On March 20th 2015, the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59) adopted a draft resolution entitled ‘Future organisation and methods of the work of the CSW’, which will be submitted to the Economic and Social Council for action in June. Together with the Political Declaration, this document represents one of two CSW outcome documents in place of an Agreed Conclusions document.
The Working Methods resolution, as this document is known, begins by outlining the context of the resolution, including by recalling prior resolutions; reaffirming the role of the CSW and UN Women, and recognising their work in implementing and supporting the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA); and recognising the important role of NGOs and civil society actors.
There follows 29 paragraphs concerning the future direction, focus, and format of the CSW, and efforts to fully implement the BPfA. Among the items agreed upon in this resolution are that the CSW:
- Reaffirms of the primary responsibility of the CSW to follow up on the Fourth Conference for Women and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly
- Decides that the Commission’s session will include a ministerial segment to reaffirm and strengthen political commitment for the realisation of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and to ensure high-level engagement and the visibility of the Commission’s deliberations
- Decides that the Commission will continue to consider one priority theme at each session, based on the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly
- Calls upon the Commission to further enhance its catalytic role for gender mainstreaming in the United Nations system, including in support of the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda
- Decides that non-governmental organisations in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls should be encouraged to participate, to the maximum extent possible, in the work of the Commission and in the monitoring and implementation process related to the Fourth World Conference on Women
- Encourages Governments and all other stakeholders to undertake comprehensive preparations for each session of the Commission, at the national, regional and global level