CSW 49

Date: 
Monday, February 28, 2005

The forty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 28 February to 11 March 2005. The session addressed two themes:

  • Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, and
  • Current challenges and forward-looking strategies for the advancement and empowerment of women and girls

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Highlight: 

At CSW 49 (2005) WILPF worked with other non-governmental organizations, under the umbrella of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women's International Planning Group, to advocate for and shape NGO participation pre-Review, to impact UN and government decisions on the format of  the Commission/Review, and to facilitate NGO participation during the review.  

 

Analysis: 

The 49th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women held the ten-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly from 28 February to 11 March 2005.

In the Political Declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its twenty-third special session in June 2000, Member States agreed to "assess regularly further implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with a view to bringing together all parties involved in 2005 to assess progress and consider new initiatives, as appropriate, ten years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action".

A review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000), was mandated in the multi-year programme of work of the Commission on the Status of Women for its forty-ninth session in March 2005. The Commission considered two themes:

  • "Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly"; and
  • "Current challenges and forward-looking strategies for the advancement and empowerment of women and girls"

The review and appraisal by the Commission focused on implementation at national level and identify achievements, gaps and challenges and provided an indication of areas where actions and initiatives, within the framework of the Platform for Action and the outcome of the special session (Beijing+5), are most urgent to further implementation.