Background to the NGO CSW Forum
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is an official Commission of the United Nations (UN) that focuses on the rights and empowerment of women and gender equality. It’s an intergovernmental body consisting of 45 Member State governments of the UN. As the Secretariat of the CSW, UN Women supports all aspects of the Commission’s work. Each year, the annual CSW session, which takes place for two weeks in March in New York, focuses on a priority theme related to gender equality. At the end of the two weeks, an outcome document is produced on the theme.
The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) CSW Forum is organized by and for global civil society and NGOs to connect them with the UN CSW process. The NGO CSW Forum runs parallel to and complements the UN CSW and is a separate process with separate organizers. The NGO CSW is held both onsite in New York and online by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)/NGOs. The NGO CSW Forum informs, engages, and inspires grassroots efforts and gender equality advocacy around the world. The recommendations prepared through the NGO CSW Forum are included in the main CSW outcome document.
In 2025, the NGO CSW69 Forum will be on the CSW theme, “Beijing Platform Review”. The main focus of the 69th 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.
Parallel event at the NGO CSW69 Forum 2025
In March 2025, ICA-AP and its Committee on Women will organize a virtual parallel event at the NGO CSW69 Forum on the topic, “Policy Actions Matter: Cooperatives in Asia-Pacific and Their Initiatives to Foster SDG 5 (Gender Equality)” under the theme “Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women’.
The event will showcase good case practices from the cooperative sector in the Asia and Pacific region, highlighting gender-based policies and institutional mechanisms that have been put in place to advance women’s empowerment in the cooperative sector. The event will showcase the initiatives taken by cooperatives in different countries to foster SDG 5 and the steps that are being taken to make these initiatives successful.
2025 is a milestone year for the cooperative sector as we celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives. Through this event, we aim to promote good practices on SDG 5 in the cooperative sector in the Asia-Pacific region, emphasizing the role of inclusive policies and mechanisms for the promotion and realisation of gender equality and equity in cooperatives.
The event will be held on Zoom on March 19, 2025 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm IST. (Convert to your local time here).
In the past, ICA-AP and its Committee on Women have organized two virtual parallel side events at the NGO CSW Forums in 2022 and 2024. Additionally, Office Bearers of the Committee have participated in onsite side events of the UN CSW Forums in New York in 2015 and 2019.
