Mercy Focuses on Access to Justice during CSW70

The 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) took place at United Nations Headquarters in New York City from 9 to 19 March 2026.

Grounded in a strong civil society presence, the session focused on “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” through both formal negotiations and vibrant feminist organizing around the UN.

MELF Cohort 5, visiting staff from Mercy International Association, and MGA staff joined thousands of participants from around the world, engaging in a wide range of events. Inside the UN, official plenary meetings were complemented by side events and parallel events co-organized by governments, UN agencies, and NGOs, highlighting issues such as legal empowerment, accountability for gender-based violence, and access to justice for women in vulnerable situations. Taken together, CSW70 offered civil society a crucial space to share evidence from the grassroots, build cross-movement alliances, and collectively push for more just and gender-responsive legal systems worldwide.

Mercy International Association contributed to the following parallel events:

"Gender Justice Beyond Borders: Mobilizing for Collective Action on Migration," organized by the Center for Migration, Gender, and Justice, where MGA Global Policy & Research Advocate, Cecilie Kern spoke as a panelist.

“Crossing Borders, Claiming Rights: Gender-Responsive Approaches to Migration,” organized by the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, where Cecilie was the keynote speaker.

One of the highlights of the CSW was the traditional civil society town hall meeting with the UN Secretary-General. At the town hall, MELF fellow Tatiana Diaz had the chance to ask how the United Nations will promote the role of civil society amid growing authoritarianism. This led to a passionate response from the Secretary-General, who said that decision-making processes, including those at the UN, are enhanced, strengthened, and made more effective by the participation of civil society. This was Antonio Guterres’ final CSW as Secretary-General of the United Nations, as he will complete his second term at the end of 2026. The election of the next Secretary-General will take place later this year, and there is a growing push for the United Nations to choose the first female Secretary-General in its 80-year history.

Next year, the Commission on the Status of Women will explore the Priority Theme "Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Later this year, the Mercy Global Action team will draft a written statement on this theme, and will invite people from the global Mercy community to share how they see their work to advance gender equality intersects with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

ENDS