Explanation of Position on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Political Declaration
Source: U.S. Mission to the UN
New York, New York
March 10, 2025
AS PREPARED
The United States thanks the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and co-facilitators Cabo Verde and Costa Rica, as well as all participating delegations and civil society partners, for their efforts in developing the Political Declaration.
While we are not a CSW member this year, we engaged in negotiations because the United States strongly supports protecting women and girls, defending their rights, and promoting their empowerment.
We are pleased the Declaration focuses on respecting, protecting, and promoting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls. In signing Executive Orders to defend Americans from unhealthy and extremist gender ideology, President Trump has made clear his Administration “will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
We also appreciate that the text addresses the need to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls. The Administration of President Trump has committed to protecting women by, among other things, curbing mass migration and securing borders. Violence against women and girls is rampant on migratory routes. Further, as we have seen in many tragic cases in the United States, women and girls are victimized by foreign criminals operating individually or in gangs. We must work against the open-borders ideology that tolerate such assaults on the rights of women.
However, several aspects of the text make it impossible for the United States to support the Declaration. These include, but are not limited to:
Language to Protect Women and Girls
It is the policy of the United States to use clear and accurate language that recognizes women are biologically female and men are biologically male. It is important to acknowledge the biological reality of sex to support the needs and perspectives of women and girls. We are disappointed the Political Declaration did not focus on the needs and perspectives of women and girls through precise terminology.
The United States supports the elimination of discrimination on the basis of all protected classes, including race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, and genetic information. We note the United States is not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and interpret references to CEDAW as relevant to States Parties and the implementation of their obligations. The United States emphasizes that non-binding declarations such as this Political Declaration do not change the current state of conventional or customary international law or imply that States must join or implement obligations under international instruments to which they are not a party.
Freedom of Opinion and Expression
With regard to paragraph 15(j), we note that in recent years governments have censored speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” governments infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of Americans. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Right to Development
We regret the Political Declaration includes language on the purported “right to development,” as this term does not have an internationally agreed meaning. We cannot accept references to this as a “right.”
The 2030 Agenda
Another concern we have about this resolution is its reaffirmation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although framed in neutral language, the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.
In the last U.S. election, the mandate from the American people was clear: the government of the United States must refocus on the interests of Americans. We must care first and foremost for our own – that is our moral and civic duty. President Trump also set a clear and overdue course correction on “gender” and climate ideology, which pervade the SDGs.
Put simply, globalist endeavors like the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs lost at the ballot box. Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and we will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
The United States understands the intention of the inclusion of “equal pay for work of equal value” to promote pay equality between men and women, and accepts the formulation on that basis. The United States works to achieve pay equality by observing the principle of “equal pay for equal work.”
Temporary Special Measures
With respect to so-called “temporary special measures,” and other measures intended to achieve parity for women and girls, the United States opposes the use of quotas, targets, or goals for participation based on sex. It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. Every citizen, including women and girls, should have an equal right and opportunities, without discrimination, to take part in the conduct of public affairs.
Climate Change
The United States does not support the inclusion of references to climate change in this declaration.
Original post available here.
New York, New York
March 10, 2025
AS PREPARED
The United States thanks the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and co-facilitators Cabo Verde and Costa Rica, as well as all participating delegations and civil society partners, for their efforts in developing the Political Declaration.
While we are not a CSW member this year, we engaged in negotiations because the United States strongly supports protecting women and girls, defending their rights, and promoting their empowerment.
We are pleased the Declaration focuses on respecting, protecting, and promoting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women and girls. In signing Executive Orders to defend Americans from unhealthy and extremist gender ideology, President Trump has made clear his Administration “will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male.”
We also appreciate that the text addresses the need to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against women and girls. The Administration of President Trump has committed to protecting women by, among other things, curbing mass migration and securing borders. Violence against women and girls is rampant on migratory routes. Further, as we have seen in many tragic cases in the United States, women and girls are victimized by foreign criminals operating individually or in gangs. We must work against the open-borders ideology that tolerate such assaults on the rights of women.
However, several aspects of the text make it impossible for the United States to support the Declaration. These include, but are not limited to:
Language to Protect Women and Girls
It is the policy of the United States to use clear and accurate language that recognizes women are biologically female and men are biologically male. It is important to acknowledge the biological reality of sex to support the needs and perspectives of women and girls. We are disappointed the Political Declaration did not focus on the needs and perspectives of women and girls through precise terminology.
The United States supports the elimination of discrimination on the basis of all protected classes, including race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, and genetic information. We note the United States is not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and interpret references to CEDAW as relevant to States Parties and the implementation of their obligations. The United States emphasizes that non-binding declarations such as this Political Declaration do not change the current state of conventional or customary international law or imply that States must join or implement obligations under international instruments to which they are not a party.
Freedom of Opinion and Expression
With regard to paragraph 15(j), we note that in recent years governments have censored speech on online platforms, often by exerting substantial coercive pressure on third parties, such as social media companies, to moderate, deplatform, or otherwise suppress speech. Under the guise of combatting “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation,” governments infringed on the constitutionally protected speech rights of Americans. Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.
Right to Development
We regret the Political Declaration includes language on the purported “right to development,” as this term does not have an internationally agreed meaning. We cannot accept references to this as a “right.”
The 2030 Agenda
Another concern we have about this resolution is its reaffirmation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although framed in neutral language, the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.
In the last U.S. election, the mandate from the American people was clear: the government of the United States must refocus on the interests of Americans. We must care first and foremost for our own – that is our moral and civic duty. President Trump also set a clear and overdue course correction on “gender” and climate ideology, which pervade the SDGs.
Put simply, globalist endeavors like the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs lost at the ballot box. Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, and we will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course.
Equal Pay for Equal Work
The United States understands the intention of the inclusion of “equal pay for work of equal value” to promote pay equality between men and women, and accepts the formulation on that basis. The United States works to achieve pay equality by observing the principle of “equal pay for equal work.”
Temporary Special Measures
With respect to so-called “temporary special measures,” and other measures intended to achieve parity for women and girls, the United States opposes the use of quotas, targets, or goals for participation based on sex. It is the policy of the United States to protect the civil rights of all Americans and to promote individual initiative, excellence, and hard work. Every citizen, including women and girls, should have an equal right and opportunities, without discrimination, to take part in the conduct of public affairs.
Climate Change
The United States does not support the inclusion of references to climate change in this declaration.
Original post available here.