Minister for Equality concludes UN Commission visit

The Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento, has concluded her visit to the United Nations sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The CSW is the leading annual conference on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and welcomes close to five thousand delegates from Member States, UN entities and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from all regions of the world.

According to a Gibraltar Government statement Ms Sacramento, who attended the CSW with the UK delegation, had a full programme of meetings and activities.

She was accompanied by Marlene Dalli, Policy Development Officer at the Ministry of Equality.

Ms Sacramento attended a number of sessions relevant to her Ministerial portfolio of Equality.

Of particular importance were the following sessions: ‘The Council of Europe Istanbul Convention: a Global Instrument for Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Girls,’ ‘The Gender Pay Gap’, ‘Inclusive Public Services for LGBTI Persons’ and ‘Working with Youth to Combat Gender- Based Violence.’

Ms Sacramento said: “The United Nations Commission of the Status of Women is the most important global conference on gender equality.”

“It is vital for Gibraltar to be represented at events like CSW, given the opportunities for establishing and cementing links with other governmental and NGO representatives from across the world.”

“Leading practitioners of and experts in gender equality and women’s rights convene at CSW and, therefore, I believe that Gibraltar and officers from the Department of Equality must be part of the global conversation.”