Religions and Women’s Rights: Principled Engagement and Mutual Accountability

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women. Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress in gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

Religions for Peace, the Office of Genocide Prevention and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, and the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations will hold a high-level dialogue between religious leaders and a number of senior-most United Nations representatives working on achieving gender equality and ending violence against women and girls at the official joint side event of the 66th Session of CSW on Wednesday, 16 March, from 8:30-11:30AM EST.

Achieving gender equality and ending violence against women are essential to the prevention of atrocity crimes and requires the engagement of the whole of society. While many religious institutions and faith-based organizations and leaders play an active role on these issues, there is further room to engage them more meaningfully; leverage their roles more strongly on the goal to end gender-based violence (GBV) and achieve gender equality; and give visibility to the work they have done where it has made an impact.  The current global climate of push-back against gender equality – justified at times in the name of religious, social or cultural norms – as well as the many ways in which COVID has exacerbated gender inequality and GBV adds a particular urgency to this engagement with faith-based organizations.

For those attending in person the event will take place at the Church Center of the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017

Click here to register.

View the Agenda.