30 Years After Beijing
The sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York over the next eleven days, from 10 to 21 March, 2025. The session will centre on a review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This will include an assessment of current challenges that affect its implementation and its contribution towards realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
Thirty years ago in Beijing, with 17,000 participants in attendance, 189 governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women reached a historic agreement and political consensus on the systemic changes required for women’s and girls’ human rights and gender equality to be realised across social, economic, political, and environmental domains.
This agreement became the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
In the Beijing Declaration, these 189 governments dedicated themselves to addressing “constraints and obstacles and thus enhancing further the advancement and empowerment of women all over the world,” and agreed that, “this requires urgent action in the spirit of determination, hope, cooperation and solidarity, now and to carry us forward into the next century.”
They reaffirmed their commitment to the “empowerment and advancement of women, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, thus contributing to the moral, ethical, spiritual and intellectual needs of women and men, individually or in community with others and thereby guaranteeing them the possibility of realizing their full potential in society and shaping their lives in accordance with their own aspirations.”
They were convinced that “Women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace.”
They committed to “Ensure the full enjoyment by women and the girl child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and take effective action against violations of these rights and freedoms.”
The Plan for Action called on governments, the international community and civil society, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector to take strategic action in twelve areas of concern:
The persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women.
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training.
Inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services.
Violence against women.
The effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation.
Inequality in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in access to resources.
Inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels.
Insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women.
Lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women.
Stereotyping of women and inequality in women’s access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media.
Gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment.
Persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child.
Chapter four of the Plan for Action identified the problems that contribute to these twelve areas and proposed strategic objectives and concrete actions in response to them.
In doing so the Plan for Action recognised the importance of intersectionality, calling out barriers to full equality and advancement of rights such as “race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because they are indigenous women or because of other status.” It acknowledged that women encounter specific obstacles related to their “family status, particularly as single parents; and to their socio-economic status, including their living conditions in rural, isolated or impoverished areas.” It noted that additional barriers exist for “refugee women, other displaced women, including internally displaced women as well as for immigrant women and migrant women, including women migrant workers.” It also recognised that women are particularly affected by “environmental disasters, serious and infectious diseases and various forms of violence against women.”
Women’s Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing - Review and Report
Ahead of the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN-Women released the most comprehensive global stocktake of progress on the Beijing Platform for Action to date, in the report Women’s Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing (Report). The Report summarises the contributions from 159 United Nations Member States (Australia included, through our report by the Office for Women) to a review and appraisal (Review) of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
The Review opens by summarising progress and key new policy directions that have emerged across critical areas of concern for all 159 participating Member States over the past five years.
Here’s a glimpse of the progress reported by these states since 2020:
Addressing women’s structural exclusion from the economy
Eighty per cent reported passing laws and implementing policies that specifically prohibit gender-based discrimination in employment.
Reducing women’s poverty
Seventy-nine per cent reported efforts to strengthen social protection systems.
Realising the rights of the girl child
Seventy-seven per cent have focused action on combating violence against girls.
Seventy per cent have focused action on girls’ access to education.
Eliminating violence against women and girls
Ninety per cent reported the introduction or strengthening of laws, their implementation and their enforcement.
Seventy-nine per cent introduced, updated or expanded national action plans.
Seventy per cent reported legal reform to address new forms of violence that occur through or are amplified using technology.
Supporting women’s participation in politics and public life
Thirty-eight per cent reported measures to prevent and investigate cases of violence against women in public life, end impunity and prosecute and punish perpetrators.
Responding to the impacts of successive crises
Forty-three per cent adopted gender-responsive approaches to humanitarian action and crisis response.
There was growth in the number of humanitarian response plans that integrate actions to promote women’s economic empowerment and their sexual and reproductive health and to eliminate violence against women and girls.
Realising women’s rights in relation to the environment
There was a significant increase in the proportion reporting actions to advance gender equality and women’s rights as part of their environmental sustainability, climate action and resilience strategies – for example, 48 per cent reported taking action to increase women’s access to land, water, energy and other natural resources.
Still, as one might expect in the knowledge that one in four countries reported a backlash on women’s rights just last year, the Review does present some concerning findings.
These findings include that there has been:
“Limited progress on gender equality outcomes, with stagnation in most areas, putting the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Goals, as well as the vision of the Platform for Action, out of reach.”
“Lack of progress partly due to strong headwinds that Governments have faced over the past five years: the pandemic, food, fuel and financial crises, the escalating climate emergency and eruptions of conflict.”
“Widening accountability gap for gender equality, with democratic erosions and threats to women’s human rights defenders on the rise.”
