On 9 March the opening meeting of the sixty-fourth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women took place at the UN Headquarters in New York. Chaired by the Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN Mher Margaryan, the session featured opening statements by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, high level officials of UN bodies, youth and civil society representatives.

At the session, dedicated to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Political Declaration was adopted, highlighting the importance of full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls, women’s participation in various domains of public life, combating all forms of violence against them, ensuring access to justice, as well as the need for efficient response in several other critical areas. The Declaration reaffirms the importance of empowerment of women and girls for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals․

In his welcome message the Permanent Representative of Armenia stressed the importance of reiterating political will and clear commitment by the member states to the common goal of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and the enjoyment of their human rights, everywhere․  Ambassador Margaryan underlined the critical role of women in public life, as they have been at the forefront of revolutionary transformations, acting as guarantors of peaceful and lasting change.

The Permanent Representative’s message is available on the CSW website https://www.unwomen.org/en/csw/csw64-2020 .

Information. The UN Commission on the Status of Women is the principal intergovernmental policy-making body in the areas of women’s rights, gender equality and empowerment of women. 45 member states of the Commission are elected on the basis of equitable geographical representation. Armenia was elected as a member of the Commission for the period of 2019-2023. On 22 March, 2019 the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Mr. Mher Margaryan was elected as a Chair of the 64th and 65th sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women.