Beijing Declaration - History, Objectives, Impact, Major Concerns, Legislative Protections & More

The Beijing Declaration of 1995 marked a significant turning point in the global movement for gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which promoted gender equality and was endorsed by 189 nations, is currently regarded as the most important global policy document. The Beijing Declaration was in 1995 and is particularly important from the exam point of view as questions can be asked about this topic in the International Relations Section of the GS 2 Mains Examination of UPSC.

In this article on the Beijing Declaration 1995, we shall discuss its history, objectives, importance, impacts, concerns, and other details.

Recent Update on the Beijing Declaration

• In 2020, the Fourth Globe Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action will each celebrate their 25th anniversary, and the world will commemorate both occasions. (1995). Hence, it is referred to as Beijing + 25.
• UNESCO Director-General, as of late, joined world pioneers’ call for the most elevated political obligation to accomplish orientation uniformity. For this, UNESCO will audit the results of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Gender Equality.
• The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) finished five years ago.
• For gender equality and the global empowerment of all women and girls, the year 2020 was a watershed.

If you are looking for other declarations, Check out Balfour Declaration and Colombo Declaration.

What is Beijing Declaration?

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a visionary agenda for the empowerment of women. It is also one of the reference frameworks to analyse the situation of women around the world. It also assesses the efforts of States in support of empowerment of women.

History & Origin of Beijing Declaration

• The Fourth World Conference on Women began in Beijing in September 1995 with 30,000 activists and 17,000 participants.
• Despite coming from somewhat different countries, their unifying goals were gender equality and the global empowerment of all women.
• After two weeks of normally tense political negotiation, representatives from 189 states came to agreements that were historically broad in scope.
• In a parallel Forum, 35,000 non-governmental activists maintained the pressure by connecting, lobbying, and receiving training in front of the global media. The summit's outcome was the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most creative strategy to date to advance women’s rights.

Also, check out the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) here.

Objective and Key Points of Beijing Declaration 1995

• In the interest of all humanity, to work toward equality, progress, and peace for all women everywhere.
• There are now more opportunities for women and girls to receive a free, top-notch education.
• To stop violence against women, speak out against it and take the required action.
• To ensure that the proportion of women in positions of authority and decision-making rises.
• Ensure that all women’s and children’s rights are upheld as a basic, essential component of all other human rights and liberties.
• To ensure that using the platform, various nations can achieve equality, development, and peace by building on previous United Nations summits and conferences, such as those on women in Nairobi in 1985, children in New York in 1990, the environment and development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, human rights in Vienna in 1993, population and development in Cairo in 1994, and social development in Copenhagen in 1995.
• To implement the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women fully and effectively.

Know about the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna here.

Impact of Beijing Declaration 1995

• To highlight women’s leadership in environmental concerns, the Beijing Platform for Action highlighted significant environmental leadership events from the 1990s. It demonstrated how women’s full and equal participation improves governance and conservation outcomes.
• The Beijing Declaration on women’s rights emphasized that women and girls have unique and significant roles as custodians, creators, guardians, and educators of environmental knowledge.
• It pledged to guarantee that everyone had access to clean water by 2000 and to take steps to make it possible for women, particularly indigenous women, to participate in environmental decision-making at all levels.
• Especially in Latin America and southern Africa, where political upheavals in the 1990s gave windows of opportunity for gender equality victories, the Beijing Platform for Action expedited the adoption of female quotas in political leadership.
• The Platform for Action has spurred actions to understand better how women are represented in politics, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s efforts to track the proportion of women in national parliaments using data from 1997.
• In addition, the Beijing Platform for Action emphasized the importance of achieving gender parity within the UN system. The Beijing Platform for Action called for women to hold 50% of administrative and decision-making posts at the UN by 2000, despite an earlier commitment to an equitable distribution of duties between men and women at the UN Headquarters.
• Through micro-enterprise lending, in particular, the platform has helped to increase awareness of human rights breaches, encourage healthy pregnancies, improve economic possibilities for women, and stop the spread of HIV-AIDS among women.
• Numerous studies were conducted before Beijing Declaration to demonstrate the immediate and long-term benefits of girls’ education, including smaller families, more revenue from women’s formal or unofficial jobs, and a greater emphasis on the health, education, and nutrition of young children.
  • Under Beijing Declaration, measures were taken to solve this issue, especially in the nations where the disparity between the education of boys and girls in primary school was the biggest.
  • While there is still a long way to go until educational parity is achieved, significant progress has been made.
  • According to UN statistics, 97 per cent of girls are enrolled in elementary education in industrialized regions compared to 87 per cent in developing regions.
  • Some governments have taken steps to ensure that girls receive a quality education, such as increasing the number of girls-only schools or courses, hiring and training female teachers, compensating parents, and providing uniforms.

Also, check out National Commission for Women here.

Major Concerns of Beijing Declaration 1995

The table below discusses the major concerns of Beijing declaration:

Check out the linked article on Shanghai Cooperation Organization here.

The Beijing Platform for Action

Participation should be in all facets of public and private life. It is a women empowerment platform that ensures women’s active participation. It also removes all obstacles and gives them an equal voice in every economic, social, cultural, and political decision-making.

The Beijing Platform for Action considers a world in which every woman and girl is free to exercise her legal rights, basic liberty, and lifestyle preferences, including the freedom to attend school, be an active member of society, live without fear of violence, and be fairly compensated for equally demanding work.

Since that time, some governments, civil society organisations, and members of the public have acted on the promises stated in the Platform for Action. Women's organisations throughout the world improved and coordinated their work. The delegates came away from it with a positive perspective and a clear grasp of advancing equality and empowerment.

Also, the Beijing Platform for Action, endorsed by the World Conference on Human Rights, reiterates that women’s and girls’ rights are an unalienable, crucial, and unbreakable component of all human rights. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action2 first defined this key notion. At every stage of a woman’s life, the Platform fights to strengthen and defend her ability to exercise her fundamental rights.

Legislative Protections

Check out the article on Rajaram Mohan Roy here.

Beijing Declaration +25

• A United Nations report from early 2020, 25 years after the Beijing Declaration, highlights that progress towards gender equality is slowing, and women's hard-won rights are regressing.
• The report reveals that women hold only 25% of powerful positions, with men dominating parliaments, managerial roles, climate negotiations, and peace efforts.
• Despite 25 years, a gender gap persists, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Research indicates that existing inequalities are worsening, potentially pushing 47 million more women below the poverty line and increasing violence against them.
• To address these challenges, establishing national mechanisms for women's advancement and gender equality, backed by political commitment and resources, is crucial.
• The Beijing Declaration remains a global framework and a source of inspiration, guiding civil society activism even 25 years after its adoption.

Previous Year Questions

• Empowering Women is the key to controlling population growth. Discuss. (2019 GS 1 Mains Paper)

Beijing Declaration 1995 (UPSC Polity): Download PDF Here!

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