NGO Committee on the Status of Women

Uniting Nations

This episode of Uniting Nations features Houry Geudelekian, the Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (NGO CSW), New York.

The NGO CSW is the convener of global civil society for the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and global gender equality advocacy.

The UN convenes the Commission, or CSW for short, every year, for a period of two weeks. There, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York to discuss emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women. This year’s Commission, held in March, addressed the theme of “Innovation and Technological Change, and Education in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality and The Empowerment of all Women and Girls.”

Houry has been involved in the NGO CSW for over 12 years. As she approaches the end of her term as the Chair of the Committee, she reflects on the work of the UN in advancing gender equality and challenges and reasons for optimism she sees in her work.