At the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), we joined allies from across the feminist, human rights, labor, and tax justice movements to demand meaningful commitments to gender equality and economic justice—thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action. With the spirit of pushing forward against rollback of human rights, CESR actively contributed to key spaces, spotlighting the urgent need for transformative change amid a political, socio-economic, and ecological crisis.
CESR co-organized the side-event The Human Right to Care in the Global Commitments of Beijing+30, alongside partners including DAWN Feminist, ActionAid, Oxfam, GI-ESCR, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, Tax Justice Network, and FEMNET. The event reaffirmed the centrality of care as a public, universal human right, calling for stronger financing commitments and global cooperation to guarantee accessible, equitable care systems—particularly for women and gender-diverse people in the Global South. During this event, our Executive Director, Dr. Maria Ron Balsera, stressed on the importance of rights-based financing for the future of women’s rights and gender justice, and especially for the Right to Care: “Governments and international financial institutions must implement progressive tax reforms, tackle tax abuse, and adopt gender responsive budgeting to guarantee adequate financing for social sectors, reflecting women’s and marginalized groups’ needs.”
Mahinour ElBadrawi, our Global Partnerships Lead, also participated in the event “Religion, Rights and Resistance: How to Reclaim Gender Equality,” co-sponsored by the ACT Alliance, Mexico, Sweden, Canada, and UNFPA. In her intervention, ElBadrawi highlighted the power of a human rights framework for just mobilizing resources necessary for financing women rights and gender justice, and to confront anti-rights narratives and protect hard-won gender justice gains. She emphasized the role of cross-movement and cross-faith alliances in resisting backlash, advocating for a multilateral system grounded in democratic values where no one is left behind.
Additionally, CESR proudly supported the “No Backlash to Women’s Rights” march and rally, convened by the Women in Migration Network and a wide coalition of global feminist and labor organizations. As participants marched through the streets of New York demanding “all rights for all women,” CESR stood in solidarity with movements calling for real action, not rhetoric, to fulfill the promises of Beijing.
Finally, CESR participated in 2025 Global Days of Action (GDOA) on Tax Justice for Women’s Rights by contributing with the blog on Progressive Taxation for a Gender-Transformative Social Organization of Care. In this blog, we explored how progressive taxation is essential for building a gender-transformative care economy and resourcing rights. We call for structural reforms to dismantle regressive, gender-biased fiscal systems.
Together with our partners, CESR will continue to push for structural transformation of the global economic system—grounded in care, equality, and human rights for all. We won't go back.