THE POWER OF LEGISLATION FOR WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
	Parliamentary event organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women on the occasion of the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
	15 March 2016, ECOSOC Chamber, UN Headquarters, New York

	The parliamentary event on the occasion of the 60th session of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will be held in New York on 15 March 2016. The event, entitled The power of legislation for women’s empowerment and sustainable development, is hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The parliamentary meeting will focus on key forms of discrimination in laws that hamper the sustainable development agenda. It will draw on evidence-based global research and policymakers’ practical experiences of enacting, implementing and enforcing equality and non-discrimination laws. The morning session will focus on the status of discriminatory laws worldwide. It will look at the multiple forms of legal discrimination that persist around the world today, taking stock of progress and gaps to date. Two sessions will take place in the afternoon. The first will focus on the power of parliaments to end discriminatory laws and showcase parliamentary initiatives to implement reforms and adopt strategies for repealing discriminatory laws. The second session will consider challenges of implementation, enforcement and oversight of laws and discuss the importance of women’s political leadership and representation in legislative bodies. Finally, the meeting will provide an opportunity to contribute to the debates at the CSW whose priority theme this year is “Women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development”. In addition to the parliamentary meeting, the IPU will also organize an informal side event: Panel on Implementing UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security in Arab countries (14 March 2016, 6:30 – 7:45 p.m., Ex-Press Bar – General Assembly Building - debate in English only) .

SESSION DOCUMENTS
	Invitation [PDF]
	Agenda [PDF]
	Information Note [PDF]
	Registration form [Word] [PDF]
	Side event : Implementing Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in the Arab Region [PDF]
	Opening speech by Ms. Margaret Mensah-Williams [PDF]
RELATED SITES AND DOCUMENTS
	Archived broadcasts of the meeting
	Equality Now (2016), "The State We're In: Ending Sexism in Nationality Laws" [English]
	Beijing +20 campaign with links to our "Words & Deeds" report (2015)" [English - French - Spanish - Arabic]
	Current statistics on women in parliaments
	United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
	60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UN Website)
	Parliamentary events held in connection with previous sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women: 59th (2015), 58th (2014), 57th (2013), 56th (2012), 55th (2011), 54th (2010), 53rd (2009), 52nd (2008), 51st (2007), 50th (2006), 49th (2005)
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