Beijing +25

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Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - Text version

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

September 1995 -

Canada, along with the international community, reaffirms its commitment to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for women and girls everywhere, in the interest of all humanity.

In addition to committing to critical actions, from addressing the needs of women in poverty and pay equity, to eliminating gender-based violence—areas of concern that are as relevant today—the Beijing Declaration commits to:

• Womenʼs rights are human rights
• Equal treatment of women and men in education and health care
• Women have the right to control all aspects of their health
• Womenʼs economic empowerment, leadership, and political participation
• Prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls
• Develop and implement gender-sensitive policies and programs

July 2020 -

The Generation Equality Forum is established to mark Beijing + 25, and Canada, along with the Netherlands, are named co-leads on the Feminist Movement and Leadership Coalition. The goal is to press for action on issues where progress still needs to be made, to honour those who have paved the way, and celebrate those who are working to advance gender equality in their communities.

This is an important year on our path to gender equality in Canada, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (September 15, 1995). The Declaration, also known as Beijing+25, was the most inclusive agenda on gender equality and women’s empowerment to date, and focussed on important issues like equality in political participations and leadership, access to education, reproductive rights and healthcare, assistance to women experiencing gender-based violence.

Since 1995, Canada has been committed to implementing the objectives set by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), which remains the most progressive global blueprint for advancing gender equality.

Every five years, UN Women conducts a global review on the progress made across the 12 critical areas of concern in the BPfA. The Government of Canada supports this process by preparing a national report on its implementation progress in collaboration with departments and agencies from across the federal government, as well as with provincial and territorial governments.

Read Canada’s National Review, which includes trends, achievements and remaining gaps and challenges, as well future plans to accelerate implementation.

Generation Equality Forum

What’s more, in July 2020, Canada was announced as one of the co-leads of the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership to mark Beijing +25. The goal of the Generation Equality Forum is to make meaningful progress to advance gender equality by launching concrete actions over five years through Action Coalitions – partnerships between countries, civil society, and the private sector – in six key areas:

• gender-based violence
• economic justice and rights
• bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights
• feminist action for climate justice
• technology and innovation for gender equality
• feminist movements and leadership.

Canada and the Netherlands were names co-leads of the Feminist Movements and Leadership Coalition.