CSW70 Side Event on Strengthening Access to Justice for All Women and Girls: What more can we do to protect the women who give their lives to save others?

CONCEPT NOTE

Side event Commission on the Status of Women 70

Strengthening access to justice for all women and girls: What more can we do to protect the women who give their lives to save others?

Co-sponsored by the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Mission of Australia to the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations in New York

Co-hosted by Legal Action Worldwide, Action Against Hunger, Protect Aid Workers, Protect Humanitarians, Global Interagency Security Forum

Date: 11 March 2026 | Time: 14:30 - 16:00 EDT

Location: Delegation of the European Union to the UN in New York, 666 Third Avenue, 31st Floor, Room 2, New York, NY 10017, USA

Background

CSW70’s priority theme focuses 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. This includes the women who protect all women and girls. Women and women-led organisations are very often at the frontline of the delivery of humanitarian services. They are well embedded in the communities, and ready to act and react when their community is under threat. They are the first point of contact for other women and girls. They are the first point of contact for other women and girls, especially in a context of increasing violations of women’s rights in particular in conflict, the examples are many: Sudan, Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine.

Despite this, the gendered impact of violence against humanitarian personnel is critically underreported, and very little analysis is currently available on violence targeting women and women-led organisations, who appear to be particularly affected when delivering humanitarian services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence. In 2019, sexual violence was used in 8% of all attacks involving female victims, but data on sexual violence and gender-differentiated analysis is weak and rare across the sector.  

Building upon the global focus on improving accountability for attacks on and deaths of humanitarian personnel, the European Union, Australia, Switzerland, have committed to upholding and championing international humanitarian law (IHL) and driving action to protect humanitarian personnel in conflict zones. 111 States have signed the Australia led Declaration on the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel. In the Declaration, States “recognise gender equality as fundamental to equitable and gender-responsive humanitarian assistance”, and commit to ensure the full, equal, safe and meaningful participation of female humanitarian personnel […]”. In his recommendations following UNSC 2730 (2024), passed almost unanimously in November 2024, the Secretary General added, for the first time, several references to the importance of access to legal services for humanitarian personnel. While the resolution mentions the “importance of full, equal, safe and meaningful participation of women in humanitarian and United Nations activities” and deep concern at “the significant number of reported sexual assaults against both male and female United Nations personnel”, gendered considerations are not included in the Secretary-General’s recommendations.

Objectives

While women and women-led organisations, especially in conflict context, are disproportionally affected by sexual violence and gendered attacks, access to specialised, holistic legal services is close to non-existent, impairing significantly their ability to seek any form of justice and accountability. Specialised, gender-sensitive, survivor centred and trauma informed protection, legal and psychosocial services are urgently needed, and survivors must be at the centre of all initiatives, discussions and decision making.

Access to legal services, eliminating structural barriers and promoting inclusive laws, policies and practices through bilateral diplomatic engagement and multilateral advocacy led by victims, survivors, and humanitarian organisations themselves is crucial to increase the protection of humanitarian personnel, and particularly women. The panellists, humanitarians, survivors, experts, will share their perspectives on gender-based violence affecting women humanitarian personnel, and the gendered impact of violence affecting humanitarian personnel generally. They will discuss their recommendations on what more concrete actions must be undertaken.

Opening remarks

• Ms. Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality; Preparedness and Crisis Management 

Panel discussion moderated by Ms. Stephanie Fillion, United Nations Correspondent 

• Ms. Antonia Mulvey, Executive Director, Legal Action Worldwide 
• Ms. Hanin Ahmed, Representative, Sudanese Emergency Response Rooms 
• Ms. Jeanne Frangieh, Director, Association Himaya Daeem Aataa  

Special interventions by

• Ms. Francess Piagie Alghali, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone 

Closing remarks 

• Ms. Michelle O’Byrne, Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality 

  ^ Stoddard, A., Harvey, P., Czwarno, M., & Breckenridge, M. (2019). Aid Worker Security Report 2019, Speakable: Addressing sexual violence and gender-based risk in humanitarian aid. Humanitarian Outcomes, June.