Strategic objective F.1.
Promote women’s economic rights and independence, including access to employment, appropriate working conditions and control over economic resources
Actions to be taken
165. By Governments:
d. Devise mechanisms and take positive action to enable women to gain access to full and equal participation in the formulation of policies and definition of structures through such bodies as ministries of finance and trade, national economic commissions, economic research institutes and other key agencies, as well as through their participation in appropriate international bodies;
Beijing Declaration (1995)
Paragraph 165(d) of the Beijing Declaration deals more with “mechanisms” than anything else. In that, the main focus of the paragraph is having women in the workforce rather than out of it.
So, the paragraph’s authors looked more to mechanisms in the national systems by which to improve a lot of women and, in turn, the increased economic participation of women. Those women who acquire more opportunities.
Those opportunities oriented towards “full and equal participation” in the financial and dynamic sectors of both the economy and the society. With the formulation of policy, the greater equality of women can be better assured.
As the policies set not only the economic directionality of the productive economy, they set the tone for the government and, in consequence, the culture. It is a sense of the culture moving forward from one generation to the next.
A sense of progression in the social and governmental structures towards some idealized aim. In the international system, as seen throughout the Beijing Declaration, this becomes the basis for the provision of a vision of egalitarianism.
It’s not an absolute or an absolutely precise system. It’s not amorphous either. It’s somewhere in between with lines drawn on the areas of operation, e.g., governmental, and domains of discourse, e.g., economics.
Without the aim, there wouldn’t be some final aim and, therefore, the changes would amount to the aimless. If you want to make progress, then there should be a progression towards something. What is progress without a regress? What is a regress without progress?
It’s stagnation, even stagnatory change. Change from one state to the other without a direction in which to progress or regress relative towards. All three without a particular direction in mind do not make sense.
The targeted objectives give the direction required for the compass. These “formulation of policies and definition of structures” provide a baseline. A baseline in considering how best to move the dial of equality further forward.
All three only become relevant in the context of a targeted set of objectives for one to move towards, or not. The emphasis on the policies sets such a framework. The structures would provide a basis to begin to pursue those.
In addition, there are distinct, rather nuanced, areas of emphasis including “ministries of finance and trade, national economic commissions, economic research institutes and other key agencies.” Those parts of the government and private industry.
Whether ministries of finance, those devoted to formulation and projection, and management, of the national economies or the national economic commissions devoted to specific initiatives. Those latter are temporary; whereas, the former runs from one election to another if a democratic state.
The economic research institutes and key agencies regarding economics are important too. Here, we find the generation of ideas by thinktanks and the like. Think of the conservative and libertarian-oriented in the Cato Institute or the American Enterprise Institute, each devoted to thinking of particular solutions and then promulgating these to the public.
In turn, other directions for the spreading of their ideas will be to government officials and others. The only point at which this particular paragraph orients outside of the governmental level stipulated at the outset is the final note on “appropriate international bodies.”
Any governmental action then, and now, will require some international coordination. The communications and informational networks make this an inevitability from the trivial and mundane to the existential and geopolitical.
We remain stuck in the moment of the world of technology built by science. Our rights are filtered through these channels. All policies, infrastructure, legal apparatuses, and the like, will become subject to international law and international human rights law.
The world is global and remains ineluctably so.
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(Updated 2020-09-27, only use the updated listing, please) Not all nations, organizations, societies, or individuals accept the proposals of the United Nations; one can find similar statements in other documents, conventions, declarations and so on, with the subsequent statements of equality or women’s rights, and the important days and campaigns devoted to the rights of women and girls too:
Documents
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- The Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3, Article 7, and Article 13.
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (1967).
- Some general declarations (not individual Declaration or set of them but announcement) included the UN Decade for Women (1976-1985).
- The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) and the Optional Protocol (1999).
- The African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981) in Article 2 and Article 18 from the Organization of African Unity.
- The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and the optional protocol (1993).
- The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993).
- The International Conference on Population and Development (1994).
- The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the Five-year review of progress (2000), the 10-year review in 2005, the 15-year review in 2010, and the 20-year review in 2015.
- The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), and the UN Security Council additional resolutions on women, peace and security: 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), 2242 (2015), and 2467 (2019).
- The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
- The UN Women’s strategic plan, 2018–2021
Strategic Aims
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, emphasis on the entirety of the goals with a strong focus on Goal 5
- The 2015 agenda with 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (169 targets for the end to poverty, combatting inequalities, and so on, by 2030). The SDGs were preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Goal 3 and Goal 5 from 2000 to 2015.
- The Spotlight Initiative as another important piece of work, as a joint venture between the European Union and the United Nations.
Celebratory Days
- February 6, International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is observed.
- February 11, International Day of Women and Girls in Science is observed.
- June 19, Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is observed.
- June 23, is International Widows’ Day is observed.
- August 26, International Women’s Equality Day is observed.
- October 11, International Day of the Girl Child is observed.
- October 15, International Day of Rural Women is observed.
- November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is observed.
Guidelines and Campaigns
- Gender Inclusive Guidelines, Toolbox, & United Nations System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity.
- Say No, UNiTE, UNiTE to End Violence against Women, Orange the World: #HearMeToo (2018), and the 16 days of activism.
Women and Men Women’s Rights Campaigners
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