On March 10, 2020, The United Nations (UN),an intergovernmental organization that aims to maintain international peace and security, has adopted a stripped-down political declaration, in which they pledged to step up action to fully implement the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality, agreed 25 years ago.
A UN declaration on women is approved every 5 years.
Key Points:
i.CSW in the time of coronavirus: The declaration was adopted during the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women(CSW)held in New York, US(United States), that has been compressed to just one day meet from a normal 2-week meet due to the global coronavirus outbreak.
The meet was originally set to attend by 12, 000 participants. But, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged member states not to send delegations to the UN’s 2nd largest meet-CSW and also he cancelled debates and other events surrounding the meeting.
The session agreed to fight against human trafficking & modern slavery and other forms of exploitation & also ensures to provide support, services and for all women victims of violence.
ii.Political declaration: The adopted Political declaration will be in line with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action of 1995, which seeks to enhance the women’s emancipation and advancement around the globe & it sought to protect the benefits under threat but does not recommend new ways to ensure progress toward equality.
The adopted text also expressed the UN’s concern that overall, progress has not been expedite enough & also in some areas progress has been uneven, and that major gaps remain.
It also underscored that no country has fully achieved gender equality, even 25 years after the Beijing summit 1995.
iii.The Government of  France has decided to host a follow-up conference in July 2020 to be called”Beijing+25″ , which aims to help protect and ensure the gains women have made over the past quarter-century.
About United Nations(UN):
Headquarters– New York City, US
Secretary‑General– António Guterres
General Assembly President– Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
