The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 9 to 20, 2026.
This year’s priority theme focuses on 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 the structural barriers that limit their rights and opportunities.
This year’s review theme focuses on women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.
Below is a list of the official and unofficial side events, sessions and activities being hosted by CanWaCH members and partners! Have an event to add? Please contact us at [email protected] to tell us about your event and attendance.
Click here to view the full list of side-events taking place during CSW70.
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| Eritrea’s commitment to empowering women and girls through legal reforms, awareness campaigns, and targeted initiatives Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building |
| Access to Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence using digital technology building on the UN Resolution spearheaded by Sierra Leone Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building View the concept note for this session here. |
| Action francophone pour les femmes et les filles : l’identité juridique, vecteur de justice Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building Cet événement de haut-niveau mettra en lumière les actions concrètes des pays francophones et l’engagement de l’OIF en en faveur de l’enregistrement des naissance, l’accès à l’identité et l’élimination des obstacles structurels qui entravent l’accès des femmes à la justice. Contact: [email protected] |
| Addressing Violence against Women and Financial Abuse in Jobs and Labor Markets Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| From Commitment to Collective Action: Building a Global Network for Social Justice, Inclusive Governance, and the End of Gender-Based Violence and Poverty for Women and Girls Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Safeguarding women’s bodily autonomy in a time of global backlash Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EST Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building Women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights are a cornerstone for gender equality and prosperous societies. However, around the world hard-won gains are being rolled back, access to essential services is shrinking, and discriminatory narratives are reshaping public debate. These are not abstract policy shifts – they determine if women and girls can live with autonomy, dignity, and opportunity, and have control over their own bodies and futures. This panel will examine how progressive policies on sexual and reproductive rights can contribute to the protection and safety of women and girls, strengthen inclusive societies, and advance the full enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and rights. Join policymakers and activists in the discussion on how to counter backlash, build resilient alliances, and advance a vision where every woman and girl can live safely and freely. Contact: [email protected] |
| G77 and Emerging Partners-2nd Ministerial Roundtable “Pathways for Accelerating Sustainable Financing for Gender Equality for All Women and Girls” Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building Building on the success of the first G77 Ministerial Roundtable held during CSW69, this second Roundtable will focus on advancing practical, system-level pathways to operationalize the FfD4 commitments through gender-responsive sustainable finance. |
| Women at the table: equal participation for peace, security and inclusive governance Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] |
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| Ensuring Girls’ Futures: A reception and photo exhibition alongside CSW70 Time: 6 to 8 p.m. EDT Location: To be shared once registration is approved Ipas and the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) are pleased to host a reception alongside the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). The evening will feature Ensuring Girls’ Futures, a compelling photo exhibition focused on girls’ rights and youth agency.Through powerful imagery and storytelling, the Ipas exhibition explores young people’s lived experiences navigating the interconnected challenges of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and school dropout. It illustrates how inequitable legal systems and harmful social norms restrict girls’ rights – and how communities, advocates, youth leaders and the girls themselves are creating pathways to justice, dignity and opportunity. Aligned with the CSW70 priority theme on ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, this event shines a light on how justice gaps manifest in everyday lives, and how collective, cross-sector action can help dismantle them. Contact: [email protected] Register here for the session! |
| Keep Abortion Online: Youth Defending Digital Access and Bodily Autonomy with Youth Coalition Time: 8:30 to 10 a.m. EDT Location: Salvation Army Auditorium |
| From Protection to Power: Advancing Justice for Adolescent Girls to End Child Marriage Time: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT Location: UNICEF House Contact: [email protected] |
| Townhall Meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General and Civil Society in the margins of the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women Time: 10 to 11 a.m. EDT Location: UNHQ The townhall meeting is the UN Secretary-General’s annual consultation with women’s and feminist civil society on the margins of the Commission on the Status of Women. The townhall will be an in-person event and will be webcast on UN WebTV. UN Women’s Executive Director, Sima Bahous, will moderate the event. The townhall is open to representatives of ECOSOC-accredited NGOs. |
| From Harm to Justice: Ending Violence Against Women in the Public Sphere Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building |
