Every year, thousands of people gather in New York for a very important global meeting called the Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW. This meeting discusses how to protect and improve the rights of women and girls around the world.
In March 2026, the 70th session, known as CSW70, became especially historic. For the first time in 70 years, countries did not quite agree on the final document called “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls”. So they had to do a poll, where 37 members voted in favor, one against, and six abstained.
Even though 37 countries voted in favor, the single “no” vote from the United States, along with six countries that chose not to vote, showed deep disagreements.
These disagreements were about important things like “gender ideology,” sexual and reproductive health rights, and how strongly the document should protect girls and women from unfair treatment.
The United States wanted to remove or weaken some of these words because they believed the language went too far and took away power from individual countries.
This kind of disagreement is serious. When big countries cannot agree, it becomes harder for the whole world to work together to protect women’s rights.
It gives courage to groups that want to push back against these rights. As a result, it becomes more difficult for organizations to fight for and protect the rights of women and girls in real life.
Strong opposition against women’s rights groups is getting stronger, and for communications leaders, the pressure to make your work visible is undeniably heavier than ever.
What we have learned from consulting teams over the years is that posting more online does not solve these types of problems.
What actually works is increasing the strategic depth of your communication.
CSW70 taught us an important lesson: justice needs more than nice words written on paper.
It needs three important things:
- Real accountability — leaders and governments must actually do what they promised and answer when they fail.
- The voices of the people most affected — the women and girls who experience the problems must be heard and included in the solutions.
- Brave framing — we must honestly show the real barriers and unfair systems that are stopping women and girls from getting justice, instead of hiding or softening the truth.
If you’re a communications executive working in a rights-based organization and you’re looking for support to build deeper, more effective strategies, feel free to reach out to us directly at elevate@valsigsolutions.com. We’d be happy to have a conversation about how to strengthen your advocacy visibility.