National Women’s Education Center of Japan

The sixty-nineth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) was held from March 10 to 21, 2025.

The sixty-nineth session of the Commission on the Status of Women was held in person at the United Nations Headquarters in New York (Some speakers participated online). This year marks 30 years since the 4th World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 ("Beijing + 30"). About 13,000 world leaders and representatives of civil society organizations, including a Vice-President, three Vice-Prime Ministers, and 97 Ministers gathered in New York.

CSW69 was chaired by H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Alwasil, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations. The opening ceremony of CSW69 began with a performance of Saudi Arabian traditional music composed for the session. Then,3 youth representatives advocated for STEM education for girls, inclusion of indigenous women in the decision-making process, and funding for women's organizations as justice rather than charity. Next, representatives from the UN Secretary-General, UN Women Executive Director and ECOSOC Chairperson highlighted that while progress has been made in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment over the past 30 years since Beijing, it has been slow, and there are needs to address regional disparities, discrimination based on intersectionality and gender diversity. They presented strong commitments to push for gender equality by encouraging collaboration among the governments, civil society, youth, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples, rather than stand still in the face of backlash against achievements in gender equality and women's empowerment around the world.

Following the opening ceremony, general discussion, ministerial roundtable, and interactive discussion were taken place. Participants stated that legal and institutional reforms toward gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls have been implemented in various countries and regions, however, policy implementation is lagging behind.

From Japan, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Eri Arfiya made remarks at the general discussion and ministerial roundtable held on the 12th. Her remarks outlined the support measures contributing to women's economic independence, making it compulsory for private companies over a certain size to disclose the information of gender pay gap and rate of male employees taking paternity leave based on the Basic Plan for Gender Equality, Japan's initiatives for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the Global Partnership for action on gender based against online harassment and abuse.
(https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/pressite_000001_01085.html)

At the interactive panel with youth held on the 14th, Ms. Momoko Yokoi, the youth representative of Japan, made remarks. She stressed that persistent sexual violence that has not been eradicated even 30 years since the Beijing Conference. She continued that a half of victims of sexual assault and harassment in Japan are under the age of 19, and some young survivors are not protected because they do not complain. She called for the actions to incorporate the discussions at CSW into real and lasting change, and involving youth in implementing policy that is based on the Beijing Platform for Action.

On the final day of the session (March 21st), participating counties expressed their views on the Political Declaration adopted on the first day, such as announcing that the interpretation of "gender" to be limited to "men and women", expressing regret over the absence of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and calling for solidarity against attacks on gender equality. Ms. Asako Osaki, Representative of Japan, commended the member countries’ commitments to consensus building attitudes during the negotiation process, and also appreciated that the political declaration included the National Action Plan, peace building, rehabilitation after the conflicts, and humanitarian assistance despite of the regrettable absence of Security Council Resolution 1325 and WPS. She also expressed regret that sexual and reproductive health and rights, which was unanimously agreed on at the Beijing Conference, was not included. Her statement concluded by delivering that Japan will contribute to Gender equality and women’s empowerment in Japan and across the international community in cooperating with various stakeholders, including UN agencies and civil society.

On the 13th, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations and three Japanese women's non-governmental organizations co-hosted a side event titled "What can NGOs do to promote the concept of “Women, Peace and Security” to our global audience?". A university student from Nagasaki who is a third-generation A-bomb survivor appealed for the importance of peace education. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented that Japan has been working on disaster response measures that are included in WPS. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also shared their activities to improve livelihoods through vocational training for women in the Sudan and reintegration support for victims of violence in Pakistan, underscoring the importance of WPS not only for conflict situations but also for the everyday situations from the perspective of building a society where rights are not infringed by violence.

The political declaration of CSW69 has been adopted on the first day (March 10th). It incorporated discussions based on the progress reports compiled by the countries and regions prior to the conference.

The political declaration emphasized that although 30 years have passed since the 4th World Conference on Women and some progress has been made, no country has achieved gender equality and the gender gap has not yet closed. It pointed out the delay in realizing Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Outcome Document of the 23rd Special Session of the UN General Assembly, the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also argued that progress has been minimal due to the lack of women's participation in decision-making, multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination that women suffer throughout their lives, and their vulnerability and marginalization.

During the CSW, active discussions are conducted every year, including presentations of the roles and activities of civil society organizations in improving the status of women. This year, representatives of 5,845 civil society organizations and NGOs participated from all over the world, including Japan.

The NGO CSW/NY, which supports the participation of civil society organizations in the CSW, set up venues inside and outside the UN Building and an online platform, where many parallel events were held by civil society organizations.

The National Women's Education Center (NWEC) also set up an exhibition booth on the online platform, which introduced the roles and activities of NWEC through the message form president of NWEC, gender statistic leaflet and other educational materials.

NGO CSW69 Forum/NWEC Booth