Ministers Focus on Recommitting to, Accelerating Implementation of Beijing Platform for Action, as Commission on Status of Women Continues Session
The Commission on the Status of Women continued its sixty-ninth session today holding a ministerial roundtable discussion, with speakers sharing best practices and challenges in regard to their national strategies aiming to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
The dialogue focused on recommitting to, resourcing and accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action — adopted at the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women, which pledged to achieve gender equality and uphold women’s rights — also with a view to contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mariana Betsa, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that her country remains “totally committed” to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. “Significant progress has been made through the adoption of robust national strategies and policies aimed at advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls even under the very harsh realities of war,” she added. The Russian Federation’s genocidal war has caused severe threats to the rights and safety of women and girls. Yet despite this, Ukraine has strengthened its institutional gender mechanisms, maintained gender equality units within Government bodies and appointed gender coordinators. These efforts ensure that gender equality remains a priority in all aspects for the Government of Ukraine. Ukraine also supports the participation of women in peacebuilding and reconstruction processes and offers critical assistance to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. A comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine requires security guarantees, accountability of perpetrators and unwavering commitment to human rights.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), who moderated the panel, said that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action remains the most comprehensive, visionary and widely endorsed global agenda for achieving gender equality and empowerment of women. Delegates may not have referenced the Internet or the mobile phone at the fourth Conference on Women in 1995, at a time when less than 2 per cent of the global population had a mobile phone and just 0.8 per cent had access to the Internet, but they did foresee technology’s immense potential to empower women and girls. The outcome documents mentioned technology 31 times. And 30 years after its adoption, the Platform for Action continues to represent an unprecedented consensus on the actions and institutional mechanisms needed to advance gender equality. The gender digital gap is widening in least developed countries with less than 30 per cent of women online, she warned.
“I sincerely believe that every country has its own mechanism in moving towards the goal of gender equality,” said Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister for Social Development and Human Security of Thailand. In Thailand, he said, there are clear protections of human dignity, rights, liberties and equality of people. The Constitution emphasizes the need to allocate budgets and resources for the different needs of people. Gender responsive budgeting has also been developed and implemented, he said. It has paved the way towards the integration of gender perspectives into financial plans of Government agencies, both at the national and the local levels. Moreover, many private companies have also adopted gender-responsive budgeting into their financial systems. All stakeholders, including Government agencies, civil society organizations and academia, are committed towards empowering women and girls. A gender equity and equality officer has been appointed to ensure the advancement of the goal across all ministries, he added.
Beijing’s Platform for Action continues to be a global guide, even after 30 years, said Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, Minister for Family and Social Policies of Türkiye. Her country is committed to ensuring that women enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms in line with the Declaration and the SDGs. “We have structured our core policy around the empowerment of women and combating violence against women,” she said. Türkiye continues to develop strategic actions that focus on enhancing women’s role in education and the economy, as well their participation in leadership and decision-making roles. Echoing other speakers, she said Ankara is focused on ensuring women and girls programmes have sufficient budgeting and resources. Various initiatives include awareness raising trainings for a wide range of stakeholders. Türkiye has also increased the participation of women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and other male-dominated sectors. “We remain committed to combating violence, which is both the cause and the results of discrimination and the barrier to women's empowerment,” she added.
Mayra Jiménez, Minister for Women of the Dominican Republic, said her Government has developed strategies to ensure that there is ample financing for women and girls empowerment. The Ministry of Women and its Directorate General for the budget have established methodologies to guarantee that gender equality is mainstreamed throughout budgeting. The Dominican Republic is also focused on prevention, care and protection when it comes to gender-based violence and domestic violence against women. “With all of these actions, we’ve managed to create a historic increase in our country in public investment in favour of gender equality, with an increase of 131.6 per cent for the 2021 to 2024 period,” she emphasized. Integrating gender perspectives into the general budget law has allowed the Dominican Republic to move towards budget auditing, “allowing us to have an impact on the increase in fund allocations and transparency”. In addition, external financing via international development systems has been vital to develop actions that care for and prevent violence against women.
Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development of Nigeria, said her country has domesticated key international and regional gender instruments to help improve the lives of Nigerian women. It has paid off even at the most local level. “All of our police divisions, over 4,000, have a gender-based violence desk,” she emphasized. Civil society is playing an important role in advocating for boosting the political representation of women in Government roles. “We are strengthening and monitoring evaluations and data-driven” assessments of its gender-specific programmes and mechanisms, she added. In the areas of strengthening economic empowerment of women, Nigeria is collaborating with the private sector to increase women’s participation in various industries including the “blue” economy, the “green” economy and the care economy. Nigeria is also taking concrete steps to protect children and end child marriage.
Maida Gorčevic, Minister for European Affairs of Montenegro, said that her country has taken significant steps towards gender equality. One of the areas of focus has been increasing women’s participation in Government roles and decision-making positions both in the public and private sectors. “Local and national parliaments as well as executive positions have been integral to empowering women and ensuring their voices are heard,” she said. Additionally, there has been a concerted effort to engage younger women in leadership-role trainings, like mentorship programmes, youth leadership development programmes and partnerships with organizations. To address the broader impact of economic downturns, Montenegro has introduced mechanisms that ensure women in vulnerable sectors have access to economic recovery. “Women and girls must not be left behind in times of crisis,” she stressed, noting that her Government has begun to include gender considerations into climate policies “ensuring that women, especially in rural and marginalized communities, have access to the resources they need”.