70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
June 15, 2026
Representing SecurityWomen at the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) provided an important opportunity for me to engage with global conversations on gender equality, peace and security, women’s leadership, and institutional accountability. SecurityWomen works globally to highlight research, share knowledge, and monitor progress toward gender equality insecurity institutions. The of hope of SecurityWomen is that greater participation by women will help move security systems toward approaches rooted in accountability, human rights, and peaceful multi-lateral resolutions.
Throughout the session, I participated in a range of parallel events and side events led by community-based organizations and nations from around the world. Many events examined the growing challenges facing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, including democratic backsliding, technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), and attacks on women human rights defenders and political leaders.
As Director of Policy & Advocacy for Women Creating Change (WCC), my work is strengthened by the global perspectives and strategies I took away from this year’s CSW. For over a century, WCC has fought for equity and justice through women’s empowerment and civic engagement. WCC’s work is enriched by the global perspectives of advocates and policymakers on innovative approaches to advancing women’s safe and meaningful participation in civic and public life.
One of the highlights of the week was speaking alongside my colleague Bosede Akinbolusere at the JWFCSW70 High-Level Reception and Ramadan Iftar Dinner, hosted by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF). The gathering brought together UN ambassadors, diplomats, interfaith and civil society leaders, academics, journalists, and youth advocates from around the world for an evening focused on women’s empowerment, gender equality and sustainable peace. During my remarks on behalf of SecurityWomen, I discussed my decade’s long commitment to women’s empowerment as a social worker, feminist activist, and nonprofit leader whose career has focused on strengthening systems that protect the dignity, safety, and human rights of women and girls. That experience has shaped my belief that security should never be defined by force. Rather, security should be measured by whether people can live free from violence and discrimination.
Bosede and I, with our colleagues at SecurityWomen, also co-hosted a CSW70 side event with JWF titled Transforming the Women, Peace and Security Agenda from Resolution to Reality, which examined the ongoing gap between the global commitments embodied in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the realities of implementation onthe ground. The panel brought together experts from the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, public safety leadership, and civil society organizations to discuss the structural, political, and institutional barriers that continue to limit progress.
The discussion highlighted several key themes including the persistence of women’s exclusion from peace processes and security leadership; the erosion of WPS language within Security Council resolutions; the importance of institutional reform within policing and public safety systems; and the critical role of women-led civil society organizations in sustaining the agenda amid growing political backlash. Speakers repeatedly emphasized that implementation requires structural change within institutions.
In addition to these events, I attended several UN and civil society sessions that explored emerging threats to gender equality and access to justice. Several discussions focused on TFGBV and the growing influence of digital platforms and algorithms in shaping public discourse. TFGBV takes many forms some of which include cyber stalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sextortion, and doxxing. A prominent takeaway of many sessions was that bad-faith actors are increasingly using sophisticated technology to target women leaders, peacebuilders, and politicians with political violence and abuse.
While national policy and legal frameworks struggle to keep up with rapidly evolving technology, including Artificial Intelligence, abusers use these attacks to push women out of the public sphere thereby weakening democracies around the globe. Side events, such as Kenya’s “Pathways to Justice: Scaling Solutions Towards Combating Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” included strategies pioneered by countries around the world to stop TFGBV and to ensure women and girls’ safe civic engagement. These sessions on online misogyny and algorithmic harms examined how digital systems can amplify extremism, harassment, and gender discrimination while pushing women and girls out of public life and leadership spaces. Speakers stressed the need for “safety by design” approaches in technology policy, stronger accountability mechanisms for platforms, and rights-based digital governance frameworks.
Another important thread throughout CSW70 was the relationship between law, institutional reform, and women’s participation in public life. Sessions hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and international partners examined how gender equality laws and gender-responsive governance mechanisms can move beyond symbolic commitments toward enforceable change. Discussions emphasized that legal protections alone are insufficient without institutional enforcement, gender-responsive budgeting, data collection, and meaningful participation by women’s organizations in monitoring implementation.
I also attended conversations examining the growing global backlash against women’s rights and multilateral gender equality frameworks. A particularly timely discussion focused on the proposed assessment of a potential merger between UN Women and UNFPA as part of the broader UN reform process. Participants raised important questions about how to strengthen institutional effectiveness while safeguarding specialized expertise and preserving global commitments to gender equality during a period of increasing political polarization.
Across the week, one message emerged consistently: advancing women’s rights and the Women, Peace and Security agenda requires not only policy commitments, but sustained institutional courage and accountability. From public safety reform to digital governance to multilateral advocacy, women leaders and civil society organizations play a critical role in challenging exclusionary systems and advancing more just and inclusive approaches to peace and security.
I am deeply grateful to SecurityWomen for sponsoring my participation at CSW70 and for its ongoing commitment to advancing women’s leadership within security institutions globally. The conversations throughout the session reinforced the importance of international collaboration in protecting and advancing gender equality at a time when these gains cannot be taken for granted.
