The Metropolis International Women’s Network took part once again in the 58 Commission on the Status of Women organized by UN Women and held in New York from 10 to 21 March 2014. The 58th Commission session was attended by the Metropolis delegation comprising the Vice-President of Abidjan, representatives of the Abidjan Antenna and the Metropolis International Women’s Network coordinator, who used the occasion to meet with UN Women delegates to address upcoming joint projects.

The main conclusions from the event included:

• The Commission reaffirms that gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and enjoyment of their human rights and the eradication of poverty are essential to economic and social development, including the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals. The Commission notes the universal context of gender equality and recognizes that almost fifteen years after the  Millennium Development Goals were launched, no country has achieved equality for women and girls, and significant levels of inequality between women and men persist, although the Millennium Development Goals are important in efforts to eradicate poverty and of key importance to the international community. The Commission reaffirms the vital role of women as agents of development, and recognizes that gender equality and the empowerment of women must be achieved to realize the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals and accelerate sustainable development beyond 2015.
• The Commission (…) stresses that investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity, efficiency and sustained economic growth and that women's economic independence is vital (…)  to the achievement of the  Millennium Development Goals including to the eradication of poverty.
• The Commission is deeply concerned that overall progress for women and girls (…) remains slow and uneven (…) and that lack of progress on gender equality has hindered progress towards all of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Commission calls for all important and involved agents to carry out the following actions:

A.    Realizing women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of all human rights

B.     Strengthening the enabling environment for gender equality and the empowerment of women

C.     Maximizing investments in gender equality and the empowerment of women

D.    Strengthening the evidence-base for gender equality and the empowerment of women

E.     Ensuring women’s participation and leadership at all levels and strengthening accountability

See the complete conclusions here (pdf).