This year, the international community gathered in New York for the 69th UN Commission on the Status of Women and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. UN delegates and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women discussed challenges to implementing the Platform for Action, advancing gender equality, and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Global Connections
International Impact
AAUW works to advance equality for women and girls across the globe. Barriers still keep education, economic security and leadership out of reach for millions. Support and access to resources, education, health care and job opportunities are essential to give women pathways to thrive.
AAUW has awarded fellowships and grants to 15,000 women in more than 150 countries. Our work also supports and is aligned with UN Women, the UN, the U.S. Department of State and multiple global coalitions to improve the status of women and girls throughout the world.
69th UN Commission on the Status of Women/NGO Committee on the Status of Women
March 19, 2025
AAUW NGOCSW Parallel Event - Innovation & Advancement: The Power of Women in STEM
AAUW’s virtual parallel event moderated by Gloria L. Blackwell, featured a panel of four outstanding AAUW fellowships & grants alumnae — Catherine Adelman, Dr. Christine Marizzi, Dr. Rachel Marra, and Yamilée Toussaint. Panelists discussed the critical need for strategies that inspire and educate girls to choose STEM careers and how to remove barriers to increase the participation and empowerment of women across these underrepresented fields.
AAUW Special Consultative Status with U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Through AAUW’s special consultative status with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, we attend briefings, organize events, and participate in coalitions to take action on issues that impact girls and women, including access to education and training, leadership, women’s economic security, opportunities in STEM, ending human trafficking and working with the NGO Committee on the Status of Women and the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
AAUW UN Representatives
Gloria L. Blackwell, AAUW Chief Executive Officer and Main Representative to the UN
CEO Blackwell has extensive career experience which includes leading all of AAUW’s global work over 15 years. Prior to joining AAUW she was the director of Africa education programs at the Institute of International Education (IIE) managing multiple girls’ education programs in sub-Saharan Africa. She also managed fellowships programs during her decade at IIE and has held positions as a Peace Corps staff member and volunteer in Africa. She holds a master’s degree in education and human development from George Washington University, a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Georgetown University, and studied at the American University of Paris. She is committed to supporting opportunities and advancement for women and girls globally. Follow Gloria on LinkedIn and learn more about her here.
Kyra Szabo, AAUW United Nations Youth Representative
Kyra Szabo is a senior at Lehigh University, majoring in global studies with a double minor in business and anthropology. At Lehigh, Kyra is a global social impact fellow working on food production to fight malnutrition and stunted growth in Sierra Leone. Kyra is dedicated to ensuring that every person, no matter their gender or socioeconomic status, is given equal access and opportunities for success.
Shirina Rong, AAUW Youth Representative to the UN
Shirina Rong is a freshman at Lehigh University, pursuing a major in Financial Engineering with a double minor in Computer Science and Gender Studies. At Lehigh, Shirina serves as a Global Social Impact Fellow and helps students in Kazakhstan develop sustainable habits. She is the Director of Internal Relations for Lehigh Consulting Group, a club that gives pro bono consulting advice to local businesses. Shirina is passionate about exploring the intersections of technology, gender studies, and cultural understanding to promote equity and inclusivity in an interconnected world.
Anna Van Riesen, AAUW Youth Representative to the UN
Anna Van Riesen is a freshman at Lehigh University pursuing a double major in political science and history. Anna serves as President of Phi Alpha Delta (the pre-law fraternity) and Vice President of Programming for the World Affairs Club. Anna is passionate about educational policy, gender equity, and political philosophy.
From left to right: Kyra Szabo, Shirina Rong, Gloria Blackwell, and Anna Van Riesen at Lehigh University
March 2025
Lehigh University
In March 2025, AAUW UN youth representatives Shirina Rong, Kyra Szabo, and Anna Van Riesen welcomed CEO Gloria Blackwell to the Lehigh University campus in Bethlehem, PA. The youth representatives organized and led an engaging panel discussion— featuring Blackwell and other nonprofit leaders —on gender equity, advocacy, and the importance of NGO collaboration with the United Nations. During her visit, Gloria connected with students from the AAUW Lehigh Branch and local AAUW members.
From left to right: Shirina Rong, Kyra Szabo, and Anna Van Riesen at NGOCSW 69 in New York, New York.
