CSW70: Pushing Back and Advancing Action on Ending GBV
Joint Analysis from the ACT to End Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Advocacy & Communications Working Group
Overview
The 70th session of the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) took place from the 9th to 19th March in the face of increasing global backsliding on gender equality. This year’s priority theme ‘Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers’, and its review theme ‘Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’ felt especially urgent, as structural faults in justice systems around the world are being shown to repeatedly fail survivors and normalise violence against women and girls.
Despite ongoing backsliding and clear attempts by a small group of Member States to roll back hard-won gains on gender equality, CSW70 served as a space where resistance and solidarity remained visible. While a majority of Member States continue to express commitment to ending gender-based violence (GBV), the process also underscored the fragility of these gains and the growing strain on multilateral consensus. This joint analysis reflects key outcomes and insights from CSW70 in the context of ending GBV across five areas:
The absence of many civil society and women’s rights organisations was felt across CSW70 meetings and events. Newly introduced US entry requirements for a number of countries, including the payment of expensive bonds to secure US visas, significantly limited the participation of many GBV experts and activists. For example, The Alliance Féministe Francophone (AFF), in partnership with the Mukwege Foundation, initially planned to support a delegation of 11 francophone survivors of conflict-related sexual violence to advocate on access to justice from West and Central Africa. However, only 1 out of the 11 survivors was able to travel because she already held a valid US visa, predating the introduction of these measures.
These US visa restrictions coupled with significant funding cuts and an intensifying backlash against civil society in multilateral spaces led many organisations to take the difficult decision not to participate in CSW70. In their statement ‘AWID at CSW70: Claiming Power, Refusing “Business as Usual’, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) cited ‘escalating border violence, security risks of travel and presence in the US’ as a major concern for the safety of staff members. This led AWID, among other reasons, to the decision to ‘organise differently’ and counter the ‘inaccessibility of global policy spaces with new forms of connection, mobilization, and political learning’.
Security and safeguarding measures were significantly heightened at CSW70. Many events were strictly invite-only, with venues disclosed only upon confirmed RSVP. This reflects a growing trend to actively mitigate the presence of far-right actors who have increasingly targeted multilateral human rights spaces, and to try and safeguard CSW as a secure environment for meaningful connection, collaboration, and strategic organising.
While for many activists and advocates their global participation was more restricted this year, there was strong engagement and important momentum achieved at the regional meetings leading into CSW70. Across regions, governments reaffirmed commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action and SDG 5 on Gender Equality, while highlighting persistent gaps driven by rising backlash, shrinking civic space, and significant funding shortfalls. Ending violence against women and girls remained a central priority, with increased focus on access to justice, accountability, and survivor-centred approaches. Regional dialogues also elevated emerging issues – including the care economy, climate justice, and technology-facilitated violence – while emphasising the need to strengthen collaboration between governments, civil society, and UN actors.
For the first time in its history, CSW failed to reach consensus on the Agreed Conclusions, forcing a vote for their adoption. Despite attempts by a small group of Member States to reopen agreed language and weaken commitments to the rights of women and girls in all their diversity, the text was ultimately adopted with overwhelming cross-regional support. In the current geopolitical context, this outcome reflects both the resilience of multilateralism and the continued relevance of the Commission’s mandate. At the same time, it exposes growing fractures within these systems and the real risks they pose for civil society, women’s rights organisations, and survivors at the forefront of efforts to end GBV.
In the lead up to CSW70, many organisations, coalitions, and networks through the ACT to End Violence Against Women and Girls platform joined forces to advocate for a shared global advocacy agenda that would result in stronger action on GBV prevention and access to justice. This shared agenda drew on recent research and global consultations with more than 150 women’s rights organisations, calling on Member States to ensure justice systems are effective and survivor-centred, and that feminist movements at the frontlines are resourced and protected. These priorities were captured in the joint ACT CSW70 Policy Brief which includes recommendations for strengthening access to justice.
A number of these shared advocacy agenda priorities were reflected in the the Agreed Conclusions, with key outcomes including:
Despite these strong commitments towards GBV, there was a clear weakening in other areas due to significant pressure from a small group of countries, in particular towards language that linked access to justice and sexual and reproductive health and rights, and crucially around bodily autonomy and accountability.
