The United Nations Women Committee at ILYMUN 2025
Eva Black
United Nations Women is an “entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.”¹ Four different bodies existed within the UN system that dealt with issues related to women. These were the Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, and the UN Development Fund for Women. In 2010, these institutions merged together to form UN Women, an organisation which covers a plethora of topics approached with a gender-centred perspective. Every year, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) gathers to discuss gender inequalities, to address stereotypes and to advance women’s rights. Two weeks in March are dedicated to conferences, speeches and debates about how to improve opportunities for women all around the world. Member states of the CSW are elected for a duration of four years, and include countries from all continents. There will be a UN Women committee present at ILYMUN 2025, chaired by Bo Black and Charvi Shree Sammeta, that will explore various issues surrounding women on a global scale, notably equality for all and the representation of women in politics.
The CSW in 2019.
Credits: UN Women/Ryan Brown
Equality for all
“Equality for All” is an essential topic this year, as it is a reminder that issues surrounding women are not just “women’s issues”: they are human issues, which should be addressed by everyone, because no progress will be made if only half the population believes in the cause. Furthermore, this fits in with ILYMUN’s general theme for 2025, “Democracy and Security in a World of Conflicts”. In many places today, it is still difficult for women to vote, and female-to-male ratios in governments worldwide do not reflect how real populations are constituted. One of the UN Women committee's goals will be to increase women’s involvement in democracy. Moreover, women and girls are increasingly affected by wars and conflicts: “In 2023, the proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubled compared to 2022.”² Hence, the committee will talk about improving security for women and girls during wars, in such a way that all civilians are equally protected.
The Representation of Women in Politics
From women having the right to vote to countries electing female leaders, significant advancements have been made when it comes to representing women in politics. For instance, the share of women in parliament around the world has more than doubled between 1997 and 2023.⁴ However, only 6 countries in the world have 50% or more women in parliament.³ This is why the representation of women in politics is a vital subject: because although the situation is slowly improving, politics still remains a field largely dominated by men. Stereotypes such as women being “overly emotional” or “irrational” reinforce the idea that men should be in power. If women are to have a greater role in democracy and in the implementation of peace, they need to hold a greater place in politics, and these stereotypes need to be forgotten. Global superpowers such as China, France, Russia and the USA are all yet to be led by a woman, which just goes to show that this debate needs to take place, as the future of women worldwide depends on it.
Conclusion
Although conditions are arguably improving for women overall, there is still a lot of progress to be made concerning equality for all as well as the representation of women in world politics. This is why there will be a UN Women committee at ILYMUN this year that will debate these topics under the encompassing theme of “Democracy and Security in a World of Conflicts”.
¹UN Women. (n.d.). About UN Women. [online] Available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women.
²UN Women. (n.d.). Facts and figures: Women’s leadership and political participation | What we do. [online] Available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures#_edn8.
³UN Women (2024). War on women – Proportion of women killed in armed conflicts doubles in 2023 | UN Women – Headquarters. [online] UN Women – Headquarters. Available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2024/10/war-on-women-women-killed-in-armed-conflicts-double-in-2023.
⁴World Bank (2021). Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) | Data. [online] Worldbank.org. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sg.gen.parl.zs.
