Participation of WUSME in the CSW69

WUSME took part in the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), which held at the UNHQ in New York City from March 10 to 21, contributing with a written statement on “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century” and a Parallel Event held within the framework of the Forum for the Accredited NGOs.

The Parallel Event entitled “STEM Empowering Women: Unlocking Access to Finance and Innovation” and organized by WUSME together with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) based in Brussels and the Union of Hungarian Women (UHW) Association (UHW) based in Budapest, took place on Wednesday, March 19th 2025 at the Church Center of the United Nations (CCUN) in New York City.

Present at the Parallel Event on behalf of WUSME were President Barbara Terenzi, Dr. Pauline Crawford from Las Vegas (USA), Chair of the Permanent Commission on Social Issues and Women’s Entrepreneurship, and Ms. Fran Pastore, WUSME Ambassador to Connecticut (USA), who addressed respectively the topics “Breaking Barriers: the Past, Present, and Future of Women’s Access to Capital” and “Mentorship – A Catalyst for Women’s Entrepreneurial Success.” The panel was moderated by Dr. Carlos Carrión-Crespo, Specialist in Labor Relations in Public Administration at the International Labor Organization.

A virtual presentation, made in collaboration with the WUSME Permanent Commission on Social Issues and Women’s Entrepreneurship, was also projected to bring experiences and best practices from Representatives based in different regions of the world.

At the end of the Parallel Event, a joint Manifesto has been signed by the three Partner Organizations with a call to action, addressed to the United Nations, the European Parliament and all national bodies and organizations, in promoting women’s emancipation through the development of entrepreneurial skills, improving access to finance and developing innovation capacities in STEM fields.

On the sidelines of the Parallel Event, the three Partner Organizations signed Cooperation Agreements, sharing the awareness of the power and potential of women entrepreneurs and the will to support them together.