CSW Events

Events at the CSW55

There are various kinds of meetings that delegates to the Commission on the Status of Women can attend.

Briefings
Briefings may be offered by the NGO CSW Committee,the Canadian Government Delegation, delegations such as the International Trade Unions, the International Federation of University Women and others.

The briefings can offer information, serve as planning sessions for those presenting events, provide discussion time on the Agreed Conclusions or feature speakers.

United Nations and Government High-Level Events
A few of the High-Level events are open to the delegates in very limited numbers. The Opening Session of the UN and the Round Tables and General Discussions where countries present 5-minute reports on their progress or lack thereof on the Priority Theme, are all "observer status only" for NGOs.

Many high-level UN Meetings are closed to CSW NGO delegates as are the negotiations by the governments on the Priority Theme.

Round table events sponsored by UN bodies or governments such as UNESCO or Missions such as Bangladesh are by prior invitation only.

Reconstruction at the UN has closed the large Conference Rooms and moved events to the smaller rooms in the North Lawn Building. Secondary security passes to that Building are limited to one or two per organization with further restrictions that attempt to balance the number of passes given to each UN Region. Sometimes no tickets are available.

Parallel Events
A wide variety of events running parallel to the high-level meeting are offered at off-site locations including the Church Centre of the UN and the Salvation Army. These events are offered on the Priority Theme, the Review Theme and the Emerging Theme. They offer delegates an opportunity for questions, interactions and comments.

Caucus Meetings
These meetings deal with a topic such as GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture Reform) or Climate Change, and usually are held on two or three occasions over the two week CSW session.

Special Events
An optional NGO Consultation Day is held for a fee for the orientation of delegates before the Opening CSW Session. Various other events are offered either free with prior registration (e.g. the UN Women: Way Forward all-day Saturday session) or for a pre-paid amount (e.g.  a special luncheon).

This year each accredited organization received one invitation to the Launch of UN Women, with prior RSVP required.