ACCELERATING THE REALIZATION OF GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF ALL WOMEN AND GIRLS

High-level Meeting on Beijing+25
1 October | 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. EDT

https://www.un.org/pga/74/event/high-level-meeting-on-the-twenty-fifth-a...

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Under the theme, “Accelerating the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls", this high-level meeting of the General Assembly aims to demonstrate the political will and leadership that will bring about the transformative change needed to address root causes, structural barriers, discriminatory practices and social norms that underpin discrimination and inequality. The event will also showcase concrete actions, plans and commitments to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by 2030, including in support of the role of civil society organizations and youth.

Why it matters

• In 1995, world leaders adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action — the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights to date.

• Yet, 25 years later -- and 5 years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda -- progress towards gender equality has stalled and has even reversed in some areas.

• While the world is facing an unprecedented set of challenges that threaten progress for women and girls, the past years have also seen the reaffirmation of gender equality as inextricably linked to achieving sustainable development for all.

• While more girls are in school and 131 countries have enacted 274 legal and regulatory reforms in support of gender equality, women everywhere still work more hours, earn less, have fewer choices, are disproportionately underrepresented and face violence at home and in public spaces.

• Today, not a single country has achieved gender equality. Leaders must focus on removing deeply entrenched norms and beliefs, repealing discriminatory laws that still affect 2 billion women, boosting investment to promote gender equality and making institutions, including the justice system, more gender responsive.

• COVID-19 pandemic underscored society’s reliance on women both on the front line and at home, while simultaneously exposing structural inequalities across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection. Women are on the frontlines in fighting the coronavirus, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of health and social workers globally. Women’s unpaid care work has increased significantly as a result of school closures, and nearly 60 per cent of women work in the informal economy, which puts them at greater risk of falling into poverty.

• The pandemic has also led to a steep increase in violence against women and girls, particularly domestic violence in the context of COVID-19 lockdowns.

• The need to accelerate action for gender equality and the prevention of violence against women is more urgent than ever.

• Responding to the pandemic is not just about rectifying long-standing inequalities, but also about building a resilient world in the interest of everyone with women at the centre of recovery.

Objectives

Under the theme, “Accelerating the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls,” the high-level meeting aims to:

• • Demonstrate the political will and leadership that will bring about the transformative change needed to address root causes, structural barriers and discriminatory practices and social norms that underpin discrimination and inequality;
  • Showcase concrete actions, plans and commitments to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by 2030, including in support of the role of civil society organizations and youth.

Format and expected outcomes

• The meeting convened by the President of the UN General Assembly will consist of an opening segment, a plenary, and a closing segment.

• The opening segment will feature statements by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, a representative of China as host of the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the Executive Directors of UN Women and the UN Population Fund, a champion of gender equality, and representatives of civil society and youth, among others.

• The plenary segment will feature remarks by Heads of State and Government and other leaders. The closing segment will comprise concluding remarks by the President of the General Assembly.

• The outcomes of the meeting will be captured in a chair’s summary.

Websites: www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/general-assembly, www.un.org/pga/74/event/high-level-meeting-on-the-twenty-fifth-anniversary-of-the-fourth-world-conference-on-women
Hashtag: #GenerationEquality
Contact: birchs@un.org

Introduction

Twenty-five years after its adoption, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action remains the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Its 2020 progress review for the first time takes place in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda, including SDG 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, highlight the centrality of gender equality to progress across all the Goals and targets.

The Decade of Action and Delivery to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, launched by world leaders in September 2019, contributes to the mobilization of stakeholders to tackle both emerging and existing gaps in the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

The report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23^rd special session of the General Assembly (E/CN.6/2020/3) demonstrates that  important gains have been achieved since 1995: for example, more girls are in school than ever before and more countries have reached gender parity in educational enrollment; the global maternal mortality ratio has decreased significantly, and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel increased over the past decade.

However, in recent years progress has not been fast or deep enough, has been uneven and even stalled in some areas. No country has fully achieved gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Major gaps remain and challenges persist that affect the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and their enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. Many women and girls experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, vulnerability and marginalization throughout their life course.

The gender gap in labour force participation has stagnated over the past 20 years, and the majority of employed women work in the informal economy. Women and girls are disproportionately responsible for unpaid care and domestic work, and women are more likely than men to live in extreme poverty. Women still hold only a quarter of seats in single or lower houses of parliament around the world, and reports of attacks on women in political and public life are increasing. Violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres remains pervasive. Despite shrinking civic space, stakeholders all over the world have been inspired by women’s movements and energized by youth activists and are mobilizing to accelerate progress and achieve systemic change.

As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates pre-existing inequalities and threatens to halt or reverse the gains of decades of collective effort, it is more important than ever to accelerate action for the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, women and girls are disproportionately affected. World leaders must acknowledge and support the critical role that women play in building resilience and recovery efforts in both the rapid response and the long-term of building back better.

Action by all stakeholders, from Governments to civil society, the private sector to academia, trade unions to national human rights institutions, and from the local to the global and multilateral level are now more urgent than ever.  Only through concerted efforts will the promise of the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 25 years after its adoption, and of the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development be realized, for all women and girls, everywhere.

The high-level meeting is an opportunity to demonstrate the political will and leadership that will bring about the transformative change needed to address root causes, structural barriers and discriminatory practices and social norms that underpin discrimination and inequality.  Achieving gender equality is everyone’s