Minister for Equality, Christian Santos, has attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). 

CSW is the principal global intergovernmental entity exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, and the rights and the empowerment of women. CSW is the largest and leading annual conference on women’s issues and the event sees representation from all regions of the world. 

During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gathered at UN headquarters in New York. This year’s CSW theme was ‘For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’ and the focus was a review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on gender equality. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration. 

Minister Santos was in New York with the UK delegation of MPs and was joined by Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Equality, Employment, Culture and Tourism April Smart-Devincenzi, and Policy Development Officer at the Ministry of Equality Marlene Dalli. 

A full programme of meetings and activities was scheduled as part of the trip, with Minister Santos taking the opportunity to meet with Ms. Seema Malhotra MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) in the Department for Education for His Majesty’s Government.