (Only participants with a UN ground pass will be able to enter into the UN premises).

Tuesday, 10 March, from 11:30 – 12:45 pm – Room D – (Only participants with a UN ground pass will be able to enter into the UN premises)

Side event: Indigenous Women’s Voices of Leadership  (Contributions of indigenous women in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action)

Organized by the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) and the Indigenous Peoples Development Brach/DISD/DESA

• Concept Note

Objective: To share the contributions made by indigenous women’s in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; point out remaining challenges and the ways forward to achieve its full, effective and accelerated implementation.

Leading questions Participating stakeholders in the side event are invited to address the following questions:

• Current situation of indigenous women globally and actions within the framework of Beijing +25;
• Indigenous women’s participation in the preparation of the National level-review of implementation of the progress made and challenges encountered in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for CSW64 – advancements and challenges;
• The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the advancement of indigenous women’s rights;
• Effective participation of indigenous women in preparation for the high-level meeting on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (resolution 73/340)

CSW63 (2019) The 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 22 March 2019.

Priority theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Review theme: Women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development. Reference to indigenous women in Agreed conclusions of the CSW63: Arabic |Chinese |English |French |Russian |Spanish |German

Strengthen normative, legal and policy frameworks

(s) Promote and protect the rights of indigenous women and girls living in rural and remote areas by addressing the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and barriers they face, including violence, ensuring access to quality and inclusive education, health care, public services, economic resources, including land and natural resources, and women’s access to decent work, and promoting their meaningful participation in the economy and in decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, while respecting and protecting their traditional and ancestral knowledge, recognizing that indigenous women and girls living in rural and remote areas, regardless of age, often face violence and higher rates of poverty, limited access to healthcare services, information and communications technologies, infrastructure, financial services, education and employment, while also recognizing their cultural, social, economic, political and environmental contributions, including to climate change mitigation and adaptation;

Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls

25. The Commission notes the vital importance of birth registration for the realization of all human rights, including the right to social security, as well as access to social protection systems, and expresses concern at the low levels of birth registration among some indigenous women and girls, women and girls with disabilities, migrant women and girls and women and girls in rural areas, and expresses further concern that all persons without birth registration may be more vulnerable to marginalization, exclusion, discrimination, violence, statelessness, exploitation and abuse.

Side events during CSW63 Briefing for indigenous women’s organizations: Monday March 11, 1pm – 2:30 pm, Secretariat building, Room S-2727FC (Only participants with a UN ground pass will be able to enter into the UN premises.

Side event: “Overcoming barriers to care: Improving indigenous women’s access to social protection”

Date: Wednesday, 13 March 2019 Time: 4:45 pm – 6:pm Venue: Conference Room 9

• Concept Note

>> Flyer (English) & (Español) Note: All participants that are registered to CSW63 are welcome to participate. In a first-come, first-served basis.

CSW62 (2018) The 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the UNHQ in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018.

Priority theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls;

Review theme: Participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women (agreed conclusions of the forty-seventh session).

Reference to indigenous women in the Agreed conclusion of the CSW62: Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish

Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls

36. The Commission recognizes that Indigenous women and girls living in rural and remote areas, regardless of age, often face violence and higher rates of poverty, limited access to health care services, information and communication technologies (ICT), infrastructure, financial services, education and employment, while also recognizing their cultural, social, economic, political and environmental contributions, including to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

AD REF Implement economic and social policies for the empowerment of all rural women and girls

V. Invest in and strengthen efforts to empower rural women as important actors in achieving food security and improved nutrition,  ensuring that their right to food is met, including by supporting rural women’s participation in all areas of economic activity, including commercial and artisan fisheries and aquaculture, promoting decent working conditions and personal security, facilitating sustainable access to and use of critical rural infrastructure, land, water and natural resources, and local, regional and global markets, and valuing rural women’s, including indigenous women’s, traditional and ancestral knowledge and contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, for present and future generations;

AD REF aaa. Promote and protect the rights of Indigenous women and girls living in rural and remote areas by addressing the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and barriers they face, including violence, ensuring access to quality and inclusive education, health care, public services, economic resources, including land and natural resources, and women’s access to decent work, and promoting their meaningful participation in the economy and in decision-making processes at all levels and in all areas, while respecting and protecting their traditional and ancestral knowledge, and noting the importance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for indigenous women and girls.

