Opening of 70th Commission on Status of Women

Maritza Chan Valverde (centre), Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations and Chair of the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, chairs the opening of Seventieth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. At left is Secretary-General António Guterres and at right is Cherith Norman Chalet, Assistant Secretary‑General for General Assembly and Conference Management in the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM).

The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 9 to 19 March 2026. The priority theme for the Commission is: 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. The review theme is: Women's full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.