A/HRC/45/25
the foundations of the agenda set out in the Beijing Declaration and at the review
conferences.
23.
The speakers pointed to numerous remaining challenges. For instance, several
speakers recognized the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that women and
girls experienced on a daily basis, in particular in humanitarian settings. Specific barriers to
the economic empowerment of women were cited, such as the need for Governments to
work with multiple stakeholders, including the business sector, and the need for more
dedicated efforts to support shared parental responsibilities. Some speakers explained that
women did not have equal access to the resources and opportunities they needed to be more
productive, which in turn negatively affected agriculture, forestry and fisheries in many
developing countries and contributed to rural poverty and malnutrition.
24.
Another challenge that was raised during the discussion was the failure to secure
sexual and reproductive health care and rights, as well as to protect bodily autonomy, which
contributed to preventable deaths and injuries for women and girls worldwide. Some
speakers reaffirmed the importance of sexual and reproductive health care and rights and
their indivisibility from the realization of women’s rights and the achievement of gender
equality. The need for universal access to quality and affordable sexual and reproductive
health-care services, including comprehensive sexuality education, was also raised. Some
speakers noted that it was necessary to dismantle patriarchal structures and values that
frequently tended to invoke religion, culture and tradition in order to curb women’s and
girls’ rights, in particular their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
25.
The importance of responding to the current backlash against gender equality was
also underscored. Speakers urged States to fight against such attacks on women’s rights,
including efforts to diminish funding for women’s rights organizations. In light of those
regressive trends, some speakers stressed the need to continue to engage, including by
means of adequate and effective financing, with all relevant actors, including women’s
rights organizations, feminist groups, women human rights defenders and young people, to
accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
26.
Several speakers highlighted that women played a key role in promoting the peace
and security agenda and, in particular, that the struggle for women’s rights was linked to the
struggle for peace. One speaker emphasized that the women, peace and security agenda
should be meaningfully integrated into all aspects of the Generation Equality Forum and the
action coalitions. It was noted that issues of peace and security were cross-cutting and that
they had an impact on and were affected by a myriad of factors, including climate change,
economic justice, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and
access to technology. Accordingly, the speakers called upon the Human Rights Council to
include a more gender-sensitive analysis of conflict in its resolutions, reports and other
tools.
27.
It was mentioned that predictive analytics and other forms of artificial intelligence
were highly likely to reproduce and deepen traditional gender and racial biases reflected in
the existing data.
28.
Given the persistent justice gap between men and women, the rule of law should be
promoted as an enabler of gender equality. Equal access to justice could make a real
difference in the lives of women and girls, especially those living in rural areas and with
disabilities. Speakers thus asked how investments in access to justice for women and girls
could be mobilized.
29.
The speakers highlighted that, in order to accelerate progress in terms of gender
equality and the empowerment of women and girls, to achieve the 2030 Agenda on
Sustainable Development and to ensure that no one was left behind, international
commitment and national-level action were important. Some speakers called upon the
United Nations to continue to support local, national, regional and international efforts for
the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action and its review at the international, regional, national and local levels. Speakers
also noted that full implementation of the Beijing agenda would require transformational
laws, systemic change, strong financial contributions and multilateral cooperation.
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