Research Guides: Women and Gender Equality: UN Documents & Organs

UN Publications on Gender Equality

UN iLibrary collection of UN content on Gender Equality
Browse the UNiLibrary collection of books related to this year’s review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action- including an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established by ECOSOC resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946. It is the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women.

Multi-year programme of work of the Commission on the Status of Women : resolution / adopted by ECOSOC (2015-2016 : New York) Resolution

Commission on the Status of Women Report on the sixtieth session (20 March 2015 and 14-24 March 2016) Report

CSW Research Guide prepared by Dag Hammarskjöld Library

Recent sessions:

Collections of documents from Expert Group meetings in preparation of the CSW programme of work, 1996-2011 (on UN Women Watch)

CSW social media: Facebook / Twitter: @UN_CSW

World Conferences on Women

First (Mexico City, 1975) / Second (Copenhagen, 1980) / Third (Nairobi, 1985) /
Fourth (Beijing, 1995) : Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

Read more about the Beijing and its follow-up (UN Women).

History of the Commission

E/RES/11(II) of 21 June 1946 conferred upon the Sub Commission on the Status of Women (1st sess. report: Founding Resolution E/38/Rev.1) the status of a full commission.

Read more about the History of the Commission on UN Women Watch.

UN Women

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women was created in July 2010, when the General Assembly voted unanimously to merge four distinct parts of the UN System that focused on gender equality and women's empowerment (A/RES/64/289)

UN Women Official Documents (UNDocs Catalog search)

UN Women publications:

UN Women social media: Youtube / Twitter / Facebook

UN Reference Works

The United Nations and the Advancement of Women, 1945-1996
Call Number: DPI/1804 Location:UN Corner B.121
Publication Date: 1996, UN Blue Books Series ; no. 6
This comprehensive reference work chronicles the ground-breaking efforts of the United Nations in promoting recognition of women's fundamental human rights, codifying those rights in legally binding international agreements & fostering greater understanding of women's central role in peace-building & in economic & social development. Reproduced in this volume are more than 100 conventions, declarations & other key documents addressing political & family life, poverty, violence against women & equal access to education, employment & health care.
Women, Development, and the UN by Devaki Jain; Foreword by Amartya K. Sen
Call Number: 341.271:140 J255 Location:UN Corner B.121
Publication Date: 2005, UN Intellectual History Project
Synthesizing insights from the extensive literature on women and development and from her own broad experience, internationally noted development economist and activist Devaki Jain reviews the evolution of the UN's programs aimed at benefiting the women of developing nations and the impact of women's ideas about rights, equality, and social justice on UN thinking and practice regarding development. The book highlights the contributions of the four global women's conferences in Mexico City, Copenhagen, Nairobi, and Beijing in raising awareness, building confidence, spreading ideas, and creating alliances.