A/HRC/45/25 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 42/14, the Human Rights Council convened a high-level panel discussion to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, with a particular focus on the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of its review conferences, as well as on achievements, best practices and challenges in that regard. 2. The high-level panel discussion took place on 25 February 2020. The webcast of the discussions is available from http://webtv.un.org. II. Marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 3. The high-level panel discussion was opened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary of State for Development Policy of Denmark, Trine Rask Thygesen, and the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Chen Xu. It was moderated by the President of the Human Rights Council, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger. The three panellists were the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and expert on human rights and gender equality Magalys Arocha Dominguez. A. Opening statements 4. In her opening remarks, the High Commissioner recalled that the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, which had been adopted 25 years before under the rallying cry “women’s rights are human rights”, was a comprehensive expression of States’ commitment to the human rights of women and girls. In a remarkable show of consensus, 189 States pledged to achieve gender equality in practice and in law. That achievement was built on decades of mobilization, advocacy and unwavering commitment by civil society groups, feminist movements and women’s rights activists. At the Fourth World Conference on Women, at which the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action had been adopted, women were not asking for any special rights or privileges but the same rights as men. 5. In the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action it was made clear that the rights of women and girls were inalienable, integral and indivisible from universal human rights and that cultural relativism could not reasonably be invoked to justify violations of women’s rights. Its adoption was also a significant milestone in recognizing women’s diversity and the need to address multiple forms of discrimination. Moreover, in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, States had stressed the importance of upholding women’s human rights throughout their life cycle and of the link between respect for women’s rights and sustainable development. 6. The High Commissioner pointed out that the Fourth World Conference on Women symbolized a moment of collective and strong commitment to human rights as women’s rights, and that the current political moment was quite different. Human rights, in particular women’s rights, were under attack on many fronts. The recent pushbacks and the resurgence of narratives against gender equality were based on centuries-long discrimination. Women’s rights were not negotiable, nor should they be subject to the changing winds of politics. The High Commissioner emphasized that it was imperative to resist all challenges to the hard-won affirmation of women’s rights as human rights – in their universality and indivisibility, for all women, in their full diversity. Recalling the call to action for human rights delivered by the Secretary-General to the Human Rights Council on 24 February 2020, the High Commissioner reiterated that every country should “support policies and legislation that promote gender equality, repeal discriminatory laws, end violence against women and girls, ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights, and strive for women’s equal representation and participation in all spheres”. 2