Armenia’s permanent representative to UN Armen Martirosyan was elected chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women during the commission’s 54th session on March 13, the RA MFA press office reported.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of main UN organs within the United Nations.
It was established in 1946 as a mechanism to promote, report on and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil, social and educational rights of women. Among its activities, the CSW drafted several conventions and declarations, including the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 1967.
The CSW is one of the commissions of the UN that do not limit participation to states only. For example, NGOs are also allowed to participate in sessions of the CSW. This is particularly important for contested territories such as Taiwan, which is not a member of the UN. In the past few years, NGOs from Taiwan (such as the National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations) have been able to participate in the CSW sessions.
The UN Commission has advocated population control, reproductive rights and contraception, while at the same time criticizing the position of the Roman Catholic Church on sexual morality and fertility.
