By María Josefina Arce 

The sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, a new opportunity to advance in the elimination of the gender gap, which is still a debt of the world, will be held at the UN headquarters in the U.S. city of New York from Monday until the 22nd of March.

Governments, United Nations entities and civil society organizations will discuss this challenge and seek to coordinate actions and investments that favor this sector and its empowerment.

Since its creation in 1946, the Commission has defended gender equality and has been a space for the exchange of experiences and practices, and for women's voices to be heard.

It has promoted the World Women's Conferences, the first of which was held in Mexico City in 1975. Twenty years later in Beiying, the capital of China, the momentous Platform for Action was adopted, marking an important turning point and outlining a series of strategic objectives for the advancement of this population segment.

But although progress has been made in some areas, current statistics on poverty, illiteracy, discrimination and gender violence show that there is still a long way to go.

Currently, according to the UN, one in 10 women live in extreme poverty and climate change is expected to cause 236 million more women and girls to go hungry by 2030.

In addition, more than 614 million women and girls live in conflict-affected areas, making them 7.7 times more likely to live in extreme poverty and suffer from hunger.

The COVID 19 pandemic undoubtedly meant a setback in many social rights, especially in terms of gender equality, which is estimated to be almost two decades old.

Women bore a heavier workload due to family care. Another consequence of the global health emergency was the increase in gender-based violence, as women and girls were trapped in their homes, in many cases, with their stalker by isolation measures.

The truth is that the current situation threatens the Sustainable Development Goals and, in particular, number five, which refers to providing women and girls with equal access to health and education, to opportunities for decent work and in political and economic decision-making.

Hence the importance of this meeting in New York, which we hope will enable the adoption of actions that contribute to the empowerment of women, an essential force for achieving fairer and more stable societies.