| Advancing Women’s Economic Rights in Law and Practice Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building While there have been great strides, discriminatory laws continue to persist and hinder women’s full enjoyment of her economic rights. Evidence consistently points to serious gaps in ensuring legal protection for women and girls across various economic spheres – including women’s access to property, land, employment, finance and credit, and business opportunities. Social inequalities, lack of access to resources and opportunities, and the absence of women’s voices in many areas of public and political life continue to exacerbate these gender inequalities. Furthermore, unresponsive justice systems impede women from claiming justice where their rights are violated. Addressing legal constraints to women’s employment, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion can drive countries’ economic growth, contributing to overall development and stability, and effectively addressing the broader security and displacement challenges. This event will showcase challenges and successful examples of rule of law interventions in achieving secure women’s economic rights. |
| Achieving Gender Equality in Nationality Laws Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
| Don’t Stop Them Now: Education Without Barriers Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected], [email protected] All CSW70 delegates are invited to attend. Register here for the session! |
| Breaking Barriers: Scaling Menstrual Health Standards for the Global Workforce Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT Location: TBD Contact: [email protected] |
| Gender equality laws – an accelerator for equal participation and gender-responsive governance Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building View the concept note for this session here. |
| Advancing Justice for Women Farmers, celebrating the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 offers a unique global platform to elevate women farmers’ voices, recognize their multiple roles, and mobilize political commitment, partnerships, and investments in support of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in agrifood systems. Anchored in the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026, the side event will explore how inclusive legal frameworks, accountable institutions, and gender-transformative approaches can advance women farmers’ access to justice and the realization of their right to food, land and decent employment while strengthening their economic empowerment, leadership, and access to productive resources, services, and markets, contributing to more equitable, resilient, and prosperous agrifood systems. Contact: [email protected] View the concept note for this session here. |
| Under Attack: Gendered Consequences for Health in Conflicts Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building This side event, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, in partnership with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN and the Permanent Mission of Panama to the UN, will focus on the gendered health consequences of conflicts and seeks to explore the interlinkages between conflict and access to justice and health, with particular attention to mental health and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The aim is to identify practical approaches to support human rights in conflict-affected settings, learning from experiences and best practices from a variety of contexts. Drawing from global lessons learnt from different conflict-affected areas, including insights of the Ukrainian Masha Foundation, the recipient of Finland’s International Gender Equality Prize 2025, the event will give examples on how strengthening psychological and psychosocial support and SRHR services are critical to women and girls suffering from the consequences of armed conflicts and conflict-related sexual violence. Furthermore, the event will discuss how access to justice should be anchored in the critical service continuum, highlighting the role of women and girls as active agents in shaping responses, supporting resilience and contributing to recovery. View the concept note for this session here. |
| Bridging systemic gaps: Advancing justice for all women and girls Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building |
| Automating Justice: Can Artificial Intelligence Increase Women’s and Girls’ Access to Justice? Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
| Future of Justice: Technological Pathways for Women’s Access Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building |
| Beyond Peace, Security and Justice: Why Gender Transformative Recovery Matters? Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
| Resilient by Nature: Rural Women’s Land Rights and Access to Natural Resources as a Pathway to Economic, Social and Climate Resilience Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building The United Nations has declared 2026 the International Year of the Woman Farmer (IYWF), a milestone moment to recognise, celebrate, and invest in rural women for the central roles they play in agrifood systems – as critical drivers of food and nutrition security, economic prosperity, community resilience, and wellbeing. In parallel, CSW70 is focused on the priority theme, “ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.” IFAD, the Gates Foundation, BMZ, and several Member States – namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and India – have been collaborating through the Gender Transformative Mechanisms in Climate Adaptation (GTM) to overcome barriers that limit women’s access to natural resources, strengthen women’s agency, and support communities and institutions to expand women’s substantive rights to land, water, and other natural resources. This event will provide a platform to showcase the experiences, lessons learned, and emerging good practices of GTM and other partner organizations in strengthening women’s access to land, water, and natural resources as a foundation for economic empowerment, climate change adaptation and resilience. The event will facilitate knowledge exchange among practitioners, policymakers, and development partners, with a focus on translating learning into actionable strategies for climate-resilient and gender-responsive programming. Contact: [email protected] |
