EESC Contribution to the EU's Priorities at the 71st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW71)

Key points

The EESC: 

• reaffirms its unwavering commitment to gender equality, women’s rights and the empowerment of all women and girls as essential foundations of democracy, social justice, sustainable development and inclusive economic prosperity. 
• stresses the need for renewed political leadership, concrete implementation, adequate investment and strong accountability at national, EU and global level to accelerate the achievement of gender equality;
• highlights that a coherent and integrated approach to SDG implementation is needed to avoid siloed policymaking and fully reflect the interlinkages between goals. SDG 5 on gender equality cannot be achieved in isolation, nor can the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda be achieved without meaningful progress for women and girls;
• calls on the European Commission to ensure that SDG implementation is systematically integrated into EU policymaking frameworks;
• underlines that gender equality is a shared societal benefit that strengthens economic resilience, social cohesion and democratic stability;
• considers that women’s economic empowerment is indispensable to reducing poverty, achieving SDG 5 and SDG 8, and strengthening sustainable economic resilience;
• emphasises that investing in the care economy is not only a matter of social policy but also of sustainable economic development. The unequal distribution of unpaid care responsibilities remains a major structural barrier and requires continued investment in affordable, accessible and quality care services, alongside policies that promote work-life balance and a fairer sharing of care responsibilities;
• calls on the European Commission to perform a second EU voluntary review (VR) of the progress of the implementation of the SDGs in 2027, including the contributions of organised civil society, with the EESC standing ready to coordinate this work;
• highlights its recent work in support of EU priorities at the Commission on the Status of Women and stands ready to work with partners at national, EU and global level to transform commitments into concrete progress for all women and girls.