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In March 2027, the UN Commission on the Status of Women—the most important forum in which international standards on women’s rights are shaped—will meet in New York.

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The session’s main theme is “accelerating” the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, while its cross-cutting issue is women’s poverty and economic situation.

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In the position submitted to the Commission, Ordo Iuris points out that the protection of the family and motherhood is a shared commitment of human rights treaties—from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, through both International Covenants, to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

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The Ordo Iuris Institute calls for periods of unpaid childcare to be taken into account in pension regulations and for the protection of motherhood to be effectively enforced.

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Ordo Iuris also recalls that the agreed UN consensus reached in Cairo and Beijing expressly leaves the question of abortion to national legislators—and calls on the Commission to respect that consensus as it is actually worded.

Background

The Ordo Iuris Institute has submitted a position to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in connection with the Commission’s upcoming 71st session, to be held in New York on March 8–19, 2027. The priority theme is accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the cross-cutting issue is poverty and the economic empowerment of women. The session will close with the adoption of agreed conclusions negotiated by all member states.

Formally, these conclusions are not legally binding, but in practice they set the direction for the work of UN agencies and are sometimes invoked in domestic debate as an “international standard” to which Poland should supposedly conform. Non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), of which the CSW is a functional commission, may present their positions to the Commission in the form of written statements, and Ordo Iuris has taken advantage of this opportunity.

Care within the family is work of social value

The position recalls that the family is the “natural and fundamental group unit of society” and is entitled to protection by society and the State. This is laid down in Article 16(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Motherhood is entitled to special care and assistance, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) already recognizes, in its preamble, the social significance of maternity and women’s contribution to the welfare of the family.

Ordo Iuris highlights the continuity of this line: from the treaties, through the Beijing Platform for Action, to target 5.4 of the 2030 Agenda. The latter commits states to recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work, including through the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family. In light of these agreed commitments, care provided within the family is therefore work of social value that states themselves have pledged to support.

Enforcing what is already in force

The position’s key argument concerns implementation. Article 11(2) of CEDAW prohibits the dismissal of women on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave and requires states to introduce paid maternity leave. Article 10(2) of the ICESCR provides for special protection of mothers before and after childbirth.

Ordo Iuris argues that the greatest “acceleration” would come from the effective enforcement of these provisions. This means accessible remedies against pregnancy-related discrimination, the right to return to work, and genuine access to paid leave. The position also identifies maternal health as common ground for agreement, including the reduction of mortality around childbirth (target 3.1) and access to skilled obstetric care.

Family policy as a tool against poverty

In the section devoted to the cross-cutting issue, Ordo Iuris points out that women’s poverty partly stems from the fact that the economy often neither measures nor insures the work of caring for children. Article 10(1) of the ICESCR requires that the widest possible protection and assistance be accorded to the family, particularly while it is responsible for the care of dependent children. Targets 1.3, 5.4 and 8.5 of the 2030 Agenda point in the same direction.

This gives rise to concrete proposals: family benefits, taking dependents into account in the tax system, flexible forms of employment, and equal pay. Particular emphasis is placed on counting periods of caregiving toward pension entitlements, so that years devoted to the family do not mean poverty in old age. In the view of Ordo Iuris, women’s economic empowerment should broaden their choices rather than force them to choose between family and income.

Protection of life and conscience

The position also stresses the need to protect areas grounded in widely recognized norms, namely safe motherhood and the reduction of maternal mortality, the protection of unborn children from abortion (including coerced and sex-selective abortion), and the freedom of conscience of medical professionals.

On the question of abortion itself, Ordo Iuris refers to what actually constitutes the international consensus. Paragraph 8.25 of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) states that abortion should not be promoted as a method of family planning and that any measures in this area are to be determined at the national level, through the national legislative process. This position was reaffirmed in the Beijing Platform for Action.

“The dispute over the direction of the Commission’s work is sometimes presented as a choice between women’s rights and the protection of the family. This is a false alternative, and the strongest argument against it is the UN documents themselves. We are not demanding anything that goes beyond the system. We are merely calling for the fulfillment of commitments that states have already made. A woman who has spent several years caring for her children should not pay for it with a lower pension, and the decision on the shape of the law protecting life belongs to the Polish legislature, not to an international body,” says Aleksandra Siwek of the Ordo Iuris Center for International Law.

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Source of cover photo: iStock