Minister Blomqvist to attend session of UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York

NordenBladet — The 66th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place in hybrid format in New York between 14 and 25 March 2022. Finland will be represented at the session by a broad-based delegation headed by Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality Thomas Blomqvist. The delegation consists of representatives from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the Council for Gender Equality, the Finnish Parliament, non-governmental organisations and young people, for example.Minister Blomqvist will attend the ministerial segment of the session and deliver Finland’s statement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the size of the delegations travelling to New York has been restricted, and part of the delegation will attend events remotely.The priority theme of the session is achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.Finland will participate actively not only in the negotiations on the conclusions but also in official dialogues as well as side events to be organised during the session. The Commission on the Status of Women is an important international forum for Finland to promote a human rights-based approach and the realisation of women’s rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights. During the negotiations and side events and in its other advocacy work, Finland will promote a comprehensive approach to the participation of women.  “Climate change is a gender issue. We have to increase our efforts to ensure a gender perspective in all climate, environment and disaster management policies. Finland emphasises the importance of gender transformative climate action. Climate adaptation needs to be based on gender analysis,” says Minister Blomqvist.The Commission is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council. It monitors and supports the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in different thematic areas. The Commission is the UN’s second largest annual meeting after the General Assembly.Minister Blomqvist will also attend a number of other events to be organised in connection with the session, such as the Nordic ministerial panel and the discussion on violence against women in politics organised by the President of the UN General Assembly. For more information about the session, please visit the website of the UN Women.