Annex I(38) of the Beijing Declaration
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/08/30
38. We hereby adopt and commit ourselves as Governments to implement the following Platform for Action, ensuring that a gender perspective is reflected in all our policies and programmes. We urge the United Nations system, regional and international financial institutions, other relevant regional and international institutions and all women and men, as well as non-governmental organizations, with full respect for their autonomy, and all sectors of civil society, in cooperation with Governments, to fully commit themselves and contribute to the implementation of this Platform for Action.
Beijing Declaration (1995)
The Declaration or the 1995 Beijing Declaration starts with Annex I. As seen above in Annex I(38), and built further in prior articles, this final section looks at the ways in which the governmental systems bound to the nation-state identity should work to provide a perspective on gender within the work done by it. If we look at the policies and the eventual programs of a government, this raises questions about the nature of the international system in relation to pressing the governments to “adopt and commit” themselves to the stipulations of the Beijing Declaration.
It is, granted, not a small task, nor even a large one, but a truly gargantuan project akin to the colossal problem of climate change or science miseducation or denial in general. These are big problems need Swiss Army Knife and bold solutions. Of which, the solutions of the states in the world should be working towards solving, e.g., looking at the courageous work of Iceland to implement broad-scale levels of gender equality through the nation.
Now, as you well know, the main phrase floating around is the advancement and empowerment of women, in particular, the empowerment of women. Often, this is a tagline or blanket statement to encapsulate the general content of the policies, rights, initiatives, documents, and programs intended to be brought to bear to tackle the problem of global equality of women with men.
With the equality of the women with the men as the ideal, and as the metrics determine through international analysis, the trend is greater wellbeing for the society as a whole as the citizenry move more and more towards the implementation of programs of action devoted to greater access for women to jobs and education. Gender is a non-trivial aspect of equality of the sexes.
At present, as seen in North America and less so in some other nations, there appears to be deliberate obfuscation and, potentially misinformation about the distinction between sex and gender in order to delegitimate, in the eyes of the general public who wants to believe these as they fit a particular political and social narrative, the work of the women’s movement, the sexual orientation and gender identity movement, and others.
But gender is an easy concept, but is becoming more complicated as we create proper terms for minority phenomena – not in the language of disorder, as was done with homosexuals, but, rather, in the language of acceptance, tolerance, and greater understanding. Throughout the financial sector of the economies, the global and national systems are urged here, and men and women individually, to respect the right to freedom of choice to one’s life and for the implementation of the Platform for Action.
As a non-trivial inclusion, the next articles will cover the Platform for Action and other parts of the Beijing Declaration in order to combat the various areas of the global system where women are given short shrift through lack of access to some of the basic rights and privileges already, automatically, afforded to the men of the world. The wealthier nations have achieved greater equality, and belong to much of the Western world, and this should be praised for being real achievements; however, this should not, as has been done in some conservative and progressive commentary, be taken as the right to denigrate other religions, cultures, peoples, or governments simply for not making the progress in human rights made by other nations. It would exhibit, and does represent, a blatant disregard for the state, often more difficult and arduous, of other peoples of the world and can, at times, be seen as nothing short of chauvinistic, proud boasting, and condescension to others for the mere fact of being in more unfortunate circumstances.
It takes a humble approach and consistent proactive set of implementations in order to work together as a global community to achieve the desired equality by many, the better lives wanted by many, and the freedoms so desperately desired so many of our forebearers, who wanted the better lives for us that we have achieved in many ways; but these are neither historical accidents nor permanent states of purported perfect but, instead of these, a better place relative to our forerunners that took lots of work and sacrifice and takes even more to maintain and improve upon – as we identify particular small problem and large issues and work to solve them, including the helping of other nations through initiatives such as the Platform for Action.
–One can find similar statements in other documents, conventions, declarations and so on, with the subsequent statements of equality or women’s rights:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- 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.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1993).
- Beijing Declaration(1995).
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).
- 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).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
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