Youth Must Have Leadership Role in Dismantling Patriarchal Norms, Financing Gender Equality, Women’s Commission Hears as It Concludes First Week
Gender Justice Cannot Be Achieved without Ending Discrimination against Indigenous Women, Girls, Those with Disabilities, Speakers Stress
The Commission on the Status of Women wrapped up its first week today, with a dialogue among youth representatives who stressed the need to include the next generation of leaders not only in conversations about women and girls’ empowerment but in leadership roles that fight for disability inclusion, finance gender equality, dismantle patriarchal norms and defend Indigenous voices.
The United Nations kicked off the sixty-ninth session of the Commission this week, focusing on accelerating the adoption of the Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women. Leaders gathered in Beijing 30 years ago to pledge to achieve gender equality and uphold women’s rights. Discussions this session also focused on contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Kateryna Levchenko, Government Commissioner for Gender Equality Policy of Ukraine and Chair of the meeting, said that 30 years after its adoption, the Beijing Platform for Action still mobilizes Member States, the United Nations, feminist movements, civil society organizations, young people and other stakeholders. “It continues to be an unprecedented consensus on the actions needed to advance gender equality and women's and girls’ human rights and their empowerment,” she said.
However, 30 years after the 1995 World Conference on Women, no country has fully achieved gender equality. That’s why Member States must recommit to its full implementation, she stressed, and identify synergies with other global commitments, working in partnership with civil society, young people, the UN and the private sector. With just five years until the 2030 target date for achieving the SDGs, the Platform holds the key to unblock bottlenecks and accelerate much needed progress.
Fenna Timsi, UN Youth Representative for Human Rights and Security of the Netherlands, said that today’s youth representatives represent large networks who have been on the frontlines of fighting for women and girls rights. “They will reflect on the progress made since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, sharing insights, voicing challenges and proposing solutions to persistent issues such as gender-based violence, access to education and economic empowerment,” she noted. The 2024 review and appraisal of the Beijing process with more than 150 States reporting on their actions is a “a clear testament” to the pact’s continued relevance and power.
30 Years after Landmark Women’s Conference in Beijing, Gender Equality an Unfulfilled Promise
Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), delivering opening remarks, commended the young representatives for their activism and “for your constant reminder to us all to do more, to do better, to be better”. Thirty years on, gender equality remains an unfulfilled promise. “But one thing is clear, you, young people, are not waiting,” she emphasized. “Each of your contributions has spoken to a truth that we cannot ignore,” she said, stressing: “Progress cannot be partial. Change must be transformative and inclusive.”
The Beijing Platform for Action remains the most powerful framework for gender equality, she went on. “Since its adoption, we have seen strides — more women in politics, stronger laws against gender-based violence, greater access to education,” she described. But progress has been too slow and too uneven. Women still hold only 27 per cent of parliamentary seats, which, while up from 11 per cent in 1995, is not enough. One in three women globally continues to face physical or sexual violence, “a crisis we cannot accept as inevitable”. In the face of climate crisis, economic inequalities and humanitarian disasters, it is young women and adolescent girls who bear the brunt, are displaced, denied education, and made more vulnerable to violence.
World Not Designed for Women with Disabilities to Thrive
Eva Chisom Chukwunelo, Amputee Peer Counselor at the Mobility Clinic Limited in Nigeria, said that all women, no matter where they come from, should have the right to education, healthcare and leadership. But as a young woman with a disability, she wondered, “did that promise include me?” At 17, she said she stood at the crossroads, between two versions of her life. “One moment, I was a teenage girl with dreams, and the next, I was a girl with a disability, unsure of what my future held,” she added. “That was when I realized the world is not designed for women with disabilities to thrive, and if we do not demand justice, it never will be,” she said. Gender justice is incomplete if it does not include women and girls with disabilities.
