The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10 to 21 March 2025. This year’s session marked the milestone 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, the progressive blueprint for women’s rights and advancing gender equality. DAWN hosted two parallel events and co-sponsored other panels and a rally, bringing global South perspectives to key debates on health justice, feminist economics, and labour rights.
In recent years, the negotiation of the CSW outcome document has increasingly taken place ahead of the Commission itself, effectively sidelining civil society organizations and limiting their ability to influence the process in real time. This shift, combined with alarming trade-offs around Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), sets a dangerous precedent for feminist and human rights advocacy. These challenges unfold in a broader context of rising anti-rights, anti-gender pushback driven by far-right and authoritarian governments, including the United States, which not only undermine the Beijing Platform for Action but also weaken the legitimacy of the UN and defund critical human rights and development work globally.
At the same time, however, there has been a notable rise in youth participation at CSW in recent years. This signals both the urgency and opportunity for the feminist movement to re-mobilize across local, regional, and global levels to defend and advance hard-won gains. Gender justice remains under threat, but feminist resistance continues.
Events hosted by DAWN
Online Parallel Event | Feminist Intersectional Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons learned from Asia, Africa and Latin America
March 17
Parallel Event | Feminist principles to understand and transform the economy: building collective thinking and action
March 19
Speakers: Bhumika Muchhala (TWN); Corina Rodríguez Enríquez (DAWN) and Denisse Vélez (Equidad de Género)
Moderator: Noelia Méndez Santolaria (DAWN)
Co-organised by DAWN, Third World Network (TWN) and Equidad de Género.
This was the third milestone in a journey that began in Bangkok (2023) and continued through a series of webinars in 2024. Coming together, helped shape the foundations of a collective project: Global South Feminist Perspectives on Macroeconomics.
The voices, insights, and collective thinking from this gathering are now part of a growing platform for feminist transformation.
DAWN also co-sponsored
Side Event | Gender Equality in the Platform Economy: Evolving a Policy Agenda for Beijing+30 with The Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), IT for Change and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
March 10
Check more information about the event here
Read the full report Pathways to Gender Equality in the Platform Economy: A Policy Agenda for Beijing+30 and Beyond
Online Parallel Event | The Human Right to Care in Beijing +30 Global Commitments with the Rebuilding the Social Organisation of Care Manifesto (RSOC), including PSI, Action Aid, Oxfam and others.
March 12
Check more information about the event here.
Credit: Simon Chambers/ACT Alliance
UN CSW March & Rally | No Backlash to Women’s Rights The rally coordinated by the Women in Migration Network demanded immediate action to defend hard-won progress and uphold human rights and gathered over 150 participants in New York City on the sidelines of the #CSW69.
March 12
Parallel Event | Centering Feminist Well-being Economies for humans and the planet: Catalyzing Transformative Change for Gender Equality Beyond Beijing+30
With Action Aid, Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA) and the Feminist Macroeconomic Alliance- Malawi (FEAM)
March 14
