54th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women Begins

A meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women began this week in New York City. According to the Division for the Advancement of Women, the meeting will conduct a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and focus on "the sharing of experiences and good practices, with a view to overcoming remaining obstacles and new challenges."

The Commission was established in 1946 with the intent to "prepare recommendations and reports to the Council on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields." It also makes recommendations to the Council on imperative problems requiring immediate consideration in the field of women's rights and has been expanded to "include the functions of promoting the objectives of equality, development and peace, monitoring the implementation of measures for the advancement of women, and reviewing and appraising progress made at the national, subregional, regional, and global levels."

The US delegation to the meeting includes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, Ambassador-at-large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer, and seven others.