June 15, 2026
70th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
June 15, 2026
Representing SecurityWomen at the 70th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) provided an important opportunity for me to engage with global conversations on gender equality, peace and security, women’s leadership, and institutional accountability. SecurityWomen works globally to highlight research, share knowledge, and monitor progress toward gender equality insecurity institutions. The of hope of SecurityWomen is that greater participation by women will help move security systems toward approaches rooted in accountability, human rights, and peaceful multi-lateral resolutions.
Throughout the session, I participated in a range of parallel events and side events led by community-based organizations and nations from around the world. Many events examined the growing challenges facing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, including democratic backsliding, technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), and attacks on women human rights defenders and political leaders.
As Director of Policy & Advocacy for Women Creating Change (WCC), my work is strengthened by the global perspectives and strategies I took away from this year’s CSW. For over a century, WCC has fought for equity and justice through women’s empowerment and civic engagement. WCC’s work is enriched by the global perspectives of advocates and policymakers on innovative approaches to advancing women’s safe and meaningful participation in civic and public life.
One of the highlights of the week was speaking alongside my colleague Bosede Akinbolusere at the JWFCSW70 High-Level Reception and Ramadan Iftar Dinner, hosted by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF). The gathering brought together UN ambassadors, diplomats, interfaith and civil society leaders, academics, journalists, and youth advocates from around the world for an evening focused on women’s empowerment, gender equality and sustainable peace. During my remarks on behalf of SecurityWomen, I discussed my decade’s long commitment to women’s empowerment as a social worker, feminist activist, and nonprofit leader whose career has focused on strengthening systems that protect the dignity, safety, and human rights of women and girls. That experience has shaped my belief that security should never be defined by force. Rather, security should be measured by whether people can live free from violence and discrimination.
Bosede and I, with our colleagues at SecurityWomen, also co-hosted a CSW70 side event with JWF titled Transforming the Women, Peace and Security Agenda from Resolution to Reality, which examined the ongoing gap between the global commitments embodied in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and the realities of implementation onthe ground. The panel brought together experts from the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, public safety leadership, and civil society organizations to discuss the structural, political, and institutional barriers that continue to limit progress.
The discussion highlighted several key themes including the persistence of women’s exclusion from peace processes and security leadership; the erosion of WPS language within Security Council resolutions; the importance of institutional reform within policing and public safety systems; and the critical role of women-led civil society organizations in sustaining the agenda amid growing political backlash. Speakers repeatedly emphasized that implementation requires structural change within institutions.
In addition to these events, I attended several UN and civil society sessions that explored emerging threats to gender equality and access to justice. Several discussions focused on TFGBV and the growing influence of digital platforms and algorithms in shaping public discourse. TFGBV takes many forms some of which include cyber stalking, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, sextortion, and doxxing. A prominent takeaway of many sessions was that bad-faith actors are increasingly using sophisticated technology to target women leaders, peacebuilders, and politicians with political violence and abuse.
While national policy and legal frameworks struggle to keep up with rapidly evolving technology, including Artificial Intelligence, abusers use these attacks to push women out of the public sphere thereby weakening democracies around the globe. Side events, such as Kenya’s “Pathways to Justice: Scaling Solutions Towards Combating Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” included strategies pioneered by countries around the world to stop TFGBV and to ensure women and girls’ safe civic engagement. These sessions on online misogyny and algorithmic harms examined how digital systems can amplify extremism, harassment, and gender discrimination while pushing women and girls out of public life and leadership spaces. Speakers stressed the need for “safety by design” approaches in technology policy, stronger accountability mechanisms for platforms, and rights-based digital governance frameworks.
Another important thread throughout CSW70 was the relationship between law, institutional reform, and women’s participation in public life. Sessions hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and international partners examined how gender equality laws and gender-responsive governance mechanisms can move beyond symbolic commitments toward enforceable change. Discussions emphasized that legal protections alone are insufficient without institutional enforcement, gender-responsive budgeting, data collection, and meaningful participation by women’s organizations in monitoring implementation.
I also attended conversations examining the growing global backlash against women’s rights and multilateral gender equality frameworks. A particularly timely discussion focused on the proposed assessment of a potential merger between UN Women and UNFPA as part of the broader UN reform process. Participants raised important questions about how to strengthen institutional effectiveness while safeguarding specialized expertise and preserving global commitments to gender equality during a period of increasing political polarization.
Across the week, one message emerged consistently: advancing women’s rights and the Women, Peace and Security agenda requires not only policy commitments, but sustained institutional courage and accountability. From public safety reform to digital governance to multilateral advocacy, women leaders and civil society organizations play a critical role in challenging exclusionary systems and advancing more just and inclusive approaches to peace and security.
I am deeply grateful to SecurityWomen for sponsoring my participation at CSW70 and for its ongoing commitment to advancing women’s leadership within security institutions globally. The conversations throughout the session reinforced the importance of international collaboration in protecting and advancing gender equality at a time when these gains cannot be taken for granted.
