To mark of 25 years of the adoption of Beijing Platform for Action, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD), the National Commission for Women (NCW) and UN Women organized a National Consultation on the Review of Beijing+25, to galvanize all stakeholders to implement actions that remove the most conspicuous barriers to gender equality. The aim of the consultation was to bring together civil society and the women and youth of India, gender equality advocates from all walks of life, in a national public conversation on the urgent actions that need to be taken for the realization of gender equality.

The inaugural session was attended by Governor of Chhattisgarh, Smt. Anusuiya Uikey, Secretary Ministry of women and Child development, Rabindra Panwar and Ms, Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, National Commission for Women.

The objectives of the Consultation were to assess progress and challenges to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in India over the past 5 year, discuss lessons learned, priority actions required to realized gender equality and the empowerment of women by 2030, discuss emerging areas that have impact on women’s empowerment.

The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, was one of the largest ever gatherings of the United Nations, and a critical turning point in the world’s focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), (Beijing + 25). A quarter of a century on, several innovations and progress has been made on many fronts across the 12 critical areas of concern of the BPfA.

Under the helm of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was expanded to all 640 districts resulting in a 13-point improvement in the sex ratio from 918 (2014-15) to 931 (2018-19), the female net enrolment ratio of 93.55 percent at the elementary level and a significant decline in the overall drop-out rate to 19.8% for boys and girls. Over 17.43 lakh women were reached out under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY Maternity Benefit Programme) and over 18.6 lakh were addressed through Women Helpline Number (181) across country as on September 2018. To improve the overall gender responsiveness of the police and encourage participation of women in the force, advisory have been issued to increase representation of women to 33 percent resulting in extension of reservation in 15 additional States in the last 5 years.  Further, to strengthen the ecosystem for working women and encourage economic participation, extension of maternity leave duration from 12 to 26 weeks and compulsory establishment of crèche in work spaces have been effectuated through legislative amendment.

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MM/SB