AD REF Side events during CSW62

Briefing for indigenous women’s organizations: Monday, March 12, 1 pm – 2:30 pm, Secretariat building, Room S-1521 Side Events: SPFII are co-sponsoring two panel discussions –

• Thurs March 15, CR 12, 6:30-7:45 pm: Indigenous Women: Key Actors in Achieving the 2030 Agenda (Implementing SDG 5) Flier Concept Note

Co-sponsors: International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), Asia Indigenous Women’s Network, Tebtebba

• Tues March 20, CR A, 1:15-2:30 pm: Indigenous women rights: a vital tool to ensure gender equality and economic and social empowerment Concept Note

Co-sponsors: IWGIA, FIMI, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, IFAD

CSW61 (2017) The 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the UNHQ in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017.

Priority theme: Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work

Review theme: Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls (agreed conclusions of the fifty-eighth session)

Focus area: The empowerment of indigenous women

Chair’s Summary: Interactive dialogue on the focus area: Empowerment of Indigenous Women  (E/CN.6/2017/12): AR ZN EN RU FR ES

Report of CSW61 – Agreed Conclusions (E/CN.6/2017/L.5) AR ZN EN RU FR ES 

Meetings coverage – Commission focuses on Empowerment Indigenous Women, assessing millennium development goals, as session continues (WOM/2110)

Press conference on Empowering Indigenous Women and Girls Speakers include: Chandra Roy-Henriksen, Chief of the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UNDESA; Tarcila Rivera Zea, Director of the International Indigenous Women’s Forum, Quechua, Peru and Aminatu Samiratu Gambo, Indigenous Information Network Kenya, Mbororo, Cameroon.

Video – A historical year: Indigenous Women as a focus area at CSW 61.

A Panel discussion entitled “Challenges and Opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of Indigenous Women” in Conference Room 7, on Friday, 17 March 2017 from 6.20pm to 7.40pm. The event is organized by the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues/DSPD/DESA, in cooperation with Un Women. Participants registered to attend the CSW61 are welcome to attend the side event.

Details of the event here >>>

IANGWE invited also SPFII to provide information on Indigenous Peoples, to read the 2017 IANGWE annual meeting report click here >>>

 CSW59/Beijing+20 (2015)

Indigenous women’s participation at the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 9 to 20 March 2015

The main focus of the session will be on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including current challenges that affect its implementation and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission will undertake a review of progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 20 years after its adoption at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. The review (Beijing+20) will also include the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, the first five-year assessment conducted after the adoption of the Platform for Action, which highlighted further actions and initiatives.

The session addressed opportunities for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda.

On 13 March 2015, the Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (SPFII) and the International Forum on Indigenous Women (FIMI) organized the Panel discussion on“Beijing+20: The voices of Indigenous women” on the occasion of the Beijing +20 review to celebrate the achievements of indigenous women and girls, and to highlight persisting obstacles to the full realization of their rights. Since its first session, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has paid special attention to indigenous women, including by focusing its third session on the issue. Programme here EN | ES | FR

Press conference on indigenous women’s rights held on 9 March 2015 during CSW59. Click here for the video of the press conference

CSW60 (2016) The 60^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the UNHQ in New York from 14 to 24 March 2016.