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| CSW 70 WSIS Side Event: Empowering Woman and Girl in the Digital Age – Action Toward WSIS 2035 Time: 10 to 11 a.m. EDT Location: Virtual Registration for on-site participation here. More details on the session can be found here. |
| Preventing and Combating All Forms of Cyber Violence Against Girls Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
| Pathways to Justice for Women and Girls: Transforming Systems to Work for Gender Equality in Fragile Contexts Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building |
| IPU – UN Women Parliamentary Meeting : The role of parliaments in achieving parity in decision-making and ensuring gender-responsive access to justice for women and girls (part 1) Time: 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] Interpretation will be available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. |
| Access to Justice and Care Work: Advancing Care as a Human Right, from Latin America to a Global Movement Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Together, We Can End Child Marriage Time: TBD Location: Ford Foundation Contact: [email protected] |
| Removing Structural Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building Women continue to face systemic barriers to full economic participation, including discriminatory laws, restrictive policies, unequal access to financial services, and under‑representation in decision‑making. To address these barriers, Canada will convene a conversation featuring diverse leaders and policymakers to provide insight on how countries can foster sustainable livelihoods for all women, especially women most impacted by economic inequality and insecurity. By highlighting policy innovations and scalable solutions, this timely discussion seeks to advance the economic empowerment of all women by responding to their unique needs and circumstances. To this end, Canada’s event will also highlight the unique experiences and perspectives of women with disabilities. |
| CSW Briefing for NGOs Time: 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 4, General Assembly Building |
| Investing in Women’s Health Is Everyone’s Business: A Cross-Sector Call to Action Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m. EDT Location: UNFPA Headquarters Contact: [email protected] RSVP required |
| Harnessing Digital and Intelligent Tech for Women’s Rights Protection Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Advancing Gender-Responsive Land Governance and Resource Rights: Harnessing Digital Transitions Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] |
| IPU – UN Women Parliamentary Meeting : The role of parliaments in achieving parity in decision-making and ensuring gender-responsive access to justice for women and girls (part 2) Time: 3 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] Interpretation will be available in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. |
| Women Leaders Paving the Way: Access to Justice for All Women and Girls Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m. EDT Location: Scandinavia House, New York City, close to United Nations Headquarters This CSW70 side event, convened by the UN Women Leaders Network and held in partnership with the Government of Iceland (TBC) and UN Foundation, will gather a panel of emerging and established women leaders across sectors to examine access to justice through a women’s leadership lens and propose concrete solutions to advance justice for all women and girls. The panel will highlight that meaningful access to justice depends on inclusive governance, accountable leadership, feminist policymaking, and cross-sectoral collaboration. |
| INTERNATIONAL HELVI SIPILÄ SEMINAR 2026 AT CSW: ADVANCING WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP Time: 4 to 5:30 p.m. EDT Location: Ukrainian Institute in America, 2 E 79th Street, New York, NY 10075 Register here! Helvi Sipilä (1915-2009) was one of Finland’s first female lawyers and the first woman to run for president of the nation. She made her most significant career as Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations – as the first woman in the world. The theme of CSW70 is at the core of Helvi Sipilä’s legacy – and is critical to the empowerment of women around the world. This year, the Helvi Sipilä seminar will be organized for the 20th time, addressing the growing disparity in gender equality which is happening world-wide at a worrying rate. It is also reflected in the decline in women’s leadership positions globally. The seminar will promote full and effective participation of women in public life and decision-making and highlight the role of women as leaders in times of instability and uncertainty. The seminar will also highlight the significance of global political participation among young women, minorities, and other women in vulnerable positions. Furthermore, it will seek to identify and promote effective measures to address obstacles to women’s political engagement, including hate speech and harassment. The event will also ask whether the time has come to elect a woman as the next UN Secretary-General. This year, the seminar is organized in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute in America. |
| Le rôle des parlementaires dans la mise en œuvre de l’Agenda « Femmes, paix et sécurité » et de l’élaboration des plans d’actions nationaux Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] ; [email protected] |
| Harnessing the CEDAW Convention as a Roadmap to Eliminate Discriminatory Laws, Policies, Practices and Other Structural Barriers in International Representation Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building |
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| Judicial Literacy Through Education: Advancing Gender Equality and Access to Justice Time: 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. EDT Location: Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations, One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, 885 Second Avenue, 48th Floor, New York |
