FAO at CSW68

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York. 

This year, the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) will take place from 11 to 22 March 2024, under the 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’. The review theme for the session will focus on social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, as per the agreed conclusions of the sixty-third session.

FAO at CSW68

Gender equality is essential for attaining food security and nutrition, and for ensuring that everyone has stable access to enough high-quality food to lead an active and healthy life. FAO’s report ‘The status of women in agrifood systems’ shows that agrifood systems are a major employer of women, yet women’s roles tend to be marginalized and their working conditions are likely to be worse than men’s. In addition, the report finds that benefits from projects that empower women are higher than those that just mainstream gender. If half of small-scale producers benefited from development interventions that focused on empowering women, it would significantly raise the incomes of an additional 58 million people and increase the resilience of an additional 235 million people. FAO is working with partners to ensure that financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment is central to efforts for creating inclusive, sustainable agrifood systems.

Read more

• FAO’s work on gender and rural women’s economic empowerment here. 
• FAO’s work in support of SDG 5 (Gender Equality) here.

Side events

13 March 2024 | 9:00-10:30 (New York) | 14:00-15:30 (Rome) | virtual

Alternative Approaches to Collateral to Increase Rural Women’s Access to Finance, organized by FAO and AFRACA

FAO speakers include: Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division

This virtual side event will explore the potential of alternative approaches for risk sharing and management to help overcome constraints that rural women face in accessing finance owing to lack of conventional collateral.

Visit the CSW68 website | Registration link | Flyer

 

13 March 2024 | 18:30-19:45 (New York) | in person

Launch of the Global Commitment to Enhance Gender Equality in Agrifood Systems through Financing and Partnerships, organized by FAO

FAO speakers include: Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division; Mr. Guangzhou Qu, Director, FAO Liaison Office in New York

This invitation-only event will launch a process to bring together key stakeholders to commit investments and partnerships for increased gender equality and women’s empowerment in agrifood systems.

Flyer

 

15 March 2024 | 15.00-16.15 (New York) | in person (Conference Room E)

Investing in Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment to Mitigate/Prevent Food Crises and Transform Agrifood Systems, organized by FAO and African Development Bank

FAO speakers: Lauren Phillips, Deputy Director, Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division; Ms. Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer

This event will present an opportunity to exchange knowledge on innovative financing mechanisms that can drive the transformation of agrifood systems.

Visit the CSW68 website | Flyer

 

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Other events with FAO participation:

 

13 March 2024 | 11:30-12:45 (New York) | in person (Conference Room C)

Empowering Women Through Trade: Breaking Barriers and Transforming Subsistence into Value Chain Participation, organized by UNCTAD

FAO speaker: Ms. Clara Park, Senior Gender Officer

The side event will explore the bottlenecks and opportunities that determine women’s capacity to benefit from trade and will propose solutions and strategic interventions to address the many barriers that stand in the way of women’s active participation in value chains.

Visit the CSW68 website

 

14 March 2024 | 10:00-11:15 (New York) | in person (Conference Room 6)

Advocating for mountain women and girls' education globally through student engaged learning, organized by the Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations

FAO speaker: Ms. RosaLaura Romeo, Coordinator and Officer, Mountain Partnership Secretariat

Visit the Mountain Partnership website | RSVP here

 

 

15 March 2024 | 13:15-14:30 (New York) | in person (Conference Room 12)

Exploring the Nexus of Gender-Responsive Policies and Equitable Agrifood Systems, organized by AWARD and the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda

FAO speaker: Ms. Nomathemba Mhlanga, Agribusiness Officer

Visit the CSW68 website