Against the concerning backdrop of the negotiations towards the Agreed Conclusions, other high-level events at CSW70 saw Member States firmly holding the line on their commitments to end GBV. For example, during the first ever High-Level Meeting on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) at CSW, many Member States affirmed the prioritisation of ending violence. Bold statements were heard from governments across regions – from Brazil, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste – with further calls for strengthened solidarity and continued commitment to working together as part of the Member State Group of Friends on EVAWG. The strong showing of Member State commitments echoed the findings from the UN Secretary General’s Beijing +30 report last year that EVAWG is a priority for 88% of countries, a clear majority.
Alongside the many Member States holding the line on ending gender-based violence (GBV) as a core priority, civil society and women’s rights organisations ensured that CSW70 remained a space for strategy, solidarity, and collective resolve. Across side events, receptions, and meetings, there were strong and consistent calls for deeper collaboration, greater cross-movement solidarity, bolder action, and sustained resourcing to push back against growing backlash and funding cuts. The ACT to End Violence Against Women programme brought together partners and allies to strengthen coordination and advocacy efforts, helping to amplify the work of women’s rights movements on the front lines of advancing justice and eliminating all forms of violence against women. Similarly, the recently launched All In: Global Leaders for Ending Gender-Based Violence initiative has worked to elevate GBV as a visible and solvable issue, mobilising leaders across sectors, geographies, and lived experiences to use their collective voice for change. One representative from a women’s rights organisation working on GBV prevention described the experience of attending CSW70 as “a glimmer of light in a climate of opposition.”
Significant funding cuts affecting civil society, women’s rights organisations, and feminist movements working to end GBV were a central theme across CSW70 events and discussions. While some governments and funders made strong statements and new financial commitments—such as Germany’s €3.3 million pledge—these fall far short of what is needed. Despite a clear and growing evidence base on what works to prevent GBV, including from the What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Programme, the level of investment required to scale these approaches remains critically insufficient.
As CSW70 opened in New York, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, genocide in Gaza, and escalating tensions in the SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) region were at the forefront of the minds of many participants. With a growing number of political leaders and governments increasing their military spending — recent data indicates that global military spending in 2025 was around USD2.6–$2.7 trillion — funding has shifted away from international development and the resourcing of women’s rights organisations and movements at the forefront of GBV prevention and response. In several CSW70 events, UN Women’s recent report At Risk and Underfunded: How Funding Cuts are Threatening Efforts to EVAWG was repeatedly quoted. This report highlights that in the past year, 90% of women’s rights organisations have reported reduced access to essential services for women and girls; only 5% believe they can sustain operations for 2+ years; and 34% have already suspended or shut down EVAWG programmes.
The UN Trust Fund launched its new 5 year strategic plan, prioritising increased, flexible funding for community-based, women-led organisations to combat rising violence. It aims to raise USD150 million to support initiatives tackling tech-facilitated violence and to strengthen survivor services in crisis settings. At the launch, the UN Trust Fund also announced that it had received a USD2.1 billion demand for funding towards GBV programmes and services in its current round of funding applications. This clearly demonstrates the scale of the resourcing crisis for many organisations working to end GBV around the world, and how far short the funding that has been allocated will fall – with a staggering USD1.95 billion of requests being left unfunded from just one Fund.
In addition to spotlighting the widening resourcing gap for GBV prevention programmes and services, there were strong calls from many women’s funds, women’s rights organisations, and several Member States to ensure funding is directed to the organisations and movements on the frontlines of ending GBV in their communities. This call was echoed by several Member States, including the Kiribati Minister for Women, Youth, Sport and Social Affairs — Ruth Cross Kwansing — who stated ‘fund directly, not intermediaries’ during the CSW70 event ‘Putting Access into Access to Justice: Why Financing Women’s Rights Organizations Is Essential to Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’.
Unsurprisingly there continues to be significant concern towards the UN system-wide reforms that are being driven by fiscal pressures and austerity measures. While there is an opportunity to strengthen the multilateral system through these reform measures — making it more accountable and fit for purpose — the general consensus from the majority of civil society and women’s rights organisations, and many Member States, is that there is much at stake. There is the real risk that these reforms will weaken multilateral institutions and the global gender architecture further, and this will result in further backsliding on GBV commitments and investments.
