The Beijing Platform for Action – A global gender equality agenda turns 30

The purpose of the Beijing Platform for Action is to drive gender equality efforts forward, drawing, among other things, on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which obligates UN member states to eradicate discrimination against women.

The Beijing Platform for Action identifies twelve priority areas deemed critical to achieving gender equality. One key tool in this effort is gender mainstreaming, which involves integrating a gender perspective into all policy areas and at every stage of decision-making, planning, and implementation.

The Beijing Conference was part of a series of global efforts from the 1970s onwards to advance gender equality between women and men.

At the first World Conference on Women, held in Mexico in 1975, three priority goals were set: equality, development, and peace. To achieve these, the 1980 Copenhagen Conference focused on three key areas: equal access to education, employment opportunities, and healthcare for women and men.

At the Nairobi Conference in 1985, it was established that women have a legitimate right to participate in decision-making and governance. This was also the first time that LGBTQI rights were introduced. Additionally, men’s violence against women was highlighted as a significant obstacle to gender equality.

Progress in some areas

The Beijing Platform for Action is now an integral part of gender equality frameworks in many countries worldwide. Experts generally agree that it has been instrumental in advancing structural gender equality efforts, resulting in comprehensive legal provisions on gender equality and the rights of women and girls.

In practice, the Beijing Platform for Action has led to significant improvements in women’s rights globally, particularly in reducing maternal mortality and increasing girls' access to education. In Sweden, women’s political representation has risen markedly since the 1990s. The division of unpaid domestic and care work has also become more balanced, though progress has been more modest.

However, in recent years, gender equality efforts have faced increasing resistance globally, and men's violence against women remains a widespread issue.

The implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action is monitored annually by the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Today, its 12 critical areas have been merged with the gender equality aspects of the 2030 Agenda, forming six focus areas for member states’ reporting to the UN. You can access Sweden’s 2020-2024 report via UNECE’s website.

As part of efforts to realise the ambitions of the Beijing Platform for Action, UN Women has been leading the global initiative Generation Equality since 2021. This initiative brings together UN member states, multilateral organisations, civil society, the private sector, and philanthropic actors. The work is organised into six action coalitions, with Sweden co-leading the coalition on Economic Justice and Rights.