| [Virtual] Advancing Digital Pathways for Access to Justice: Strengthening Protection and Empowerment of Women, Girls, Boys, and Persons with Disabilities in Malawi Time: 10 to 11:30 a.m. EDT Location: Zoom |
| High-level Meeting of the Group of Friends for Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls – “Five Years On: Securing Achievements and Ensuring Durable Impact” Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, the Group of Friends for Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls will convene on the ministerial level on the margins of CSW70 to take stock of progress and galvanise renewed action to prevent and end all forms of violence against women and girls. In the context of current acute challenges, such as conflicts and humanitarian emergencies, the pushback on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, resource constraints and shrinking civic space, as well as new forms of violence facilitated by technology, the Group of Friends provides a key platform to discuss successful strategies, policies and best practices. The high-level event will bring together Member State champions, the UN system, civil society and other stakeholders to showcase how comprehensive legislative and policy frameworks, multi-sectoral coordination, long-term funding and institutionalised multi-stakeholder partnerships can bring tangible and transformative change to the lives of women and girls. Background: the Group of Friends was initiated in 2020, in response to the alarming levels in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then has grown into a network of more than a hundred Member States, observers, international and regional partners, as well as civil society organisations from all regions. The Group serves as a platform for coordinating actions, sharing expertise and promoting best practices, and is chaired by the European Union. Access to the event is open for UN grounds pass holders. Contact: [email protected] |
| Demographic Resilience and Access to Justice: Securing Rights and Choices in a Changing World Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 6, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| A panel with Women’s Link Worldwide on reproductive justice and digital rights Time: 12-1:30 p.m. EDT Location: Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice |
| The State of Women Human Rights Defenders 2026: Monitoring threats and harassments globally – roundtable on strategies to uphold and implement international gender equality frameworks Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN, 885 Second Avenue, 46th Fl. |
| From Words to Change: How the UN System Champions Women’s Participation in Public Life Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
| Ensuring Rural Women’s Decision-Making Opportunities in Environmental Governance Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building |
| From Youth Priorities to Local Action: Advancing Young Women’s Access to Justice in Agrifood Systems Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building Contact: Caoimhe Landy |
| Women’s political participation at the local national, and global level Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Safe, Educated, and Empowered: A Creative and Bold Partnership for Girls in Pakistan Time: 4:30 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: TBD Contact: [email protected] |
| Unlocking HER Potential: Gender equality through equitable access to assistive technology Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building This event will officially launch the ATscale and UN Women joint policy brief, Unlocking HER potential: Gender equality through equitable access to assistive technology, aimed at accelerating progress towards gender equality and meaningful participation of women and girls in all aspects of life, in alignment with the CSW70 Review Theme. The session will: Share the key messages and evidence from the policy brief, highlighting how assistive technology is a fundamental enabler of human rights and a prerequisite for women’s participation, leadership, and decision-making across public, economic, and digital life. Highlight how systemic barriers and persistent gaps in access to assistive technology reflect structural discrimination and gender inequalities in public systems, affecting all women and girls and disproportionately excluding women and girls who face intersecting forms of discrimination. Mobilize political commitments for key policy recommendations to integrate gender-responsive provision of assistive technology into national legal frameworks, social protection, and humanitarian responses, in line with the Beijing Platform for Action, the CRPD, and the 2030 Agenda. Promote the leadership, agency, and lived experiences of women and girls in the governance, design, and service delivery of assistive technology to ensure effective and equitable solutions, recognizing women and girls as agents of change. Contact: [email protected] |
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| WYDE Women’s Leadership : Intergenerational engagement for advancing young women’s leadership Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] View the concept note for this session here. |
| Ensuring Access to Justice for All Women and Girls: Eliminating Discrimination and Advancing Gender Equality in HIV Responses Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building |
| WHEN FUNDING RETREATS, RIGHTS RECEDE: THE GENDERED COST OF UNDER-INVESTING IN HIV: Reclaiming CSW Resolution 68/1 through sustaining investments in women, girls and HIV remains central to achieving the equality and justice agenda. Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] |
| From Harm to Healing: Engaging Men and Boys in Justice, Prevention and Rehabilitation – Lessons from Papua New Guinea Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| CSW70 side event on Intergenerational Approach to Access to Justice Across Life Cycle Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 2, Conference Building |
