United Nations Commission on the Status of Women

This paper, written for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Human Rights, provides an overview of the history, structure and work of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). The paper discusses the establishment of the commission; the evolution of its work from 1946 on; its membership and meetings; how it handles petitions concerning the rights of women; the little-known appointments by the CSW of special rapporteurs; the interaction of the commission with other UN bodies; the role the commission has played in gender mainstreaming; its development of international treaties and other legal standards; and the studies it had conducted over the years. The paper also provides commentary on the status of the CSW within the UN system, and assesses of the impact of the commission.