Paragraph 159 of the Beijing Platform for Action
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2019/09/30
159. In countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social transformation, the skills of women, if better utilized, could constitute a major contribution to the economic life of their respective countries. Their input should continue to be developed and supported and their potential further realized.
Beijing Declaration (1995)
When looking at the Member States generally in reference in this paragraph, they’re looking simply and solely at the ‘fundamentals.’ Those arenas of the society of direct transformation. The areas, respectively, of politics, economics, and social life; these are parts of society transformed due to the contributions of women.
They aim for women’s skills to be “better utilized.” The use of the conditional is a bit odd. However, it’s a long document, declaration, with an acknowledge of the difficulties facing women in the various professional realms.
One of which includes an acknowledgement of the lack of using women’s “skills” better. Nonetheless, a greater attribution of concern to the economic lives of women “could constitute a major contribution to the economic life of their respective countries.”
One thing I do not like in some of these documents connected to the international community are the uses of the terms “nation,” “country,” “nations,” “countries,” “nation-state,” “nation-states,” and so on, because of a lack of connection with some of the important work done in the international community by, and through, the United States’s system.
Within this system, the standard terminology is States, Member States, Member State, and the like, rather than “nation,” “country,” “nations,” “countries,” “nation-state,” “nation-states,” and so on. Even so, the “input” from women on the areas of income and skills-utilization in each Member State has been, and can continue to be, a driver of economic growth through using more of the total skills-power of the States of the world.
In addition, on a question of wellbeing and fulfillment in life, this kind of work can be a major boon to the economic livelihood and sustainability of a Member State when women’s talents are put to fuller use.
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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
- Abby Kelley Foster
- Angela Davis
- Anna Julia Cooper
- Audre Lorde
- Barbara Smith
- Bell Hooks
- Claudette Colvin
- Combahee River Collective
- Ella Baker
- Fannie Lou Hamer
- Harriet Tubman
- Ida B. Wells
- Lucy Stone
- Maria Stewart
- Matilda Joslyn Gage
- Rosa Parks
- Shirley Chisholm
- Sojourner Truth
- Susan B. Anthony
License
In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.
Copyright
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