The UNCSW was established in 1946 as a mechanism to promote, report on and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil, social and educational rights of women. It was a unique official structure for drawing attention to women's concerns and leadership within the UN. UNCSW first met at
Lake Success, New York, in February 1947. All 15 government representatives were women, which distinguished UNCSW from other UN movements, and UNCSW has continued to maintain a majority of women delegates. During its first session, the Commission declared as one of its guiding principles: to raise the status of women, irrespective of nationality, race, language or religion, to equality with men in all fields of human enterprise, and to eliminate all discrimination against women in the provisions of
statutory law, in
legal maxims or rules, or in interpretation of customary law. One of UNCSW's first tasks was to contribute to the drafting of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Commission members inserted gender-sensitive language — arguing against references to "men" as a synonym for humanity and phrases like "men are brothers". They received resistance from members of the
Commission on Human Rights, but succeeded in introducing new,
inclusive language.
Original members The first session (1947) had 15 members/delegates in attendance, all women: • Jessie Mary Grey Street, Australia • Evdokia Uralova,
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic • Zee Yuh-tsung, China (
at the time the Republic) • Graciela Morales F. de Echeverria, Costa Rica •
Bodil Begtrup, Denmark •
Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, France • Sara Basterrechea Ramírez, Guatemala •
Shareefah Hamid Ali, India •
Amalia C. de Castillo Ledón, Mexico •
Alice Kandalft Cosma, Syria •
Mihri Pektaş, Turkey • Elizavieta Alekseevna Popova, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics •
Mary Sutherland, United Kingdom •
Dorothy Kenyon, United States of America •
Isabel de Urdaneta, Venezuela
Reproductive rights and the Commission Early work and CEDAW The commission began working after its founding in 1946 to directly introduce women's rights to the international arena. This was achieved through a variety of means, most commonly through attempts to collect data that showed discrimination occurring against women. It also acknowledges the social implications of motherhood, and states that childcare and maternity protection are integral rights and should be extended to all realms of the lives of women. It states that it is a human right for women "to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights", and any state party to the treaty is required to provide education on family planning and reproductive rights, including various forms of contraception.
Forced abortion or sterilization constitute violations to the treaty. In addition to CEDAW, the CSW has undertaken several other efforts to address reproductive rights. Throughout this time, the Commission hosted four global conferences on women to address issues including reproductive rights. The locations were Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, and Nairobi in 1985. This followed three other conferences addressing the needs and rights of women around the world. The
Beijing Platform has been hailed by the
Center for Reproductive Rights as "the most comprehensive articulation of international commitments related to women’s human rights." It places a special emphasis on reproductive rights through its legislation regarding family planning, which states that it is the right of all women "to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law." Specifically, the Platform urges state governments to reevaluate punitive measures placed on
abortion, provide family planning and a range of contraceptives as alternatives to abortion as well as quality abortion after care. The agreements published from the 57th session in 2013 of the CSW also mentions the importance of reproductive rights as human rights and access to safe reproductive care as a means to resolve violence against women. The Declaration also understands this care as a means of prevention of future violence, acknowledges systematic factors and how they influence care and reproductive rights. More recently, the CSW reaffirmed their prioritization of their sexual education, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice for all women including the use of modern family planning options (including a range of contraceptive options) through publishing their 2014 Declaration of Agreements.
Expulsion of the Islamic Republic of Iran In December 2022, the
Islamic Republic of Iran was expelled from membership of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, following the
death of Mahsa Amini and the violent crackdown against human rights protesters in Iran. This was the first time a member had been expelled over
its treatment of women in the history of the commission. ==Session Reports==