UN member states from across the globe have recently concluded a major review of progress in the fight for women's rights. Held to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - seen as the blueprint for gender equality - the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded with a renewed pledge to end gender discrimination by 2030.
The conference's Political Declaration highlighted the slow and uneven nature of achievements to date:
no country has fully achieved equality and empowerment for women and girls, that significant levels of inequality between women and men and girls and boys persist globally, and that many women and girls experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, vulnerability and marginalization throughout their life cycle
It goes on to call for:
strengthened implementation of laws, policies, strategies and programme activities for all women and girls ... the transformation of discriminatory norms and gender stereotypes and the promotion of social norms and practices that recognize the positive role and contribution of women and eliminate discrimination against women and girls; significantly increased investment to close resource gaps, including through the mobilization of financial resources
Though the document was a positive affirmation of the Beijing Platform, women's groups from around the world shared their disappointment that member states did not set an ambitious agenda that would build upon the 1994 agreement. Member states were also criticised for the lack of transparency in negotiating the Declaration, which was agreed behind closed doors, without any serious consultation of CSW's 8,600 civil society delegates, and before the conference had even begun.
Member states also agreed a working methods resolution designed to ensure the continued relevance and efficacy of this annual conference. The adopted resolution upheld CSW's role as the primary body for gender equality, a forum for women's human rights and reaffirmed the importance of continued civil society engagement.
In a bid to capitalise on states' high-level commitments made at CSW, next year's conference will see the inauguration of a ministerial segment, and Secretariat reports which will use national data to identify remaining challenges on a yearly basis.