While CSW70 saw political pushback on ‘gender’ language during the negotiations — with one Member State introducing a proposed package of amendments to the Agreed Conclusions that sought to roll back previously agreed language on gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and related frameworks—– in other high-level spaces there were pointed references to ‘ending GBV’ instead of using more ‘politically safe’ and negotiated language of ‘ending violence against women and girls’. For example, during the 5-Year Anniversary High-Level Side Event from the Group of Friends on EVAWG, the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA repeatedly referred to GBV in his closing statement.
There were also clear narrative shifts, amplified by this year’s CSW70 theme on access to justice, linking GBV with democracy, peace and security. This emphasis is being carried through to the upcoming Global Ministerial Feminist Foreign Policy Conference in Madrid (2 – 3 June 2026) where the thematic focus will be ‘peace and democracy’. Similarly, technology-facilitated GBV is now firmly recognised as a global priority and was included in the Agreed Conclusions, with many Member States acknowledging its scale, speed, and cross-border nature. AI was further highlighted as both a risk and an opportunity — able to amplify harm (e.g. deepfakes, harassment) but also support prevention, detection, and response.
While narratives are evolving and shifting in response to current political backsliding on gender equality, familiar frameworks remain prominent in CSW70 negotiations and events – for example references to the SDGs. For many Member States, civil society, and women’s rights organisations, this global framework continues to carry significant weight. With just four years remaining until the 2030 endpoint, there were strong calls to maintain a shared focus on these targets and ensure accountability for delivery. Senior UN leaders repeatedly referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as a historic cornerstone that sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. Civil society and women’s rights organisations also repeatedly reminded Member States of their mandate to engage in these multilateral processes through established mechanisms such as the Major Groups and Other Stakeholders.
In the face of global backsliding on gender equality, strong and vocal allies across Member States and global philanthropy emerged at CSW70. For example, the President of the General Assembly (PGA), Ms. Annalena Braebock, has underscored her priorities to include gender and climate; the Government of Spain committed more funding to gender equality and issued a strong call to Member States to attend the next Global Ministerial Feminist Foreign Policy Conference in Madrid with ‘concrete commitments and actions on Feminist Foreign Policy and gender equality’; and philanthropic actors – including the Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Vital Voices – demonstrated continued leadership on GBV, focusing on mobilising resources and supporting feminist movements. Specifically in the area of GBV, very visible and emerging allies included the governments of Brazil, Kiribati, Sierra Leone, and Timor Leste who brought clear political commitment with concrete action and calls for strengthened global solidarity.
As many look ahead to the remainder of 2026 and beyond, there are clear signals of progress and hope for ending GBV – despite shifting political and resourcing contexts. These moments include the Women Deliver Conference in Narrm (Melbourne, Australia) in April where GBV is a prominent and cross-cutting theme, and also features a dedicated GBV Pre-Conference; the Global Ministerial Feminist Foreign Policy and Gender Conference in Madrid in June building on last year’s Ministerial Conference in Paris where 31 governments signed up to bold commitments for ending GBV; the High-Level Political Forum in July where Member States report on their SDG5 (Gender Equality) commitments and progress; the UK’s new leadership of the G20 where GBV became a priority under the presidencies of Brazil and South Africa; and the UK Government’s establishment of a bold mandate for women and girls in their foreign policy priorities – amongst others!
These are critical opportunities to show up with collective courage and to build on the momentum of CSW70 — ensuring that ending GBV in our lifetimes remains a political, financial, and global priority. At a time of intensifying backlash and shrinking resources, sustained, coordinated action across governments, civil society, and funders will be essential. As the Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC) — a global, intersectional feminist coalition of over 800 organisations, networks, and individuals — reminds us: “progress within multilateral spaces is neither automatic nor permanent, and gains require sustained defence, accountability, and vigilance.”
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If you would like to find out more about the ACT Strategic Advocacy and Communications Working Group and the ACT to End Violence Against Women programme, please contact freya@preventgbv.org