Beijing: 20 years after (II)

The star studded event was designed to galvanise global attention and it brought world leaders, celebrities and activists to unveil a new strategy for the advancement of women tagged Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality. For this year’s International Women’s Day, focus was given to encouraging effective action for advancing and […]

The star studded event was designed to galvanise global attention and it brought world leaders, celebrities and activists to unveil a new strategy for the advancement of women tagged Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality. For this year’s International Women’s Day, focus was given to encouraging effective action for advancing and recognizing women It was summed up into one slogan – “Make It Happen.” The participants numbering about 2000 from all UN member countries called for bold actions and urged for swifter, lasting progress on gender equality.
As each of the high-powered speakers took the stage, they put out a clarion call: a firm expiry date of 2030 for gender inequality, with real equality being nothing short of 50-50. They called for bolder actions from governments and louder mobilization from citizens to move forward the agenda on women’s rights and gender equality, saying progress in the last 20 years has been too slow.
The President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first female President in Africa delivered the keynote address while UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened the evening. The event brought together politics, arts, philanthropy and activism in a powerful combination to support the rights of women and girls worldwide.
Here at home, several events were organised to mark the anni-versary.
In Lagos, journalists celebrated it on March 13 2015 with a workshop with the theme ‘Report Women: Make It Happen’. The event was organised by the Lagos based Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and its partner the Netherlands Embassy to contribute to improving the quality, quantum and perhaps impact of reportage on girls and women and to better mainstream gender into news reporting.
Worldwide attention was directed at the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that were adopted by consensus on 15 September 1995. The Declaration embodies the commitment of the international community to the advancement of women and to the implementation of the Platform for Action, ensuring that a gender perspective is mainstreamed into development.
Earlier, on January 2015, world leaders met and presented a commitment to the Bureau of the UN Commission On the Status of Women (CSW). They declared as follows:
We, Heads of State and Government, ministers and representatives of Governments gathered at the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995.
– In the context of the review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcomes of the Conference and of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty first century”, including current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as opportunities for strengthening gender equality and the empowerment of women in the post-2015 development agenda through the integration of a gender perspective; and with a commitment to ensuring that the United Nations Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, scheduled to take place from 25 to 27 September 2015, effectively contributes to the realization of gender equality,
– Welcome the comprehensive review activities undertaken by
Governments, the United Nations system, civil society, and other actors at national, regional and global levels on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women;
– Welcome the progress made towards achieving gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls through concerted policy action at national, regional and global levels and the contribution of all stakeholders;
– Express concern that progress has been slow and uneven and that major gaps and obstacles remain in the implementation of the 12 critical areas of concern of the Platform for Action, and
– Recognize that twenty years after the Fourth World Conference on Women, no country has achieved equality for women and girls,
– That significant levels of inequality between women and men persist, and that some women and girls experience increased vulnerability and marginalization due to multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination;
– Recognize that new challenges have emerged in the elimination of discrimination against women and girls and the implementation of the Beijing;
– Call upon the United Nations system to strengthen its efforts to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women under all its respective mandates, including through systematic gender mainstreaming, resources to deliver results, and monitoring of progress with data and robust accountability systems;
– Commit to engaging all stakeholders and call upon them, including international and regional organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations, the private sector, the media, academia and research organizations, political parties, youth, as well as all women and girls, men and boys, to become part of the movement for gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls and to fully commit themselves and intensify their contributions to the realization of gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls;
– Resolve to use all opportunities in 2015 and beyond in the areas of sustainable development, peace and security, human rights, humanitarian action, and climate change to take historic action for irreversible progress on gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls.
– Express our firm belief that gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls is achievable with requisite political will, targeted action, resources and social mobilization and therefore commit to achieve measurable results by 2020 and to fully realize gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls by 2030;
– Emphasize that the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is essential for achieving the post-2015 development agenda and sustainable development goals to be adopted in September 2015, and that gender equality and the empowerment of women must be realized to achieve sustainable development beyond 2015;
– Commit to ensuring that the centrality of gender equality, the empowerment of women and the human rights of women and girls to sustainable development are addressed through a transformative and comprehensive approach and reflected in a stand-alone goal and integrated through gender sensitive targets into all goals of the post-2015 development agenda.