The Commission on the Status of Women is a global policy-making body within the United Nations Economic and Social Council dedicated to gender equality and advancement of women.

UN member states meet annually to discuss and evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards, and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and women's empowerment worldwide. The principal output is the agreed conclusions on priority themes set for each year.

The CSW makes recommendations in the form of negotiated Agreed Conclusions on the priority themes, which are issued annually. The Conclusions contain an analysis of the priority theme and a set of concrete recommendations for governments, intergovernmental bodies, other institutions, civil society actors, and other relevant stakeholders.

Sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women

The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) was from 10 to 21 March 2025 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The main focus of CSW69 was 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.

Read New Zealand's latest progress report on implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (submitted to the United Nations in June 2024).

Representatives for New Zealand included:

  • Kellie Coombes, Secretary for Women and Chief Executive of the Ministry for Women
  • Her Excellency Ms. Carolyn Schwalger, New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York
  • Erin Roxburgh, non-government organisation (NGO) delegate.
A group of women stand together and smile for a photo

Members of the New Zealand Government delegation with representatives from the New Zealand’s NGOs in attendance at CSW69 at an event at the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the UN (New York) to celebrate and connect, 14 March 2025.

CSW69 Statements:

Sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women

The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) was held from 11 to 22 March 2024 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

There are two themes for CSW68:

  • Priority theme: Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.
  • Review theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls (agreed conclusions of the sixty-third session).

Read the Agreed Conclusions for CSW68 on the UN Women website.

Representatives for New Zealand include:

  • Kellie Coombes, Secretary for Women and Chief Executive of the Ministry for Women
  • Her Excellency Ms. Carolyn Schwalger, New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York
  • Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, Secretary for Pacific Peoples and Chief Executive of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples
  • Aleisha Amohia, non-government organisation (NGO) delegate.
Five women stand together inside a wooden building (UN HQ, New York). Women are dressed in bright clothes and smiling.

Members of New Zealand’s CSW68 delegation. L-R: Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, Kellie Coombes, Ministry for Women and Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade officials, Aleisha Amohia (NGO delegate). 

CSW68 Statements:

CSW National Statements

You can find links to New Zealand’s recent CSW national statements below: 

Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CSW64 (2020) was pared back. There was no General Discussion session, and no member states delivered national statements.