Despite challenges facing women empowerment, there is encouraging momentum, not only to renew the promises of Beijing, but to address issues which were not in the spotlight in 1995.
“These issues such as the need to ensure women’s participation in responding to climate change, building peace and security, and helping their countries recover from crises are central to the UNDP’s efforts to help partner countries build resilience to sustain development results”.
Ms Helen Clark, the UNDP’s Administrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand said this in a message by the UNDP and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day.
March 8, every year is dedicated to celebrate women globally. This year’s International Women’s Day is on the theme, “Empower Women, Empower Humanity - Picture It.”
Ms Clarke noted that by promoting gender equality and empowering women, as agents of change and leaders in the development processes, which shaped their lives, the UNDP envisaged a more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient world.
“Join me in supporting this call to fulfill the promises made in Beijing 20 years ago, and to realise a world in which every woman and girl has the opportunity to fulfill her potential and enjoy equal rights and status”.
The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which remained the world’s best blueprint for achieving gender equality and empowering women.
The review of the visionary roadmap, adopted at the Fourth World Conference for Women in 1995, is an opportunity to celebrate the world’s progress toward ensuring the rights and opportunities of women and girls, and also to renew and reinvigorate commitments to achieve gender equality.
One of the great achievements of the Beijing Platform for Action was the clear recognition that women’s rights are human rights.
Since that historic gathering in Beijing, where 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists gathered to voice and demonstrate their support for gender equality and women’s empowerment, there has been increasing recognition of gender equality.
In addition to being a human right, it is also critical to making development progress. If women and girls are not able to fully realise their rights and aspirations in all spheres of life, development will be impeded.
Twenty years on, there has been progress and challenges in the twelve areas of critical concern laid out in the Beijing Platform for Action. Gender parity in primary education has been achieved, but completion rates and the quality of education are not high across all countries.
More women have been elected to public office - about 21 per cent of the world’s parliamentarians are women, up from about 11 per cent in 1995 - still far from parity.
More women than ever before are now participating in the work force, but women generally earn less than men and, in rich and poor countries alike, carry a disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, which deprives them of time for valuable pursuits like earning money, gaining new skills, and participating in public life.
And, while more laws exist to protect women from violence, sexual and gender-based violence continue to occur on every continent and in every country, often reaching horrific levels where there is war and conflict.
