From 9 to 13 March 2026, Club de Madrid will participate in the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), held at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Bringing together representatives from Member States, UN entities, and civil society organizations from around the world, CSW70 will focus on strengthening access to justice for all women and girls and promoting their full and effective participation in public life. In this context, Club de Madrid will contribute to the global policy dialogue through three complementary initiatives addressing women’s political leadership, democratic resilience, and gender-based political violence.
This year, Club de Madrid will use CSW70 to share the initiative launched in Montevideo on the network of women in politics, with more information here: Transformative Leadership and Inclusive Democracy.
Our Vice President, Michelle Bachelet, will be participating as the Club’s representative.
1. Connecting Leadership and Regional Action: Coordination Meeting for the Ibero-American Network of Women in Politics
📍 Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice
🗓️ 9 March 2026 | 8:30-10:30
This strategic coordination meeting will mark the operational launch of the Ibero-American Network of Women in Politics, a regional initiative led by Club de Madrid to strengthen women’s political leadership and promote parity-based and violence-free democracies across Ibero-America.
The meeting will convene women political leaders, institutional partners and donors to exchange perspectives on regional challenges including political violence, care systems and structural barriers to participation, while identifying priorities and opportunities for collaboration ahead of the Network’s 2026 roadmap.
2. Political Violence against Women and Democratic Backsliding: A High-level Dialogue among States, Leaders and International Mechanisms
📍 Conference Room 8, UNHQ
🗓️ 9 March 2026 | 11:30 -12:45 h
Registration: [To be added]
Organized jointly with the Permanent Mission of Greece and co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Armenia and Panama, as well as the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms to End Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW), this official CSW70 side event will foster high-level political dialogue on political violence against women as a growing threat to democracy.
The session will address emerging forms of violence in the digital sphere, including disinformation and online harassment targeting women leaders and public officials, while advancing cooperation between States and international human rights mechanisms to identify concrete commitments for prevention and accountability.
3. Weaving a Democratic Future: Women, Alliances, and Political Leadership in Ibero-America
📍 Instituto Cervantes New York
🗓️ 12 March 2026 | 12:00-13:15
Registration: Link here
This high-level panel will present the Ibero-American Network of Women in Politics as a platform for collective action and regional alliance-building in response to growing democratic tensions in the region.
Through an intergenerational dialogue among women leaders, the event will explore the structural challenges affecting women’s political participation — including gender-based political violence, economic inequality and digital harassment — and reflect on how regional cooperation and strategic alliances can sustain inclusive and resilient democratic systems.
Through these engagements, Club de Madrid reaffirms its commitment to promoting inclusive leadership, protecting civic space and advancing women’s full and equal participation in democratic life worldwide.
