The Gender Equality Commissioner Participated in the 69th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

From 11–21 March 2025, the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women took place in New York. This is one of the world’s most significant international events for advancing women’s rights. The main theme of this year’s session was the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, marking 30 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995.

Side Events on Digital Innovation and Artificial Intelligence

An Estonian led side event titled “Bridging the Gender Gap through Digital Innovation” was held as part of the Commission’s session. The event focused on how technology can support women's economic empowerment. Panelists included representatives from Singapore, Japan, Kenya, Ukraine, the European External Action Service, and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).

Gender Equality Commissioner Christian Veske presented Estonia’s e-Residency program at the side event as a tool to expand women’s opportunities in entrepreneurship. “The e-Residency program is a globally unique product with great potential to support women’s economic independence and help bring more women into business. Currently, there are significantly fewer women than men among e-residents, but the program holds immense promise for promoting gender equality, and we hope to realize this potential in the coming years,” Veske stated.

In addition, the Commissioner participated in a panel discussion organized by Malta on gender equality and artificial intelligence, where he introduced Estonia’s EquiTech project and spoke about Estonia’s plans to collaborate with OpenAI. “Artificial intelligence has significant potential to reduce the gender gap—AI-based education, for example, could help boys and girls reach more equal levels, especially in STEM fields, thereby narrowing future occupational differences in the labor market. At the same time, AI also brings certain risks that must be carefully assessed,” Veske explained. This is precisely the aim of the EquiTech project, which focuses on how to prevent injustice and bias in automated decision-making processes.