The 60th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women kicked off today, June 14, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with the full involvement of UNFPA. The implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the main focus of the session, scheduled to end on March 24.
The SDGs, adopted by UN Member States in September 2015, are a universal roadmap for people and planet, addressing the key challenges of the 21st century, such as poverty, inequality and climate change. Gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls is a goal in itself, and recognized as a central means to achieving the SDGs. Success depends on rigorous implementation.
This year’s session is the first to take place within this new, with special focus on gender equality and empowerment, and ending violence against women and girls.
Over 8,100 NGO representatives registered for the meeting, and a record 208 events are scheduled, about 150 of them in the first week. Alongside this, NGOs will organize 450 parallel events in the vicinity of the UN.
The conference is expected to end with an outline of robust set of actions for translating ambitious development roadmap into reality for women and girls.
Hon. Isata Kabia, Minister of State II, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on secondment as Acting Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, is leading the Sierra Leone’s delegation to the Commission, the single-largest forum for the advancement of the women’s empowerment agenda.
