In Focus: UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66)

This year, the 66^th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66), the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, will take place from 14 to 25 March, under the theme, “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”.

Due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, CSW66 will take place in a hybrid format. All side events and parallel events will be fully virtual.

Women are increasingly being recognized as more vulnerable to climate change impacts than men, as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent on the natural resources, which climate change threatens the most. However, despite increasing evidence, there is still hesitancy in making the vital connections between gender, social equity and climate change.

Climate change also drives increased vulnerability to gender-based violence. Across the world, women bear a disproportionate responsibility for securing food, water and fuel, tasks that climate change makes more time-consuming and difficult. Scarcity of resources and the necessity of traveling further to obtain them may open women up to more violence including increased risk factors linked to human trafficking, child marriage or access to resources to protect them from gender-based violence. 

Follow the discussions at CSW66, learn more about gender inequality as it relates to climate change, and what it means to keep women and girls at the heart of climate action.

Video: It’s not too late: Climate action for women, by women

Social media

Whether you’re tuning in from the United Nations Headquarters, or from your offices and homes around the world; use #CSW66 to engage online and share how you are participating.
Take a look at our social media package with messages in English, Spanish and French. Here you will find guidance for coverage, CSW templates, assets, editorial stories and more content.
Access the latest information on logistics, official sessions and side events through @UN_CSW on Twitter and UN CSW on Facebook.