Saudi Arabia’s presidency of this year’s United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) – taking place between 10 and 21 March – has sparked intense criticism, including from the European Parliament. What does this mean for global gender equality efforts?
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the world’s leading forum for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment. Its annual session – held every March at the UN headquarters in New York – brings together states, UN entities, and civil society organisations (CSOs) to assess progress, tackle challenges, and set global standards for women’s rights. It is intended as a space for collaboration and ambitious goal-setting based on a shared commitment to gender equality.
Saudi Arabia’s appointment as chair of CSW69 raises serious concerns. Despite its attempts to project a progressive image through its Vision 2030 agenda, Saudi Arabia maintains an abysmal human rights record – particularly regarding women’s rights. Its 2022 Personal Status Law continues to uphold male guardianship, restricts women’s autonomy in matters of marriage, divorce, and child custody, and lacks protection against gender-based violence.
As CSW chair, Saudi Arabia will hold significant influence over agenda-setting, decision-making, and progress assessments – including the key review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was adopted 30 years ago and remains the most progressive blueprint for women’s rights to date. With its vast resources and restrictive policies, Saudi Arabia’s leadership could undermine CSW’s mission.
What is more: The international community’s response reveals troubling inconsistencies. While western governments successfully pushed for Iran’s expulsion from CSW in December 2022 following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, Saudi Arabia’s appointment has gone unchallenged – even as it failed to secure a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in late 2024 due to its human rights record. This double standard opens pressing questions about global commitments to gender equality and human rights.
CSW69 is taking place as the newly inaugurated Trump administration launches an unprecedented assault on gender equality, diversity, and inclusion. How might this impact CSW’s work and broader feminist agenda?
It’s true – CSW69 takes place amid a dramatic shift in US policy that strikes at the heart of gender equality efforts. The Trump administration has moved swiftly to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives – pushing back against internationally recognised gender equality language and opposing the push for women’s inclusion in peace-building missions. Further, Washington has reinstated the global gag rule, cutting off US foreign assistance to organisations that provide, counsel, or advocate for legal abortion services. The funding freeze and dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has had a disastrous impact on reproductive health and family planning services worldwide – hitting the most vulnerable and marginalised communities the hardest.
At CSW69, we can expect deliberate attempts to dilute language on LGBTQI+ rights, comprehensive sexuality education, and protections against gender-based violence.
Still, these actions are only the most visible signs of a deeper, more pervasive anti-gender movement. For years, networks of conservative organisations, religious groups, and political actors – backed by substantial resources – have systematically worked to roll back women’s rights and gender equality gains around the world.
Within CSW itself, anti-rights actors have grown increasingly influential. Using tactics that they disguise as the defence of cultural and religious values, they co-opt human rights discourse to reinforce traditional gender roles, restrict women’s reproductive autonomy, and deny rights to marginalised groups. By doing so, they misrepresent feminist agendas, promote harmful stereotypes, and exploit cultural sensitivities to sow division and obstruct progress.
This means that – on top of structural barriers such as visa denials, funding shortages, tokenism, subtle (and not-so-subtle) racism, and pervasive transphobia – youth, feminist, and LGBTQI+ organisations, particularly from the Global South, face an increasingly hostile environment that limits their ability to meaningfully influence outcomes. Their exclusion creates further openings for anti-rights actors to shape the agenda and weaken commitments to gender equality. At CSW69, we can expect deliberate attempts to dilute language on LGBTQI+ rights, comprehensive sexuality education, and protections against gender-based violence – all of which aligns with the official US position. The US’s recent decision to rejoin and promote the Geneva Consensus Declaration – an anti-reproductive rights and anti-LGBTQI+ political statement disguised as an international agreement, now backed by 40 states – illustrates how national policy shifts can embolden regressive forces in international forums.
There is a stark irony in holding the world’s premier gender equality forum in the US while the host country actively undermines these principles. Coupled with Saudi Arabia’s leadership, CSW69 risks legitimising the global roll-back of women’s rights and gender justice at a time when decisive action is most needed.
How can progressive actors in Europe – EU institutions, member states and civil society – push back against this multi-pronged assault on gender equality?
The U-turn made by the US – once a key advocate for women’s rights – is emboldening states around the world, including in Europe, to ignore their international obligations and retreat from multilateral institutions. This situation creates a vacuum eagerly filled by anti-rights forces. In this challenging landscape, Europe’s progressive actors must step up with decisive action and leadership.
At the upcoming CSW, EU Member States need to adopt a strong, coordinated approach to defend internationally recognised language on gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights, and civic space. This means actively countering efforts to water down commitments and forging strategic alliances with other progressive states and CSOs.
CSW69 risks legitimising the global roll-back of women’s rights and gender justice at a time when decisive action is most needed.
European philanthropic institutions should scale up flexible, long-term funding for feminist and grassroots organisations, particularly in the Global South, to offset the impact of the USAID’s funding freeze and the rising influence of anti-rights groups. At the same time, the EU must leverage its diplomatic and trade relationships to hold regressive governments accountable – making gender equality a non-negotiable pillar of international cooperation.
Most crucially, the EU must deepen engagement with women’s and LGBTQI+ CSOs, amplifying their voices to make sure CSW remains a genuine platform for advancing gender equality and women’s rights. And beyond the two-week CSW sessions, the EU could establish year-round follow-up mechanisms to support grassroots feminist organisations in implementing their commitments. Transforming diplomatic declarations into concrete actions will prevent momentum from fading once the formal proceedings conclude. Only with sustained technical, political, and financial backing can feminist organisations drive real progress on gender equality in their local contexts.
Inés M. Pousadela is an ENSURED researcher and Senior Research Specialist at CIVICUS, where she co-leads CIVICUS Lens and the State of Civil Society Report. She is also a Professor of Comparative Politics and Global Civil Society at Universidad ORT Uruguay and Researcher with OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism.
Jesselina Rana serves as the United Nations Advisor at CIVICUS’ New York Hub, where she spearheads analysis of international law and policy, advocates for civil society participation, and advises on worldwide trends concerning civic space issues from a global governance perspective.
You can also find content from ENSURED's Expert Blog on the Global Policy website.
Photo: UN Women / Ryan Brown (via CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
A look at previous CSWs – from its 1946 founding to today:
.png)