NGOCSW 69 Parallel Event
The AAUW United Nations Youth Representatives hosted an in-person parallel event at NGOCSW 69 that showcased the vital role of policy and advocacy in promoting gender equality in governance and peacebuilding. Attendees engaged in meaningful discussions on the importance of women’s leadership in peace processes, the challenges they face in negotiations, and strategies for overcoming barriers such as cultural resistance and political inertia. The event highlighted how AAUW’s advocacy and training initiatives continue to empower women to shape sustainable peace and foster equitable governance worldwide.
Our United Nations Affiliations
AAUW has special consultative status with ECOSOC, which initiates reports, makes recommendations, and promotes respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the UN body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is key in promoting women’s rights, providing data on the status of women’s lives around the world, and implementing strategies on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Every year AAUW attends this two-week convening of member states, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited nongovernmental organizations from all regions of the world.
For two weeks in March, the UN turns the focus of the United Nations toward gender-related issues worldwide. At the same time, civil society is given the opportunity to participate in the NGO (nongovernmental organization) CSW Forum. Joining thousands of women representing more than 100 nations, AAUW UN representatives and staff present AAUW research and programs that help girls and women advance throughout the world.
Watch AAUW’s parallel event at the 68th NGO CSW Forum, “Busting Myths & Enhancing Support: Advancing Workplace Success for Women.”
The Civil Society Unit is within the Outreach Division in the United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC). The Civil Society Unit develops partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs) and enhances the engagement of CSOs with the UN through informational briefings, events, and programs.
This department works to advance the global agenda on women’s rights, gender equality, and the empowerment of women and to ensure that women’s voices are heard in international policy arenas.
CoNGO is an independent, international, and nonprofit membership association of nongovernmental organizations whose objective is to secure, safeguard, and facilitate the participation and consultative relationships of NGOs in United Nations decision making, conferences, and debates.
AAUW participates in coalitions and working groups at the United Nations, including the Working Group on Girls, and U.S. Women’s Caucus.
IVLP program attendees and AAUW staff
International Visitor Leadership Program
AAUW partners with and regularly hosts groups from the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.
Professional Fellows Program
AAUW partners with the United States Department of State in their Professional Fellows Program (PFP), a two-way, global exchange program designed to promote mutual understanding, enhance leadership and professional skills, as well as build lasting, sustainable partnerships between mid-level emerging leaders from foreign countries and the United States.
Fatima Ezzahra Draiss, 2024 Professional Fellow
Fatima Ezzahra Draiss, 2024 Professional Fellow
“There are few moments in our journey when we encounter life-changing experiences — the ones that lead you to new endeavors and open waves of knowledge, opportunities, or enriching networks. For me, my experience within the AAUW was all of that. After 6 years of working in Moroccan non-profits, collaborating with different stakeholders as a professional program manager, I was ready to be exposed to the international ecosystem, more specifically in the United States, and I couldn’t ask for a better option than AAUW, with its history of over 140 years, empowering young women around the world through economic security, education, and advocacy.
Being mentored by Gloria Blackwell through the fellowship was beneficial in many ways. I had the opportunity to learn more about the work of each department at AAUW, connect with the NGO community, and have a weekly conversation with my mentor on many topics related to the economic challenges faced by girls and women, but most importantly, the challenge of building sustainable NGO models that can ensure a lasting positive impact in one’s community.
This inspired me to do research for my final project of my master’s studies on adapting sustainable models of international NGOs in Morocco, using the knowledge and insights I learned from AAUW to help build a sustainable framework that can be useful for the Moroccan context.”
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2023
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime marks July 30 as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness and strengthen global efforts for the prevention and elimination of human trafficking. The 2023 theme, “Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind,” centers survivors in these efforts.
Leave No One Behind: Combatting Global Human Trafficking
AAUW Chief Executive Officer Gloria L. Blackwell was joined by AAUW fellowships expert alumna Dr. Laura Dean, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin University, for an informative discussion on work to combat human trafficking globally and in the United States.
A Global Commitment
“Along with our international fellowships, which AAUW has been awarding for over a century, we really have been engaged as an organization in international gender equity issues for as long as the organization has been around. … One of the things that we want to constantly demonstrate is that we do have a commitment not only to gender equity for those in our own country, but our commitment spans the globe.”
