Thousands converge on UN Headquarters to examine progress sincehistoric women’s conference; Secretary-General opens event for International Women’s Day, 3 March
5 Mar 2010
UN Chief Urges Action To Ensure Women’s Rights, Marking 15 Years Since Adoption Of Landmark Beijing Plan
New York, 1 March 2010 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will call for the full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the outcome of the historic Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 – as he opens the event observing International Women’s Day, at United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, 3 March.
The Secretary-General will address an audience including ministers from over 50 countries and more than 2,000 representatives of women’s groups, who will gather in New York for the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which this year will undertake a 15-year review of the Beijing
Platform, from 1 to 12 March. “The landmark Beijing Declaration has had a deep and wide-ranging impact. It has guided policy making and inspired new national laws. It has sent a clear message to women and girls around the world that equality and opportunity are their inalienable rights”, said the Secretary-General in a message to mark International Women’s Day.
Fifteen years after its adoption, the Beijing Platform remains the most comprehensive global policy framework for the full realization of women’s rights. However, while progress has been made since the Beijing Conference, most significantly in educating women and girls, disparities remain between regions and within countries. Global averages also hide differences among women based on economic status, ethnicity, age, disability and other factors.
Source:UN
