Twenty years after the agreements achieved at the World Conference in Beijing, the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York brings together members of the international community to review the advances made over the last two decades and to adopt a new Platform for Action within the framework of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

 

Representatives from Catalan organizations participating in the forum included the director of the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD), Ms. Marta Macías, the director of the Catalan Women’s Institute (ICD), Ms. Núria Balada, and more than twenty other members from the National Women’s Council of Catalonia (CNDC).

 

The Barcelona City Council Representative for Women and Civil Rights and Chair of the Municipal Women's Council, Ms. Francina Vila, also co-led the forum’s conference on “Urban Digital Women”, which addressed the role of technology in empowering women in cities.

 

On Tuesday, the Delegate of the Government of Catalonia to the United States, Dr. Andrew Davis, held a special reception for the members of the Catalan organizations participating in the forum. Speaking before the group, Delegate Davis “congratulated them on their fine work” and expressed his hopes that their on-going efforts will continue to spur positive change for the condition of women and gender equality, both in Catalonia and around the world.

 

The representatives of the participating Catalan organizations voiced great optimism that this year’s forum will allow for new political accords between U.N. member states that go beyond the declared Platform for Action.