Parental Leave in Law and Practice: Enhancing Women’s Equity and Global Development

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As the global community gathers for CSW70 under a renewed commitment to women’s equity and shared prosperity, one question sits at the heart of inclusive development yet remains insufficiently addressed: How can societies ensure that every parent – mother, father, and caregiver – has the legally mandated time and support needed for women’s economic equity and to nurture the next generation?

Maternity, paternity, and parental leave policies are among the most powerful but underleveraged tools for advancing women’s economic participation, accelerating men’s involvement in caregiving, strengthening family well-being, and shaping the foundations of equitable, peaceful societies. Far beyond workplace entitlements, they are engines of human capital development and catalysts for achieving multiple SDGs – from gender equality and decent work to health, education, and reduced inequalities.

This CSW70 side event invites governments, private sector leaders, and civil society actors to engage in a timely, evidence-based discussion on why legally mandated leave is essential for global development and what it will take to expand, finance, and normalize its use worldwide. The conversation will address:

• Why maternity, paternity, and parental leave are cornerstones of gender equity, influencing women’s labor force participation, pay equity, leadership pathways, and shared caregiving norms
• Why leave is also a global development imperative, linked to early childhood outcomes, macroeconomic growth, family mental health, and intergenerational well-being
• Where the world currently stands with legal parental leave, highlighting current status across regions and income groups in the design and enforcement of legally mandated leave. Highlighting case studies of different countries, capturing the diversity of parental leave approaches
• What leave looks like in practice, including barriers such as stigma, informal work, weak enforcement, and workplace cultures that discourage uptake – especially among fathers.
• How public, private and civil society sectors can strengthen implementation, across diverse national contexts, through, inter alia, innovative partnerships and campaigns, targeted or localized efforts, supportive organizational norms, family-friendly policies, etc.

At a moment when countries are rethinking care systems, investing in human capital, and confronting widening inequality gaps, this discussion offers a rare opportunity to reimagine parental leave as a universal, strategic driver of development rather than a cost to be absorbed.

Provisional list of speakers

• Elizabeth Werner, Associate Director, Center for the Transition to Parenthood at Columbia University
• Daniela Behr or TBD, Women, Business and the Law Initiative at the World Bank
• Giovanna Lauro, Deputy CEO of Equimundo
• Sarah Steinberg, Global Public Policy Partnerships at LinkedIn
• Monica Xavier, Director of the National Institute for Women, Ministry of Social Development of Uruguay
• Representative TBC, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the UN in New York
• Aissata Camara, Commissioner of the Office of International Affairs, City of New York (TBC)
• Farah Arabe, UN Representative and Member of the Board of Directors, Make Mothers Matter & Founder, itotheN | Intergenerational Impact (Moderator)

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