Sri Lanka has been elected, by acclamation, to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) by the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York on 05 April 2023.
Accordingly, Sri Lanka will serve as a member of the CSW for a four-year term from 2024-2028.
In a press release, the Foreign Affairs Minister said Sri Lanka’s candidature was presented based on the country’s longstanding tradition of promoting and protecting the rights of women and girls at the national level, and its commitment towards eliminating discrimination based on gender.
Sri Lanka ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1981 and remains fully committed to adopting consistent and sustainable pro-equality and proempowerment policies towards women, including parity of status in decision-making processes.
By being elected to the CSW, Sri Lanka will continue its international engagement in the area of women’s empowerment.
It is recalled that in June 2022, Prof. Rangita De Silva De Alwis of Sri Lanka was elected to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) for the term 2023-2026 – a body of 23 independent experts on women’s rights from around the world that monitors the implementation of the CEDAW.
The Government of Sri Lanka has pledged to continue to make progress in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment and advancement in social, economic, and political settings through law reforms, formulating gender-responsive policies and action plans.
The other countries elected include Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Romania, and the Netherlands.
The CSW – established in 1946 and comprises 45 member States – is the principal UN intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The CSW has contributed to the drafting of the CEDAW and its Optional Protocol, and other global policy frameworks such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The CSW works to put key gender equality issues on the global agenda and encourages action and implementation at the national level.
The Commission also contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
