The UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Established in 1946, it has become instrumental in promoting women’s rights and documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world.
What previous delegates said:
“It’s difficult to say a favourite thing. I enjoyed the whole package and the input I could have”
“It felt great to feel like you made a difference, not just now but in the future too”
“I liked that I was able to “get a seat at the table” which normally feels very hard”
“I really enjoyed the UN Women UK platform I had access to as a delegate where we could meet other delegates and share thoughts and links to events”
“The range of expertise and choice in parallel events was amazing. I felt so heard and inspired by all the speakers”
What is CSW?
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is an annual meeting of Member States at the United Nations, for the sole purpose of working on gender equality and women’s rights.
It consists of two weeks of meetings of high-level government ministers, representatives from NGOs and UN delegates, as well as hundreds of events set up by grassroots organisations and activists to discuss and make progress on specific issues, from child marriage to equal pay. There is a central theme each year, but the events running alongside the Member State meetings cover a huge range of topics and areas of passion.
Progress and gaps are discussed, and at the end of the two weeks a policy document is produced containing specific recommendations for the future of women’s and girls’ place in society. Member States agree on and sign up to this document together, and create action plans to put the recommendations into effect.
UN Women UK usually has a limited delegation of a few people who go to the UN headquarters in person to participate in the event. For the first time in 2021, we expanded this to create a crew of women, girls and allies across the UK with the exciting opportunity to be an official delegate to CSW, joining from your own computer or phone at home.
This year we’re doing this again which means you can witness high-level negotiations, as well as attending and participating in the full choice of over 400 side events on different topics alongside a community of over 1,000 other gender equality supporters in the private UN Women UK community.
To apply, you’ll need to complete a simple application form asking you to tell us a couple of very quick lines about why you want to join and where your passion for gender equality comes from, so that we can assess applications.
Applications close on 19th February, and we’ll let you know via email whether your application to be a delegate to CSW has been successful.
Apply to join the delegation
Applications to join us at this year’s CSW are now open! Click the button below to apply.