The Conference
The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review will bring together Ministers and senior officials from relevant line Ministries (Ministries of Women, National Planning, Finance), civil society and other key stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region to:
• identify key strategic areas and actions required to overcome barriers to gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• provide a platform to highlight innovative solutions and exchange good practices and lessons learned on strategies for change.
• invigorate the momentum to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women through increased engagement with stakeholders of different ages.
For further information, please contact: Ms. Cai Cai, Chief, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Section, Social Development Division, ESCAP ([email protected]).
Photos of the Event
To access the photos of the event, please visit here.
Our Live Discussion
To follow the live discussion, please visit here.
Background
A quarter of a century since the adoption of the landmark agreement on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, more women are achieving better educational outcomes and political representation across Asia and the Pacific. However, progress has been slow and persisting patterns of inequality are stalling further progress on gender equality. Technological transformations and disruptions, demographic shifts, increasing migratory flows as well as natural disasters and climate change have profoundly impacted the development context for women, their risks and vulnerabilities as well as opportunities in the region.
With the convergence of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25) and the 5-year milestone for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), the year 2020 marks a window of opportunity to take stock of progress made and actions required to address barriers to gender equality and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
The 2030 Agenda has affirmed the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women as a standalone goal as well as a priority that cuts across all 17 SDGs. The Beijing+25 review will harness synergies with the 2030 Agenda to consolidate efforts to accelerate the achievement of key international commitments on gender equality.
As mandated by ECOSOC Resolution E/RES/2018/8, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will lead the regional review of Beijing+25, in collaboration with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and with the support of the Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (RCM-TWG-GEEW).
The regional review will culminate in the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review, which will take place in November 2019, United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok.
Three-Track Approach
The regional review will adopt three tracks. The analytical track will comprise the regional synthesis of the national-level reviewsconducted by Governments on progress made and challenges encountered in implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The consultative track will involve engagement of stakeholder participation through Civil Society Consultations. The intergovernmental track will engage Governments in the regional review to identify priority actions to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women in the region. As part of this process, the Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 63rd Session of the Commission of the Status of Women,13-14 February 2019, Bangkok, engaged Asia-Pacific governments in preparations for the Beijing+25 regional review.
For webcast, please visit this link.
Accessibility
The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review responds to accessibility needs of participants with disabilities through the provision of real-time captioning and the services of the ESCAP Accessibility Centre.
In addition, we can provide reasonable accommodations for individual accessibility needs through providing volunteer support and others.
An accessibility guideline [click here to download] is also available to:
• enable participants with disabilities to navigate conference and ESCAP facilities along and
• provide information on different dimensions of accessibility-related services, which ESCAP or other entities can provide.
DoiTung Festival: Empowering Communities
The DoiTung Festival at the UN Compound in Bangkok is held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 review in Bangkok 25-29 November and will display a range of social enterprise products from clothing, homeware, plants and traditional cuisine. Doi Tung is a social enterprise brand of the Doi Tung Development Project that has supported local communities in Northern Thailand become self-reliant and sustainable. [more]
Sustainability
The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review, in line with UNESCAP is committed to continuously improve the sustainability of its intergovernmental meetings and share best practices in the region. At ESCAP we Measure, Reduce and Offset our meeting emissions to reduce our footprint and become a promoter of change. However, the active support of all participants is crucial to green our work and experience the SDGs together.
An outline of the six easy steps participants can take to help make the Ministerial Conference more sustainable is available here.