Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and civil society organizations will convene in March for the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Established in 1946, CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality and the rights of girls and women.
While CSW has historically been a significant global policy forum, it is not accessible and therefore cannot be the preeminent gender equality space for the movements and constituencies Women Deliver seeks to amplify. Structural barriers — including passport discrimination, restrictions on civil society participation, and security risks for those traveling from Global Majority countries — have increasingly constrained the space, limiting the ability of many of those most directly affected by injustice to shape outcomes.
In light of this reality, Women Deliver will engage in a limited and intentional way — using our privilege and access to help hold the line against rollback, while recognizing that transformative gender justice will not be secured within multilateral negotiation rooms alone.
We stand in solidarity with partners in seeking more inclusive global spaces for collective action. With the Women Deliver 2026 Conference (WD2026) taking place just one month after CSW, we are offering it as an alternative space and a key moment for the inclusive, future facing dialogue and collective action that CSW is currently unable to fully hold.
WD2026 will not only serve as a global convening to advance gender equality, but will also mark a key milestone for the Declaration for the International Development Sector, which we are building collectively with movements worldwide to outline how the sector must rebuild to better serve girls, women, and gender-diverse people.
Over the past months, we have engaged partners and diverse actors across regions, generations, and movements to listen, gather insights, and identify the structural changes needed to advance gender equality. Following global consultations, we are bringing forward emerging priorities to CSW70. Engagement at CSW provides an opportunity to mobilize stakeholders around the Declaration’s priority areas and secure endorsements.
