On 9 March 2020, the Commission of the Status of Women adopted a political declaration on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Key things to note from the declaration are below:
10. Recognize that new challenges have emerged, and reaffirm our political will and firmly commit to tackling the existing and emerging challenges and remaining implementation gaps in all 12 critical areas of concern, namely, women and poverty, education and training of women, women and health, violence against women, women and armed conflict, women and the economy, women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights of women, women and the media, women and the environment, and the girl child;
11. Also recognize that these new challenges require intensified efforts for the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its 12 critical areas of concern, including by:
(b) Ensuring full, equal and meaningful participation in decision-making as well as equal access to leadership and representation for all women at all levels and in all spheres of society, as well as strengthening their voice, while ensuring a safe and enabling environment for them and taking action to eliminate any barriers in this regard;
(d) Recognizing and taking measures to reduce and redistribute women’s and girls’ disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work and promoting work – life balance and the equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men within the household;
(f) Mainstreaming a gender perspective into environmental, climate change and disaster risk reduction policies, recognizing the disproportionate effect of climate change and natural disasters on women and girls, in particular those in vulnerable situations, strengthening the resilience and adaptive capacities of women and girls to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change and natural disasters, and promoting women’s participation and leadership in decision-making on environmental and climate change issues;
(h) Strengthening the protection of women and girls in armed conflict and the full, equal and meaningful participation of women at all decision-making levels and at all stages of peace processes and mediation efforts, including in the prevention and resolution of armed conflicts, and recognizing their leadership therein and the need for their enhanced representation in peacekeeping;
Read the full declaration here.