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| Women’s Leadership in the Digital Era: Advancing Access to Justice in Online Political Spaces Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 11, General Assembly Building |
| Strategic Responses to Backlash Against Gender Justice and Women’s Access to Justice Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 11, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Healthy, Dignified, and Prosperous: Older women thriving through better laws, policies and practices Time: 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Care and Climate: How Care Systems Shape Access to Justice in a Just Transition Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building Contact: [email protected] |
| Advancing Equality in Law and Practice to Eliminate Discrimination Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building |
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| Achieving Access to Justice for All: Women with Disabilities Leading Inclusive and Equitable GBV prevention and protection Policy, Law, and Systems Reforms Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building |
| Women´s Empowerment: Men as Allies for Equality Time: 11:30 a.m. to 12: 45 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 11, General Assembly Building |
| CSW Briefing for NGOs Time: 1:30 to 2:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 4, General Assembly Building |
| Sharing Sierra Leone`s Experience in the Implementation of Spotlight Initiative to end Violence Against Women and Girls Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building |
| Social Protection as a Pathway to Justice and Equality for Women and Girls Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room D, Conference Building Contact: [email protected] |
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| Healthy, Dignified, and Prosperous: Older women thriving through better laws, policies and practices Time: 10 to 11:15 a.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 9, Conference Building Beyond headlines about a global aging population lies a more nuanced truth: old age has a woman’s face. Today, women outlive men in all the world’s developed and developing regions. They also age differently than men, partly due to a lifetime of gender inequality—unequal access to pensions through less formal labor market engagement, inadequate sexual and reproductive health care, limited land rights, structural barriers in access to higher education and more. Older women face different challenges than younger women, but their needs and voices are often missing from conversations about gender equality. Objectives: Explore how older women contribute significantly to their families, communities, and countries, and why helping them stay socially and economically active and healthy is everybody’s gain. Explain how policymakers can help ensure women age in healthy, dignified, and prosperous conditions, focusing on eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers. This event will be co-hosted by AARP and the World Bank Group Human Capital Project. Additional speakers will join from the World Bank Women Business and the Law team, AARP, UN Women, and UNFPA (TBC). Contact: [email protected] |
| The Women Innovation Studio Time: 3 to 4:15 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room E, General Assembly Building In 2015, the global community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a target year of 2030. However, we have stalled or gone into reverse on some 37 percent of the global goals. 1 There is an urgent need to get the goals back on track or we risk irreparable harm to global progress. Supporting this urgent agenda, young women are emerging as powerful drivers of innovation and solutions to global challenges. Yet, despite their motivation and impact potential, the vast majority of female‑founded ventures struggle to survive and scale. Women are still markedly under-represented in global innovation systems: in 2023, only about 17.7 % of inventors named in international patent applications were women, 2 and gender parity in such innovation outputs is unlikely to be reached before the 2060s based on current trends. At the same time, only around one in four businesses worldwide is owned by a woman, and women make up roughly 38 % of sole proprietors, 3 reflecting persistent gaps in both innovation participation and entrepreneurial support across economies. These disparities point to deep‑seated structural barriers that limit how female innovators contribute to economic and SDG‑driven solutions. Accordingly, UNESCO’s Division of Science Policy and Basic Sciences, in collaboration with the Global CSR Foundation, is convening stakeholders to address the critical gaps in female-led innovation and entrepreneurship worldwide. To highlight this initiative, an in-person side-event entitled “Igniting Women’s Innovation: Leading the Future” will bring together representatives from governments, UN agencies, academia, civil society, and the private sector, alongside young women innovators and entrepreneurs. The event will amplify the voices of women and girls driving innovation and emphasize the urgent need for more structured support systems, mentorship, and funding opportunities for female-led ventures. It will also serve as the official platform to announce the partnership between UNESCO and the Global CSR Foundation, launching a Women’s Innovation Studio Fellowship Programme designed to empower, mentor, and connect emerging female leaders in science, technology, and entrepreneurship. The objective of the side-event is to showcase successful practices, facilitate dialogue, and foster collaboration towards actionable solutions that strengthen female participation in innovation ecosystems globally. Contact: Nicole Webley; [email protected] |
| Seeds of Justice: Agriculture, Legal Equity, and the Protection of Women and Girls Time: 4:45 to 6 p.m. EDT Location: Conference Room 8, General Assembly Building |
