The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) Commences
Bahamas delegation to CSW61
H.E. Dr. Elliston Rahming and Minister Melanie S. Griffin
Under the priority theme ‘Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work,’ the Sixty-First Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) commenced on Monday, March 13, 2017 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women
During the Opening Ceremony of the annual session, Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, remarked that the world needs more women leaders and more men promoting gender equality, that women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth over the next decade and that when women meaningfully participate in peace processes, the chance of sustainable peace goes up by 35 per cent over 15 years.
In her address, UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, highlighted a slow progress in gender equality. She pointed out that more than half of all women workers around the world are informally employed, that women earn consistently less than men and that gaps exist, including in access to digital technologies.
CSW61 is scheduled to run until Friday, 24 March 2017.
The Bahamas delegation to the CSW61 is lead by the Minister of Social Services and Community, the Honourable Melanie S. Griffin, who is being accompanied in New York by Ag. Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Phedra Rahming and Director of Gender and Family Affairs, Ms. Gaynel Curry.