The EDVAW Platform and the Beijing Platform for Action

EDVAW Platform’s Engagement in the 30-Year Review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

In the context of the 30-year review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPA), the EDVAW Platform has prepared a Position Paper on 30 Years in Review of the BDPA, reflecting on progress made and persistent challenges in achieving gender equality.

This paper highlights the urgent need to address violence and discrimination against women and girls, particularly in light of rising gender equality regression and persistent structural barriers that continue to hinder the realization of the commitments set out in the BDPA. It provides an expert assessment of key developments and gaps in implementation, emphasizing the importance of strengthening legal and policy frameworks to accelerate progress.

The position paper was sent to the Commission on the Status of Women ahead of its 69^th session, given its focus on Beijing + 30.

The position paper makes a number of pertinent recommendations including the urgent need for states to ratify and implement key international and regional instruments on women’s rights; reinforcing existing global and regional human rights mechanisms, such as those that form part of the EDVAW platform; and revitalizing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to address gender equality setbacks more effectively.

At the national level, the position paper recommends a concerted push for eliminating discriminatory laws and adopting gender-responsive policy frameworks backed by sufficient funding. It calls for tackling harmful gender stereotypes and investing in long-term, evidence-based prevention strategies as well as adopting comprehensive legal, economic, and political reforms that address the myriad of intersecting forms of discrimination and acknowledge the existing and emerging forms of violence that women and girls experience.

Furthermore, members of the EDVAW Platform convened the Beijing +30 Online Event on 4 March 2025 to reflect on three decades of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, assess progress, and provide key recommendations for the CSW. Participants emphasized the importance of multilateral cooperation, civil society engagement, and accountability mechanisms in combating gender-based violence and ensuring the effective implementation of BDPA commitments.

The full event recording can be accessed here.

 

EDVAW Platform’s Engagement in the 25-Year Review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action

In the context of its 25-year review, the EDVAW Platform launched two e-booklets during a high level panel on 17 March 2021, in the margins of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women:

1. Beijing Platform for Action: Contributions of the Platform of independent expert mechanisms on the elimination of discrimination and violence against women (EDVAW Platform) towards its implementation (2020); and 
2. EDVAW Platform and the Commission on the Status of Women: call for a human rights-based approach in the implementation of strategies for the elimination of discrimination and violence against women.

In 2021, the EDVAW Platform issued a statement calling on the UN Commission on the Status of Women to use women's human rights instruments and expert mechanisms to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.