The sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 13 to 24 March 2017.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to attend the session. 

Themes

• Priority theme: 
  Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work
• Review theme:
  Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for women and girls (agreed conclusions of the fifty-eighth session)
• Emerging issue/Focus area:
  The empowerment of indigenous women

Bureau

The Bureau of the Commission plays a crucial role in facilitating the preparation for, and in ensuring the successful outcome of the annual sessions of the Commission. Bureau members serve for two years. In 2002, in order to improve its work and ensure continuity, the Commission decided to hold the first meeting of its subsequent session, immediately following the closure of the regular session, for the sole purpose of electing the new Chairperson and other members of the Bureau (ECOSOC decision 2002/234). 

The Bureau for the 61^st session (2017) of the Commission on the Status of Women comprises the following members:

• H.E. Mr. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (Brazil), Chair (Latin American and Caribbean States Group)
• Ms. Fatma Al Zahraa Hassan (Egypt), Vice-Chair (African States Group)
• Ms. Šejla Đurbuzović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Vice-Chair (Eastern European States Group)
• Mr. Jun Saito (Japan), Vice-Chair (Asia-Pacific States Group)
• Mr. Andreas Glossner (Germany), Vice-Chair (Western European and other States Group) 

Preparations

• Expert Group Meeting
  In preparation for the sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women convened an Expert Group Meeting on the priority theme: “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.” The Expert Group Meeting was held with the technical contribution and support of the International Labour Organization (ILO) at ILO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from 26 to 28 September 2016.

More information regarding the 61^st session (2017) of the Commission on the Status of Women to be uploaded as it becomes available.