In March 2015, at the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW59), the world will gather to review the progress made in 20 years of implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA). The platform had identified 12 critical areas of concern that needed to be addressed in order to guarantee the elimination of discrimination against women and girls and ensure their empowerment.

Africa is well prepared for this process. 51 African Member States have submitted their national reviews which show their accomplishments in the implementation of the BPfA. A regional report is being prepared by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), analysing the information provided by member states. This report will be presented, discussed and endorsed by the African Regional Conference on Beijing+20 Review, to be held in Addis Ababa, 17-19 November 2014. This report will then be submitted to the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women as Africa’s input into the global Beijing+20 report. 

Invitations for this event have been sent out. Please contact us with any questions or concerns. All inquiries should be directed to Mr. Berhanu Tesfaye (btesfaye@uneca.org; +251 115 44 3760).

Quick information

What: African Regional Conference on Beijing+20 Review

When: Expert segment – 17-18 November 2014

          Ministerial segment – 19 November 2014

Where: Addis Ababa, United Nations Conference Centre

Who: Ministers of Gender Machineries, government representatives, observers from women’s groups, civil society organizations, academic institutions, media, members of parliament and experts from other organizations.

Outcome document: African Regional Report on Beijing+20 Review