Circular
6/2023
Barcelona, 2 March 2023
 
To the members of the World Council
To the Secretaries General
To the Vice-Presidents of United Cities and Local Governments
To the Chairs of UCLG Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora

For information: To the Presidency

67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
6-17 March 2023, New York

 

Dear members,

The sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 6 to 17 March 2023, under the theme “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. The review theme focuses on “Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.
 
In this framework, UCLG gathers the constituency of local and regional governments, key partners and civil society representatives, to collectively reflect on our role and progress in inclusively localizing SDG 5. Moreover, the recent adoption of the Pact for the Future highlights that the call for a Feminist Municipal Agenda resonates around the world and reiterates the crucial role that local and regional governments play in placing equity, solidarity, empathy, proximity and care at the heart of our communities.
 
As such, UCLG will ensure that key messages of local and regional governments on inclusive gender equality are heard on the international stage, mainly via the actions described below.
 
 
1 – Local and Regional Governments’ Statement to CSW67
 
UCLG has prepared, on behalf of the Global Taskforce, a Statement of Local and Regional Governments to CSW67, structured around the key message and priorities of the constituency.
 
The statement specifically addresses the role that local and regional governments play in fostering gender equality through technology and the protection of digital rights, in line with the priority theme of this year’s CSW.
 
It will be publicly disseminated to the international community and CSW67 stakeholders during the Local and Regional Governments day event, in order to take part in the global conversation on equality.
 
 
2 – Key in-person events for the constituency
 
In order to keep momentum and showcase the constituency’s commitment to gender equality, a small delegation, led by the Chair of the UCLG Standing Committee on Gender Equality and UCLG Co-President, and composed of elected officials, international partners and civil society representatives, will be in New York.
 
The main events organized by the constituency are the following:

• 6 March 2023, 10:30 EST: Parallel event: Cities Forging the Path to Gender Justice, organized by PLATFORMA, CEMR and UCLG Africa.
• 7 March 2023, 15:00 EST: Local and Regional Governments’ Day, organized by UCLG. This gathering will be an opportunity to discuss and reflect on the constituency’s statement to CSW67, as well as our collective unfolding of the Pact for the Future in relation to local and global agendas.
• 9 March 2023, 10:30 EST: Parallel event: Local and Regional Governments Empowering All Women, in all their Diversity, through Rights-Based Approaches to Technologies, organized by UCLG. This session will explore how local and regional governments, civil society and partners facilitate and localize gender-sensitive access to technologies and innovation.

You will find via the following link a programme of key events organized by the local and regional constituency during CSW.
 

The team remains at your disposal for any additional information you might need. Do not hesitate to write to us at policy@uclg.org.  

Sincerely,

The UCLG World Secretariat