Addis Ababa to host 'Beijing +20' Regional Conference

Addis Ababa, 15 November 2014 (ECA) - Over a hundred and fifty delegates, technical experts and governments, from across the African continent will gather in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 17-19 November 2014 to reflect on 20 years of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) since its adoption at the International Conference in 1995 in Beijing, China. Running over three days, the Conference coincides with the ongoing global debates around the Post-2015 development agenda and regional conversations around Agenda 2063, shaping Africa’s development for the next 50 years.

 

Organized by UN Women and the Economic Commission for Africa, the main objective of the conference is to provide Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and African member States with an opportunity to review the accomplishments, as well as garner consensus, in addressing challenges affecting achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment nationally and in the region as a whole. 

 

“This conference offers delegates an opportunity to debate on topical issues in Africa and globally and how they impact the gender equality agenda and the advancement of women and girls rights,” said Thokozile Rudvidzo, Coordinator of the ECA African Center for Gender.

The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) was adopted nearly two decades ago by the then 189 Member States of the United Nations at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing China in 1995. The BPfA is a key initiative which identified twelve critical areas of concern which needed action to ensure equality, peace and development. Since then, with the support of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), governments have undertaken periodic reviews of progress at five year intervals; 1999 (Beijing+5), 2004 (Beijing+10), 2009 (Beijing+15) and  the current preparatory review exercise for 2015 (Beijing+20).   

The ECA African Centre for Gender reports that 51 member States and numerous CSOs have also submitted reports addressing successes, key challenges, emerging issues women’s rights, as well as key recommendations. 

The outcome of the regional meeting will feed into the global review scheduled to take place during the 59^th Commission on the Status of Women in New York, USA in March 2015.