[2] Every year, representatives of member states gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.

Women participate at the prepcoms, design strategy, hold caucus meetings, network about the various agenda items being negotiated in various committees, and work as informed lobbyists at conferences themselves.

Ahead of that, an Expert Group Meeting (EGM): prevention of violence against women and girls was held in Bangkok from 17 to 20 September 2012.

[5] The UNCSW was established in 1946 as a mechanism to promote, report on and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil, social and educational rights of women.

During its first session, the Commission declared as one of its guiding principles: to raise the status of women, irrespective of nationality, race, language or religion, to equality with men in all fields of human enterprise, and to eliminate all discrimination against women in the provisions of statutory law, in legal maxims or rules, or in interpretation of customary law.One of UNCSW's first tasks was to contribute to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[8] This was achieved through a variety of means, most commonly through attempts to collect data that showed discrimination occurring against women.

During this time, reproductive rights were included in the central action of the commission, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which entered into force in 1981.

[9] It also acknowledges the social implications of motherhood, and states that childcare and maternity protection are integral rights and should be extended to all realms of the lives of women.

"[16] It places a special emphasis on reproductive rights through its legislation regarding family planning, which states that it is the right of all women "to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law.

[17] The Platform also presents a safe, healthy pregnancy as a human right which is to be attained through quality resources and healthcare available to all women regardless of economic status.