How many girls with disabilities are missing from classrooms, not because they lack intelligence, but because inclusion is seen as too expensive, she asked. How many women with disabilities are absent from decision-making spaces, not because they lack vision, but because the world refuses to see their potential, she also wondered. “If you are not counted, then you do not count,” she said, urging countries to disaggregate data by gender, disability and age. Governments must actively engage young women with disabilities in policy creation and leadership. Schools must be built for all learners, healthcare systems must train providers to respect and serve women with disabilities, and leadership spaces must be welcoming, “not just in words, but in action”.
Meaningful Youth Engagement Key to Shaping Policy
“Meaningful youth engagement in the Beijing processes is crucial to shape policies that address our concerns, reflect our aspirations and make us part of the leadership, rather than just part of the conversation,” said Ema Mecaj, member of the Beijing+30 Youth Steering Committee. Over the past few days, the voice of young people has been clear. “We should not take this progress for granted, but we need to speak up for the challenges and voice the untold stories of many women and girls who daily face the impacts of misogyny and gender stereotypes,” she said.
She noted that, according to the World Bank, 712 million people live in extreme poverty, with women and girls being disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of the climate crisis and displacement. Globally in 2023, 51,000 women and girls were killed by their intimate partners or other family members. “These statistics are unacceptable and unfortunately reflect the broken reality,” she said. As a medical student, she said that prevention strategies are needed to eradicate poverty, especially the feminization of poverty, and respond to technology facilitated gender-based violence.
Role of Boys and Men in Tackling Patriarchal Masculinities
“We must stop placing the burden on women to endure and navigate the toxicity of patriarchal systems and instead confront patriarchal masculinities as the root cause of their oppression,” said Ahdithya Visweswaran, Governance Coordinator at Young Diplomats of Canada. It is essential to tackle the ideological roots of patriarchal norms that perpetuate inequality and violence. Young men and boys must see themselves not as inherent opponents, but as natural allies and co-beneficiaries of the gender equality agenda. “Men and boys must no longer be seen as peripheral participants, but as indispensable stakeholders in this broader struggle for justice and equality,” he said.
But transformation cannot be simply achieved through narratives, it requires institutionalization, and the active participation of families, schools, communities and Governments, he stressed. For far too long, efforts to engage men and boys have been limited to pilot programmes, often disconnected from the broader systems and the broader work that's being done. The socialization of boys is one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools for advancing gender equality. “We're shaped by the environments in which we are raised,” he said, adding that positive role models can cultivate a new generation of men who embrace equity, reject violence, and build healthier masculinities.
Systemic and Structural Discrimination against Indigenous Women
Laura Huertas, Founder of ANYAR (Indigenous youth organization), said that many of the Beijing commitments have still not been fulfilled, particularly in rural areas, Indigenous areas, and in other marginal sectors of Latin America and the Caribbean. There and in other regions of the Global South, socioeconomic and political inequalities persist, despite progress in terms of access to education, health, and political participation of women.
“Being an Indigenous woman in Latin America is not easy, because we face the forced displacement within our territories, systematic discrimination, and structural discrimination,” she said. “In my territory alone, 76.9 per cent of people live in multidimensional poverty, and more than 62 per cent have to live outside their ancestral lands,” she said. Beijing+30 is “a cry of resistance”, she said, adding that “we don't want just hollow roundtables”.
Financial Freedom and Justice Key to Advance Women’s Agency
Sanjana Chhantyal, Manager at the Criterion Institute, said that financial system was not designed for women and undervalues women’s care work. “It decides what is valuable, and by extension, who is valuable,” she said. Systemic barriers have prevented women from building wealth and acquiring financial assets such as land and property; yet financial institutions traditionally look for the presence of financial assets or collateral to decide who gets access to finance.
“Let us call it what it is, a poverty trap,” she said. Gender equality cannot be achieved without financial freedom and financial justice for all women and girls. “Financial independence supports our agency and our ability to advocate for our rights, step away from abusive situations and make choices about our health, education and careers,” she said. Empowered women empower other women and their communities. “Justice is not only about the absence of barriers, but also presence of opportunities,” she stressed.
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* The 9th & 10th meetings were not covered.