UN: Asia and the Pacific leads way in advancing action plan for women

UNESCAP media release

Although overall progress has been uneven 15 years after the landmark international women's conference in Beijing, Asia and the Pacific has led the way in shaping how governments integrate a gender perspective into economic and social development programmes, the top United Nations official in the region said at a forum in the Philippines in late October.

In recounting some of the achievements since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, Noeleen Heyzer, head of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), noted that all but four countries in the region have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

There also has been an increase in women's representation in the political and decision-making process in many countries, and necessary action has been instigated to combat violence against women, she said.

"These changes happened because of the unswerving commitment of millions of women and men who share a vision of more equitable societies, where daughters have the same chances as sons, where women live safe from violence, poverty and discrimination," Dr. Heyzer said in a keynote address to more than 500 delegates at the Asia-Pacific NGO Forum on Beijing +15, held from 22 to 24 October in Quezon City, the Philippines.

Building on those achievements, however, requires that gender equality and women's rights be included among the standards against which public actions are assessed, and that women are included at all levels of decision-making, Dr Heyzer said.

Additionally, governments need to devote the necessary resources to achieve gender equality and protect women's rights, develop a strategy to eliminate discrimination and inequality, and integrate gender perspectives within the justice and legal institutions.

Finally, there needs to be support for organizing women in order to create the space needed to change policy, she said.

This week's Forum has the theme "Weaving Wisdom, Confronting Crises, Forging the Future" and is one of many events leading up to the 2010 session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women that will review implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.