SA to participate in 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference

Thursday, October 1, 2020

President Cyril Ramaphosa will later today address a virtual high-level meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, convened by the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting, to be held under the theme “Accelerating the realisation of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”, forms part of the high-level week of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA75).

The meeting also takes place in the context of the General Assembly’s anniversary under the theme, “The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism”.

The meeting will present an opportunity to review progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The meeting will also afford Heads of State and Government and other leaders an opportunity to present concrete new actions, and demonstrate commitments to accelerate the realisation of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by 2030, including in support of the role of civil society organisations and youth.

The inaugural Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, China, in 1995 and adopted the Beijing Declaration – an international blueprint to achieve gender equality and women empowerment.

The Declaration remains an important UN instrument in pursuing the global women’s agenda of a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making and aims to creating an environment where women and men relations are based on a principle of shared power and responsibility, whether in the workplace or in the wider national and international communities. – SAnews.gov.za