“Growing backlash paired with the hollowing out of policy mechanisms, institutions and processes tasked with advancing gender equality.”
Continuing with these findings, the Review notes that:
“Progress also held back by inadequate investment in gender equality and effective solutions, exacerbated by the debt crisis.”
“Technological advances hold enormous promise for gender equality, but are not currently geared towards achieving this goal, while the new risks they create go largely unchecked.”
“Demographic shifts also present challenges for gender equality.”
“Accelerating the achievement of the Goals requires “all hands on deck” and a recommitment to the Platform for Action.”
Addressing Concerns and Making Gains
The Report provides five priorities for making the fast gains required if the world is to address these concerns and others, and to make the significant progress that is needed to achieve what was set out thirty years ago in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action:
1. Close the accountability gap
“Fortify institutions to lead and coordinate policy action on gender equality, put gender at the centre of all policies and programmes and improve data to measure change.”
2. Elevate women’s voices
“Achieve equal participation and influence in decision- making at all levels, including for marginalized groups of women and girls, and open and protect spaces for women’s groups to operate.”
3. Close the financial gap
“Make catalytic investments through national measures, such as budgets aligned with gender equality and progressive taxation, and realign global financial systems based on equity and solidarity.”
4. Harness technology
“Close digital gender divides in access and benefits, ensure women and girls can lead the digital and artificial intelligence revolutions and mitigate the risks of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, privacy violations and bias.”
5. Shock-proof services and infrastructure
“Establish gender-inclusive crisis prevention and response to avoid sudden rollbacks on the rights of women and girls and prioritize gender equality in humanitarian action.”
To support a renewed commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN-Women have also taken the evidence from this thirtieth anniversary Review and defined a Beijing+30 Action Agenda. This agenda comprises six key action areas which UN-Women hope will help achieve faster realisation of commitments from the Platform for Action and the global goals within the Beijing Declaration.
This Beijing+30 Action Agenda is, for All Women and Girls:
1. A Digital Revolution
“Ensure women and girls can reap the economic benefits of the digital revolution, accessing new skills, opportunities and services, by bridging the digital gender gap and providing equal access to digital technology, financial services, markets and networks.”
2. Freedom from Poverty
“Address women’s poverty by investing national budgets in social protection and high-quality public services, including in women’s health, girls’ education and care. These investments can also create millions of decent, green jobs.”
3. Zero Violence
“Adopt, implement and fund legislation to end violence against women and girls and develop comprehensive national action plans, including support and coordination with community-led organizations to extend the reach of services.”
4. Full and Equal Decision Making Power
“Accelerate the achievement of women’s full and equal decision-making power in private and public domains and at all levels of government, including by applying temporary special measures.”
5. Peace and Security
“Drive accountability for the women, peace and security agenda and gender-responsive humanitarian action by adopting fully financed national action plans and funding the local women’s organizations leading responses to crises and conflicts.”
6. Climate Justice
“Prioritize the rights of women and girls, including those from rural and Indigenous communities, in the transition to environ mental sustainability by centring them in climate action and the conservation of biodiversity, ensuring they can develop new skills to gain green jobs and guaranteeing their access to productive assets and land rights.”
What Do We Do?
So, besides being an informed global citizen, who at minimum makes educated choices during elections in voting for a political option that supports commitments such as those made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – what else can WE do about all this?
The Report rightly notes that gender discrimination remains deeply embedded in economic and social structures across the globe – and that this deep embedding continues to feed wide gaps in power and resources. This reality continues to impose chronic constraint on progress on women’s rights.
We need to Take collaborative, visible, and real action against gender discrimination. UN-Women Australia have some good advice. They encourage each of us to step up for gender equality in work, our communities, and in our families and relationships. We can do this by making decisions with this in mind time you “vote, or hire someone, or decide who does household tasks, or champion the immense possibilities of the girls in your life.”
They also encourage us to:
Demand leaders enforce gender equality laws.
Support women’s rights organisations.
Educate the next generation on gender equality.
Amplify the voices of those most left behind.
Speak out against gender stereotypes, bias, and discrimination.
Advocate for women in leadership.
Further, the weakening of democratic institutions that we continue to see unfold goes hand in hand with the reported backlash on gender equality. The Report notes that anti-rights actors are, right now, actively undermining long-standing consensus on key women’s rights issues. If they are not able to roll back legal and policy gains, these actors are seeking to at least block or slow their implementation.
Don’t just watch this happen.
Don’t be neutral – a stance that doesn’t exist when it comes to rights, including women’s rights issues.
Speak for, act for, vote for the side of history that views all people as equal and deserving of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Join the march forwards, towards the first generation that can live in an equal world.
