The United Nations 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68), the UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality and women’s empowerment, will take place this year from 11 – 22 March 2024, in New York under the priority theme, “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It is a function of the Economic and Social Council of the UN. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Its multi-year program of work is set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which sets an ambitious agenda that features 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. These goals and targets seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social, and environmental. A delegation of over 30 NGOs and civic organisations from Australia will be attending. MWA requested Settlement Services International who is attending as part of a delegation of women representatives representing NGOs and civic institutions from Australia, including the Equality Rights Alliance, to share its statement at the ‘Shattered Hopes’ session taking place on the 15th of March 2024.