About the Commission on the Status of Women progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women, identify challenges, and set global standards, norms and policies to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide. The session includes plenary meetings, high-level round tables, interactive dialogues and panels, as well as many side events. Its principal outcome are the “agreed conclusions” on the priority theme, negotiated by all States. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), is a global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Commission was established in 1946 with a mandate to prepare recommendations on promoting women’s rights in political,economic, civil, social and educational fields. It is also responsible for monitoring, reviewing and appraising progress achieved and problems encountered in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at all levels, and to support gender mainstreaming. UN Women serves as the substantive Secretariat for the Commission and in that capacity, supports all aspects of the Commission’s work. UN Women prepares policy analysis and recommendations that form the basis for the Commission’s deliberations on the themes selected for each session, as well as for negotiated outcomes. UN Women reaches out to stakeholders to create awareness and build alliances around the topics under consideration, and also facilitates the participation of civil society representatives in the Commission’s sessions. Representatives of Member States, United Nations entities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in consultative status with ECOSOC and other stakeholders participate in the Commission’s annual session at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The session, which is usually held for ten days in March, provides an opportunity to review 15