Spirit of Beijing Declaration reaffirmed

As the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, co-hosted by China and UN Women, is held from Monday to Tuesday in Beijing, global commitments made three decades ago under the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action are being revisited.

The Beijing Declaration, adopted by 189 countries in Beijing in 1995, remains a "blueprint" for the global agenda for women's rights, said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, at a news briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday.

The declaration identified 12 critical areas of concern, from poverty and education to health, violence and participation in decision-making, which "was incredibly visionary for its time", Alsalem said.

She called for renewed global commitment to the document's original principles. "We have to go back to the basics that were laid out there and reaffirm our commitment to the Beijing Declaration, particularly since it addressed issues that are today missing from our vocabulary and that states perhaps want to forget," Alsalem said.

Responding to the call for renewed commitment, China has taken concrete steps to advance the goals of the Beijing Declaration.

Since 2015, China has contributed $20 million to UN Women for the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the realization of the related goals in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The donation built up assistance for more than 100 maternal and child health initiatives, 100 "Happy School" programs, and housing, infrastructure and vocational training projects.

Over the past three decades, China has assisted developing countries with 100 maternal and child healthcare projects, and trained over 200,000 female professionals from more than 180 countries and regions.

In September, world leaders and civil society representatives convened at the UN headquarters for a high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly, marking the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the Beijing Declaration as "the most ambitious global political commitment on women's rights ever achieved", noting its role in advancing legal protections, political participation and educational opportunities for women worldwide. He also acknowledged that "progress has been slow and uneven".

Sima Bahous, UN under-secretary-general and executive director of UN Women, said, "Thirty years ago, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action changed the world. It brought the principles and promises of the UN Charter to life for women and girls, including human rights, dignity and equality."

minluzhang@chinadailyusa.com