Parliamentarians reaffirm their commitment to the Beijing Platform of Action saying, " "NO STEP BACK - THE WHOLE PLATFORM FOR ACTION!"

ISSUE 48 - 22 March 2005

Government ministers and other high level representatives from 165 Member States, together with over 2,600 non-governmental representatives from all regions of the world met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 28 February to 11 March 2005 to mark the 10th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, as part of the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

The meeting known as the Ten-Year Review and Appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted a declaration reaffirming the commitments made ten years ago in Beijing and calling for further action from governments in achieving gender equality and facilitating the advancement of women. (View the declaration)

Delegates at the high-level plenary session detailed the progress that has been made in the status of the world's women over the last decade in such areas as the improvements in girl's education, the economic advancement of women and increased political participation, as well as reforms to eliminate discriminatory laws.

During the two-week meeting, members of the NGO community as well as Member States and UN agencies organized various parallel events on topics ranging from the plight of women in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sudan and other conflict zones to women in post-tsunami reconstruction efforts, youth and perception of gender roles, trafficking and women's health issues including HIV/AIDS.

On 4 March, parliamentarians from Europe, Asia and the Latin America who were in attendance submitted a Parliamentary Declaration, "NO STEP BACK - THE WHOLE PLATFORM FOR ACTION!" to the chair of CSW.  The declaration reaffirms their commitment to the Beijing Platform of Action, with a particular emphasis on sexual and reproductive rights, and mentions the Ottawa and Strasbourg Declarations.  

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PARLIAMENTARY DECLARATION

49TH MEETING OF THE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

No Step Back - The Whole Platform for Action!

New York, USA, March 2005

We parliamentarians, meeting in New York on the occasion of the 49th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women, reaffirm and strengthen our full commitment to the whole content and spirit of the Beijing Platform for Action, with specific reference to sexual and reproductive rights, which cannot be forgotten and constitute an integral component of human rights.

As has been recognized in the various international conferences and instruments, full human development and the political, social and economic development of nations rest upon: promoting gender equality; eliminating discrimination against women and girls; providing equal access to opportunities and treatment before the law and public policies; promoting the participation of women in decision-making; improving the access to and the conditions of the labour market; and the full recognition of the right to a life free of violence, exploitation and sexual trafficking.

As demonstrated in the Ottawa and Strasbourg Declarations, we underline our firm support and commitment to initiating the mechanisms and proposals, which are necessary to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

All previous issues of the UNFPA Global Population Policy Update can now be found on UNFPA's website at: http://www.unfpa.org/parliamentarians/news/newsletters.htm .

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This newsletter is issued by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in its capacity as secretariat for the biannual International Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (IPCI/ICPD). The first IPCI/ICPD  was held in November 2002 in Ottawa, Canada and the second in October 2004 in Strasbourg, France. These dispatches are intended to highlight important developments taking place around the world so that parliamentarians can be kept informed of and learn from the successes, setbacks and challenges encountered by their fellow parliamentarians in other countries and regions in their efforts to promote the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (September 1994, Cairo, Egypt). It should be noted that UNFPA does not necessarily endorse all of the policies described in this newsletter.

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