Justice for Women and Girls: An Assessment of the 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women

This year, at the UN’s largest annual gathering on women’s rights, the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), world leaders, academics, and policymakers convened to address the priority theme: “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” The meetings drew on the UN secretary-general’s report which revealed that no country has yet realized full legal equality between women and men. During the session, delegates negotiated how to address persistent issues facing women and girls: discriminatory legal frameworks and practices, systemic inequalities, and socioeconomic barriers to accessing justice. The final outcomes document, the Agreed Conclusions, which is traditionally adopted by consensus, was instead adopted by the Commission and by the Member States by a recorded vote of thirty-seven to one.

CSW70 Agreed Conclusions 

The Agreed Conclusions from CSW70 focused on enhancing legal access for women and girls globally. An important focus is for member states to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and to commit to investigate, prosecute, and punish all forms of exploitation and violence against women and girls, including online gender-based violence. Emerging technologies have made it easier for gendered violence to proliferate in digital spaces, with nonconsensual intimate images and deepfakes disproportionately target women. In response to the growing harm online and offline, the Conclusions urge governments to place accountability for violations at the forefront of policy making to address new challenges, end impunity, and ensure that victims and survivors have full access to equitable remedies and reparations. 

A central priority is the comprehensive review and amendment of national laws to identify and repeal provisions that discriminate against women and girls. The Conclusions highlight that this specifically targets laws inconsistent with international human rights, such as those governing family relations, property rights, and financial credit, and those that allow for harmful practices, such as child marriage and female genital mutilation. Vital to this is the scaling up of resource allocation and funding for the justice sector through gender-responsive budgeting and international cooperation, particularly for survivor-centered services such as shelters and low-cost legal aid.  

The Commission emphasizes the need to strengthen partnerships with civil society organizations in designing justice strategies to deliver protection services and tackle structural barriers facing women and girls. This includes closing the gender digital divide and modernizing justice delivery so that all women and girls have access to legal services, as well as expanding digital literacy and capacity-building opportunities. Women and girls’ meaningful participation in society, economic empowerment, and the importance of the women, peace, and security agenda were also consequential points in the Agreed Conclusions. 

U.S. Government Interventions Rejected 

The Agreed Conclusions underwent tense negotiations at the CSW70. While thirty-seven countries voted in favor of adoption and six abstained, the United States was notably the only vote against. Ideological conflicts regarding the definition of gender and the protection of existing rights came to a head, with the United States submitting eight amendments to the final round of negotiations on the Conclusions, all of which were rejected by the other delegates. A subsequent flashpoint occurred when the United States attempted to introduce a resolution that sought to define the term “gender” across the United Nations as “referring to men and women.” A vote on that resolution was blocked by a motion of no action tabled by Belgium on behalf of the European Union.  

This contention marked the first time in the seventy-year history of the CSW that the Agreed Conclusions were put to a vote rather than adopted by consensus. The U.S. objections included not only language on gender but also language related to intersectionality and diversity, equity, and inclusion. The United States also raised concerns over the recommendation for Member States to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for women and girls, seeing this as “implying abortion rights.” Despite these dissents, the ultimate approval of the CSW70 Agreed Conclusions signifies not only a renewed commitment to gender equality and legal protections for women and girls, but a widely held dedication by other Member States to multilateralism and the UN system.

Proposed UN Women and UNFPA Merger 

The annual CSW gathering occurred against the backdrop of a larger financial and organizational debate over the best way for the United Nations to continue to promote equal rights for women and gender equality. Specifically, the United Nations is discussing a potential merger between UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)—the two principal UN agencies tasked with promoting gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, respectively. In January, the White House issued an executive order declaring its withdrawal from these and other UN bodies. The United States has since halted funding to both organizations and has only paid about $160 million of the nearly $4 billion it owes in annual mandatory dues to the United Nations.  

In response to the overall funding crisis facing the United Nations, the secretary-general is conducting a strategic merger assessment as part of the UN80 Initiative to evaluate whether a merger of UN Women and UNFPA would achieve greater efficiency, mandate implementation, and structural and programmatic alignment within the UN system. Advocates say the merger would create a unified platform, linking norms and policy capacity-building with greater progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, especially at the intersection of health and gender equality. At a Council on Foreign Relations meeting, UN Women’s Sarah Hendriks acknowledged that the merger assessment is occurring “in a context of increasing political polarization, increasing organized and well-funded pushback on gender equality and the regression of women’s rights that increasingly is manifested in intergovernmental negotiations and agreements.”  

Proponents of the merger argue that this would promote integrated programming, reduce administrative duplication, and enhance coordination in humanitarian and crisis settings. However, a baseline analysis of the strategic merger assessment released in March found limited duplication and high complementarity between UN Women and UNFPA. It stated that the two agencies play distinct but mutually reinforcing roles in advancing gender equality, women’s rights, and sexual and reproductive health. Various groups, including the U.S. Congress Democratic Women’s Caucus, have expressed concern over potential mandate dilution and political backlash to gender equality at a time when there is a significant rollback on the rights of women and girls globally.

Looking Forward  

A decision on the merger would require a General Assembly resolution to be adopted by the member states. In June, the secretary-general will submit a recommendation for or against the merger based on the finalized merger assessment, which will be followed by negotiations between the member states to draft a resolution on UN80. The coming months will see increased debate over the best approach to advance gender equality and legal protections for women and girls amid a turbulent and divisive international scene.

Emma Ulvin is the intern for the Women and Foreign Policy Program.