Wendee Wechsberg to speak as the Special Distinguished Guest at the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women

The 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York March 12- 23, 2018. This year’s theme is "Empowering Rural Women and Girls," and RTI International’s Dr. Wendee Wechsberg has been chosen as the Special Distinguished Guest. Dr. Wechsberg, Director of the RTI Global Gender Center and Principal Researcher and Director of the RTI Substance Use, Gender and Applied Research Program, will present “Trends in Eliminating Global Gender Inequality.”

The Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It 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.

WomenNC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing young leaders to fight for the elimination of injustice against women and girls, will host a panel presentation at CSW62 entitled “Counties for CEDAW.” Dr. Wechsberg will participate with several other women’s rights advocates to discuss the implications in North Carolina of the historical passage of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly and is often described as an international bill of rights for women. This panel will discuss the implication of CEDAW in the United States and provide lessons learned to encourage others to promote the passage of CEDAW in their communities to eliminate gender disparities.