In September 1995, Governments participating in the Fourth World Conference on Women gathered in Beijing with the objective of advancing the goals of equality, development, and peace for all women. After substantive negotiations, they unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (the Platform for Action) — a visionary agenda for the empowerment of women and girls. At that conference, Governments agreed that women’s rights are human rights; that the eradication of poverty requires women’s involvement in economic and social development; that there must be equal opportunities for women and men in sustainable development; and that peace is attainable and inextricably linked to the advancement of women. Member States would bear the major responsibility for implementing the Platform for Action, but the UN system would also have a key role to play in realizing the goals of the Beijing Conference.

Twenty-five years after its adoption, the Platform for Action remains the most comprehensive global policy framework for gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls and the realization of their human rights. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, provides an additional framework for action to support gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The 2030 Agenda reaffirms the vision of the Platform for Action by both prioritizing gender equality as a standalone goal and recognizing it as a cross-cutting issue, essential to the achievement of all other goals.