Beijing +15
The fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was marked in a commemorative meeting during the fifty-fourth session of the Committee on Women which took place in New York from 1 to 12 March 2010 and brought together government officials and representatives of civil society, the media and the private sector to assess what was achieved since the Beijing Conference in 1995, share experiences and good practices and discuss priority actions to deal with persistent obstacles and new challenges.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SESSION
In the context of the preparations taking place at the international, regional and national levels to review and assess the efforts exerted by countries to implement the resolutions made at Beijing Conference 15 years later (Beijing +15), ESCWA:
- Organized, in collaboration with the LAS General Secretariat, UNIFE, CAWTAR and the Arab Women Organization, a training workshop on how to prepare national reports for Beijing +15 targeting experts from national women machineries and women ministries in the Arab region and based on the questionnaire prepared by the United Nations regional commissions for the purpose of monitoring the efforts exerted by countries at the practical and strategic levels to implement the Beijing Platform for Action. The meeting was held on 24 to 26 March 2009 at LAS headquarters, Cairo;
- Jointly prepared and coordinated with the League of Arab States a draft consolidated Arab report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action 15 years later, based on the national reports provided by countries;
- Organized an expert group meeting in Beirut on 19 and 20 October 2009 to review the progress achieved in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the Arab region: Beijing +15 and discuss the draft consolidated Arab report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action 15 years later, introduce the necessary amendments, and come up with recommendations to be presented at the fourth session of the Committee on Women for discussion and adoption;
- Included the Consolidated Arab Report on the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action + 15 as one of the main themes to be discussed during ESCWA’s Fourth Session of the Committee on Women which was held in Beirut from 21 to 23 October 2009, whereby participants reviewed and assessed progress achieved in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action 15 years later, adopted the consolidated Arab report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing +15), determined future priorities for the period until 2015 and presented new initiatives and actions aimed at accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Arab Plan of Action for the Advancement of Women to the Year 2005 and addressing challenges to implementation.
Findings of the Arab report on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing +15) were presented by ESCWA’s Executive Secretary at the Fifty-fourth Session of the Commission on Women (CSW54) that took place in New York in March 2010, during the High-level Panel entitled “Regional Perspectives in Progress Achieved and Remaining Gaps and Challenges in the Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action”. A side event was also organized during CSW54 to present the work of ESCWA Centre for Women in promoting gender equality and women empowerment and the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
