(Photo: UN Women)

Despite the global climate becoming more challenging for gender equality, the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) delivered key wins for trade unions and the women’s rights movement.

The Political Declaration reaffirmed the bold commitments of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action , first adopted in 1995. It reinforces the importance of human rights for every woman and girl, no matter where they live or who they are.

Some of the key victories covered the areas of:

• Decent work: Governments are urged to stand by international labour standards, ensuring equal pay for equal work, fighting workplace discrimination, and promoting the right to organise and bargain collectively. Plus, there's a push to transition informal jobs into stable, formal work with real rights and protections.
• Care economy: The Declaration calls for better pay, recognition, and improved working conditions. There’s also a push for more public investment in care systems and paid leave policies—helping women juggle work and caregiving responsibilities.
• Social protection: A stronger commitment to gender-responsive social protection systems ensures that women in vulnerable or informal work have access to the same essential protections as everyone else.
• Trade union recognition: Governments recognise trade unions as key stakeholders and the need to protect the right of civil society, including unions, to operate freely.

At the same time, the trade union delegation at CSW 69 condemns the systematic attempts from a number of governments to water-down the text. A reference to “sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” was deleted in the final version of the Declaration, despite being a key element of gender equality.

The global labour movement will continue to fight for gender equality and will hold governments accountable for turning Declation’s commitments into action to ensure that working women see tangible improvements in their rights, working conditions, and access to social protection.