“Women’s Empowerment for a Sustainable World: Towards a Gender-Just Transition”

This year the session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW66) taking place from 14 to 25 March will address as priority theme: achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. Representatives of governments, women’s rights organizations, international governmental organizations and other key stakeholder will meet to discuss how we can deliver on the commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Acton 25+ in the face of the global environmental crisis and pervasive gender inequalities. It will be a unique opportunity to push the frontiers of international human rights standards to address the direct impact of the ecological breakdown on women’s rights and livelihoods while articulating how could a gender-just transition to a sustainable future could look like for women in all their diversity.

To inform the discussions being held in this key international conference for women’s rights, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) jointly with the government of Austria and civil society organisations GWNET, AIDA, Gender CC South Africa, IWRAW-AP and Aksi! will convene a virtual side event on “Women’s Empowerment for a Sustainable World: Towards a Gender-Just Transition” on Friday, March 18 at 11:00 am EST.

This event will convene a group of policymakers, UN experts, representatives of civil society organizations, private actors and grassroots women to explore the gender dimensions of the energy transition and its implications for climate justice. It will provide a space for key stakeholders to voice concerns on how the green transition may be blindsiding gender issues and to share policies and initiatives that have been successful in driving a gender just energy transition.

 Furthermore, the event will be an opportunity to challenge gender stereotypes and celebrate women’s roles as key actors of change, as well as to explore how to harnesses women’s full potential to rethink the way we power our societies and reshape the course of the energy transitions to ensure a sustainable, gender, and climate-just future for all.

 Stay tuned to receive further information on the panellists and the registration link for the event!