Saudi Arabia is poised on Wednesday to be appointed chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, or CSW, placing a nation routinely criticized for restricting women’s rights at the head of the United Nations principal forum for promoting gender equality.
The appointment comes just days after governments concluded an often contentious negotiation on a declaration aimed at reaffirming women’s rights enshrined in a landmark conference on women’s rights 29 years ago in Beijing.
This month’s talks exposed the deep cultural and religious divisions between conservative and progressive nations over sexual and reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ protections, with countries such as Belarus, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia striving to promote the virtues of a nuclear family, headed by a man and a woman.