Staff member to take part in the UN Women’s Commission on the Status of Women

The School of Education’s Suse B. Bentley has been selected as one of the delegates to represent UN Women UK at the 67th National Commission on the Status of Women.

To be held online, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. 

During the Commission’s annual two-week session, representatives of UN Member States, civil society organizations and UN entities gather at UN headquarters in New York and online. They discuss progress and gaps in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on gender equality, and the 23rd special session of the General Assembly held in 2000 (Beijing+5), as well as emerging issues that affect gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Member States agree on further actions to accelerate progress and promote women’s enjoyment of their rights in political, economic, and social fields. This year’s priority theme for CSW67 is innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

Since 2021, UN Women UK has accepted applications for inclusive volunteer delegates to the online CSW and Suse has been a delegate each year since then. This year, UN Women UK has accepted its biggest number of delegates for CSW so far.

Suse coordinates the School of Education’s Curriculum Centre with a focus on increasing the range of diverse and inclusive resources available for use by the university’s education and teaching students as well as staff. Alongside her work in the Curriculum Centre, Suse is a leadership coach for women and a gender equity champion.

Suse said: “I’m so excited to again be a part of the UN Women UK delegation to CSW. Each year, getting involved in the two weeks of events, and seeing just how much incredible gender equity work is done globally, inspires me and boosts my own positivity and purpose on diversity and inclusion. It’s particularly interesting to find out more about regional and cultural challenges to education for girls.

“UN Women UK’s mission is to ensure every woman and girl has access to safety, choice and a voice; there’s a lot of work still to be done to get there, for example, UNICEF has reported that there are currently 129 million girls out of education worldwide, a particularly shocking number. If all of us can play a part in changing just that statistic, then that’s time well spent.”

Find out more about the UN Women UK’s work.