Question Period Note: United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) – 66th Session

Can you provide an update on the 66th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women?

• The 66th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW 66) is expected to be held virtually from March 14 to 25, 2022.
• The priority theme of the 66th session will be “Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes”.
• A key outcome of UNCSW 66 will be the Agreed Conclusions. Canadian civil society organizations will be meaningfully engaged, and their advice will help inform Canada’s negotiating positions, as was done in 2021.

• Women and Gender Equality Canada leads preparations for Canada’s participation in the annual session of the UNCSW, in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada. The Canadian delegation to UNCSW is led by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth and is typically comprised of federal, provincial, and territorial officials; parliamentarians; representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs); as well national Indigenous leaders, representatives and youth.
• The last two sessions of the UNCSW were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 session was greatly reformatted at the last minute and consisted of only formal procedural meetings, while the 2021 session had a hybrid format with most events being held virtually. Canadian civil society organisations were disappointed that they were not able to engage with their international counterparts in person but were pleased to at least be part of a virtual session.
• In this virtual context, WAGE engaged civil society proactively for UNCSW 65, namely by ensuring that CSO input informed Canada’s negotiating positions for the Agreed Conclusions. CSOs will be similarly engaged in advance of next year’s session.
• Looking ahead, the 66th Session of the UNCSW (UNCSW 66) will be held from March 14 to 25, 2022. It is anticipated that the upcoming session will likely be a hybrid (combination of in-person and virtual participation). The priority theme will be: "Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes". The Commission’s method of work will also be the focus of renegotiations in 2022, with a view to further enhance the impact of the Commission’s work. This will be an important negotiation to ensure that there will be continued strong engagement of civil society in the UNCSW. As the UNCSW is seen as the premier annual global gathering to discuss gender equality issues, civil society is concerned that there may be a push by some countries to shrink their space at the session.
• The Department has started planning for UNCSW 66. Officials will be engaging with Canadian CSOs and international partners to host side events related to gender and climate change. Officials are also engaging with Environment and Climate Change Canada to link potential UNCSW 66 events to the outcomes of the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). COP 26 included a Gender Day on November 9, 2021, focussed on the full and meaningful participation of women and girls in climate action.
• A call for nomination process to select CSOs with expertise in the area of gender and climate action to join the Canadian delegation will take place despite the largely virtual format of UNCSW 66. Once again, WAGE will be working with the CSOs to seek their views on the Agreed Conclusions and the method of work. WAGE will also collaborate with CSOs to develop and sponsor side events, hold regular debriefs with them and organize meetings with the Minister and the Canadian Ambassador to the UN in New York.

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