The year 2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA). As a key global policy framework on advancing gender equality, the BDPfA was unanimously adopted by 189 countries and clearly sets an agenda for women’s advancement focusing on the role and the responsibility of all States in the achievement of gender equality as outlined in the BDPfA 12 critical areas of concern.
A statement read by FEMNET at the 1995 Beijing Conference signified the Vision for African women. “Our vision is that we the African women will reclaim, reconstruct, and transform Africa, on the basis of gender equality, giving credence to the principles of democracy and human rights; mobilizing and utilizing human and other resources; and take our rightful place in the global arena, on the basis of equality.”
Since 2000, FEMNET has been at the helm of preparing and mobilizing African women’s CSOs around the review processes of Beijing +5, +10, +15 & +20 – always keen and deliberate to inform and ensure women’s rights organizations strategically contribute and influence the national, regional and global reviews. This is critical in our collective mandate of holding our governments accountable to delivering commitments under the BPfA 12 Critical Areas of Concern as well as documenting the progress and pointing out the persistent challenges and gaps.
Preparations for the review of 25 years of implementing the Beijing+25 are underway. Through this Beijing+25Africa webpage and the hashtag #Beijing25Africa, we will continue to share updates on how we can and are engaging with the review processes.
