Bending the Arc

The seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) is taking place March 9-19, 2026. The priority theme of the session will be: 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. 

The review theme will be: Women’s full and effective participation and decision making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

On March 9, 2026, the NGO Working Group to End Homelessness (WGEH) offered a virtual side event titled, A Home for All is Justice for All. This CSW70 side event convened a distinguished panel to discuss the critical issues of specific populations of women and girls and successful interventions to redress violations of their rights and call government stakeholders to take action to prevent homelessness by addressing legal barriers and discrimination that serve as barriers to women’s human rights in housing, land and inheritance rights.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights affirms that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing and shelter….” Yet, well over 2.8 billion people lack access to adequate housing, secure land and basic water and sanitation services. More than 1.12 billion of these people live in precarious conditions in slums or informal settlements, threatening their health and even their survival. In addition, some 300 million people face absolute homelessness globally, lacking any form of stable shelter, no housing at all. 

Many people are experiencing or at risk of experiencing hidden homelessness, which means they are often not included in the data. Many of these people are women with children who conceal their housing status due to fear of losing their children to the state government. Furthermore, millions of people are forcibly evicted or displaced from their homes every year. Many are driven into homelessness by conflict, climate, commodification, or criminalization. A gender analysis indicates that women of all ages are particularly affected in all forms of homelessness, and their needs require specific solutions. Whether migrants, indigenous, economically  disenfranchised, mothers, youth, or older adults, one of the major causes of this vulnerability for women is discriminatory statutory laws as well as customary laws and practices, and lack of access to legal and other remedies.

This panel was moderated by Sister Jean Quinn, DW, Executive Director of UNANIMA International. The recording is now available here.

Learn more at https://unanima-international.org/csw70/