Priority theme: Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development — Report of CSW60 – Agreed conclusions [Arabic |Chinese |English |French |Russian |Spanish |German ]

Review theme: The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls

As concrete result of the CSW60, is the adoption of a paragraph in reference to indigenous women in the Agreed conclusion:

“Strengthening normative, legal and policy frameworks 23. (v) Formulate and implement, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women and their organizations, policies and programmes designed to promote capacity-building and strengthen their leadership while recognizing the distinct and important role of indigenous women and girls in sustainable development, and prevent and eliminate discrimination and violence against indigenous women and girls, which has a negative impact on their human rights and fundamental freedoms, to which they are disproportionately vulnerable and which constitutes a major impediment to indigenous women’s full, equal and effective participation in society, the economy, and political decision-making;”

A Panel discussion entitled “Empowerment of Indigenous Women” was organized by the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI), the Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples (Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, New Zealand, Spain, Paraguay and Peru), UN Women and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues/DSPD/DESA. Please click here to download the Flyer and programme

Another panel discussion entitled “Indigenous Women and Girls: A Pathways to Equality”, at ECOSOC Chamber – Conference Building from  on 17 March 2016 from 1.15pm to 2.30pm. The event is organized by Canada, the Group of Friends of Indigenous Peoples, the United States of America and the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

SPFII briefed the 2016 IANGWE annual session on the preparation of SWAP and urged to include questions to the membership on the situation of indigenous peoples and indigenous women. To read the 2016 IANGWE report click here >>>

CSW57 (2013)

Indigenous women’s participation at the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 4 to 15 March 2013

A major success at the 57th CSW was the adoption of agreed conclusions on the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls on 15 March 2013. The result is due not only to the marvellous work of States but also to the persistence and advice of the more than 600 NGOs gathered at the United Nations, including Indigenous women from around the world. In this regard, “27. The Commission reaffirms that indigenous women often suffer multiple forms of discrimination and poverty which increase their vulnerability to all forms of violence; and stresses the need to seriously address violence against indigenous women and girls.”

Agreed conclusions CSW57: [ Arabic | Chinese | English | French | Russian | Spanish ] (E/CN.6/2013/L.5)

Other events with the participation of Indigenous women at CSW57:

About 30 indigenous women from different parts of the world participated at the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2013 in New York. Indigenous women participated very actively in a press conference organized by DPI/SPFII in cooperation with FIMI; side events including “Indigenous Women’s Watch Against Violence” organized by FIMI; ”Indigenous women building their autonomy for the eradication of violence and a life with dignity’’ organized by FIMI and co-sponsored by UNICEF & SPFII. Also, a reception in honour of Indigenous Women was hosted by the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations.

A Declaration of Indigenous Women of CSW57 was adopted which is available in Spanish and English.

CSW56 (2012)

Indigenous women’s participation at the 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 27 February to 9 March 2012

The Chairperson of the Permanent Forum presented the report of the international expert group meeting on “Combating violence against women and girls: article 22 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” on 8 March 2012.

A major success at the 56th CSW was the adoption of Resolution 56/4 Indigenous women: key actors in poverty and hunger eradication (page 22)  of document (E/CN.6/2012/16): AR ZN EN FR RU ES. This is a landmark achievement in terms of the recognition of the role of indigenous women and their traditional knowledge in the development process towards poverty eradication.

International Women’s Day 2012: Empowerment of Rural Women -End poverty and hunger (Official UN Observance for IWD 2012) Flyer

CSW49 / Beijing+15  (2005)

Indigenous women’s participation at the 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, 28 February to 11 March 2005

About 60 indigenous women from different parts of the world participated at the 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March in New York, where the review and evaluation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action took place. Indigenous women participated in two official panels and six side events, held two press conferences, attended a week-long seminar on international issues, adopted a declaration and proposed a resolution on indigenous women and girls that was finally adopted at the Commission on the Status of Women.

At CSW49 the Resolution 49/7. Indigenous women: beyond the then-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (page 23) of document (E/CN.6/2005/11: AR ZN EN FR RU ES) was adopted. It is the first resolution on indigenous women at the CSW, it highlights their rights and specific needs, including poverty and violence, and was considered a big achievement of the indigenous women’s work.