Recommendation to the Council on the EU priorities for the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality adopted a report by Lina GÁLVEZ (S&D, ES) on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council concerning the EU priorities for the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women is a global body dedicated to promoting gender equality and empowering women. Its 69th session will take place in New York from 10–21 March 2025 and will focus on reviewing current progress on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The UN General Assembly has raised the alarm about the active resistance to achievements and advances in gender equality and the growing transnational backlash against women’s rights. Sexual and gender-based violence as well as anti-rights movements threaten the fundamental rights of women and girls on a daily basis. Members stressed that there is a clear and urgent need to reaffirm, safeguard and develop gender equality and the human rights of women and girls.

Members recommended that the Council:

- confirm its commitment to human rights of women, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, through gender mainstreaming in all relevant policy areas and cycles, to the implementation of specific and targeted actions for human rights of women and gender equality, and to ensuring proper gender budgeting;

- ensure the full involvement of Parliament and its Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in the decision-making process on the EU’s position at the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and further improve interinstitutional cooperation and informal consultation, including prior to and during negotiations, so that Parliament’s priorities are properly incorporated;

- urge the remaining five Member States that have still not ratified and implemented the Istanbul Convention to do so in the shortest possible timeframe, and call on other countries to make progress towards signing and ratifying it;

- press for equal access to and opportunities in all areas of life, to allow women in all their diversity to fulfil their potential, notably also in decision-making, including political, economic, financial, academic, health, cultural and sports-related, this also being essential for good governance and policymaking;

- express opposition to all forms of gender-based violence, including online or offline;

- encourage measures that promote women’s participation and gender balance in all high impact sectors, including STEM;

- emphasise the need to protect and promote the rights of groups experiencing intersectional forms of discrimination, including people with disabilities and people who are from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, racialised, from ethnic, minority or migrant backgrounds, older or LGBTIQ+, among others;

- implement, without delay and to the fullest extent, the EU GAP III and ensure that 85 % of all new actions throughout external relations contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2027 at the latest;

- address and monitor the systemic and root causes of female poverty with an emphasis on those in rural areas or isolated and disadvantaged areas;

- promote female entrepreneurship and women-led businesses through an enabling environment for their economic activities, such as support programmes in partner countries, ensuring equitable access to business opportunities and training in entrepreneurial skills;

- ensure access to social services, including family support services, equal shares of unpaid care and social responsibilities through legislative initiatives, efforts to combat harmful gender stereotyping, patriarchal attitudes and systems and promote women as role models;

- remove the legal, financial, social and practical barriers and restrictions on access to safe and legal abortion worldwide;

- advocate firmly for the defence of sexual and reproductive health and rights as fundamental rights and fight against anti-choice networks; ensure that women and girls in all their diversity have information and access to affordable health services, including for sexual and reproductive health and rights.