24 July 2013: In a resolution adopted on 24 July 2013, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) launched Beijing+20, a process to assess the progress of Member States and stakeholders in implementing commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing, China in 1995.

The review will include: national-level reviews conducted by Member States; regional reviews conducted by the UN’s five regional commissions; and a global review conducted by the Commission on the Status of Women’s (CSW) at its 59th Session in March 2015. The CSW also will evaluate options for empowering women and strengthening gender equality in the post-2015 development agenda.

Lakshmi Puri, Acting Head, UN Women, described the Beijing+20 review as an opportunity to galvanize processes for implementing norms and policies identified in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including political commitments, stakeholder mobilization and investments at multiple levels. Puri stressed that “in no country in the world has true equality for women and girls been achieved.” She added that the review timing coincides with the date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in which several gender-related targets are lagging.

Since 1995, the CSW has monitored and reviewed progress achieved and challenges encountered in implementing the Declaration and Platform for Action, a comprehensive global policy framework to achieve gender equality, development and peace. The CSW conducted five-year reviews in 2000, 2005 and 2010, each of which led to declarations on further implementation and action on the Beijing Declaration. [UN Women Press Release] [Platform for Action]