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Much work remains on gender equality in Asia-Pacific

Twenty years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), an unprecedented global initiative for gender equality and women’s rights, women in the Asia-Pacific region continue to face challenges

Rita A. Widiadana (The Jakarta Post)
Bangkok
Mon, November 17, 2014

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Much work remains on gender equality in Asia-Pacific

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wenty years after the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), an unprecedented global initiative for gender equality and women'€™s rights, women in the Asia-Pacific region continue to face challenges.

The BPfA, adopted at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, provides a policy framework and a road map for achieving gender equality and realizing women'€™s rights in 12 crucial areas: women and poverty, violence against women; women and the economy; women in education and health; women in power and decision-making; women and human rights; the girl-child; women and armed conflict; and women and the environment.

To review the progress and assess the challenges in the implementation of the BPfA in the Asia-Pacific region, 400 civil-society groups from 35 countries, 700 government delegates from 44 countries, as well as donors and media representatives will convene in Bangkok, Thailand, from Nov. 17 through Thursday Nov. 20.

Roberta Clarke, regional director for UN Women'€™s Asia-Pacific regional office said that the Beijing+20 review process provided the opportunity for governments and civil societies to assess the implementation of the BPfA.

'€œThere has been progress in the last 20 years, but there is still a huge implementation gap. We need to accelerate implementation to ensure gender equality and women'€™s empowerment are central to the post-2015 development framework,'€ Clarke said.

The year 2015 will be crucially important for the advancement of women globally, as it marks the 20th anniversary of the BPfA and the endpoint of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with the international community considering a post-2015 development agenda and a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the last two decades, the Asia-Pacific region, home to 2.5 billion people, is emerging as a new global economic power. However, females in the region continue to face inequalities

There is no clear correlation between economic growth and a reduction in economic inequality. For example, the absolute number of women and girls surviving on US$1.25-$2 per day has increased during the past 20 years.

In the education sector, girls are still more likely than boys to have dropped out of school at the secondary level and are less likely than males to continue on with formal education. They are also more likely to be illiterate.

An estimated 18 million primary school-aged children, mostly girls, are not in school, according to UN data.

Violence against women and girls remains widespread throughout the Asia-Pacific. A recent UN survey of over 10,000 men in six countries in the region, including in Indonesia, found that nearly half had experienced physical or sexual violence. The rates ranged from 26 to 80 percent across the six countries.

In the area of decision-making and policy-making, gender stereotypes continue to limit women'€™s participation. The majority of countries in the Asia-Pacific have fewer than 12 percent of women in ministerial positions. In only four countries in the region do women account for more than 30 percent of legislators, senior officials or managers.

Women'€™s leadership in the private sector is also low. A 2013 UN study of 700 private-sector boardrooms in seven large regional economies found that only 22 had more than two female directors.

Jacqueline Paul, a social affairs officer in the social development division of the United Nations ESCAP said: '€œWe have seen policies; legislation designed to tackle women'€™s issues; gender mainstreaming in the education sector, government and other fields; and special task forces have been established in many countries [...] But there are still huge gaps, unfulfilled promises and ineffective implementation of legislation that may hinder progress toward gender equality.'€

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