A/HRC/45/25 7. In conclusion, she explained that the landmark agreement reached in Beijing was not a coincidence but rather the result of deliberate action by Governments, civil society and other partners to prioritize the realization of women’s rights. She urged all stakeholders to rejuvenate the collective unity and vision that had prevailed in Beijing in order to make even more progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. 8. In her opening statement, the Secretary of State for Development Policy of Denmark, Ms. Thygesen, emphasized that the high-level panel discussion was a timely opportunity to appreciate the achievements of the previous 25 years and to reflect on the reasons for the ongoing severe backlash globally on issues related to fundamental rights. 9. Ms. Thygesen noted that during the previous 40 years Denmark had been strongly committed to advancing women’s and girls’ rights and empowerment. In 1980, Denmark had hosted the Second World Conference on Women and, in 2019, it had co-hosted the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development at a summit held in Nairobi from 12 to 14 November 2019. Denmark stood alongside China, Kenya and Mexico, the other hosts of the world conferences on women, in demonstrating that there was cross-regional consensus on the need to realize the rights of all women and girls. 10. Emphasizing the achievements that had been made since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Ms. Thygesen stated that in two thirds of countries there were as many girls as boys in primary school. Many women had entered the labour market and maternal mortality had declined by almost 40 per cent. Despite that progress, however, there was work yet to be done in order to realize the promises made in Beijing. For example, one in three women still experienced violence in their lifetime, 830 women and girls still died every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and, on average, men earned 63 per cent more than women and that gap continued to increase. 11. The commitments made in Beijing remained more than ever relevant and 2020 was a pivotal moment to recommit. Ms. Thygesen underscored the importance of the Generation Equality Forum, a civil society-centred global gathering for gender equality convened by UN-Women and co-hosted by the Governments of France and Mexico. In that context, she welcomed the six action coalitions (designed to accelerate fulfilment of the Beijing promises) on gender-based violence, economic justice and rights, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights, feminist action for climate justice, technology and innovation for gender equality and feminist movements and leadership. 1 Those action coalitions could promote future joint efforts through innovative partnerships involving Governments, civil society, the private sector and youth. Denmark had expressed interest in taking a leading role in the action coalition on bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The final push for gender equality should be a joint effort, as no one country could do it alone. 12. In his opening statement, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Chen, recalled that the Fourth World Conference on Women had been held in Beijing 25 years earlier and that the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action had since become the leading framework guiding the international cause for women’s rights. 13. Mr. Chen noted that much progress had been made in realizing women’s rights since then, including in terms of access to education, freedom to marry and inclusion in all parts of the workforce. As a result, the status of women had reached new levels in China. In terms of recent events, China had mobilized all resources nationwide to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with female doctors and nurses playing a key role. Despite those achievements, there remained inequalities between men and women in opportunities and the distribution of resources. He pointed out that worldwide women aged 25–34 years were 25 per cent more likely to be living in extreme poverty than men. Many women and girls suffered deeply from imbalanced development, war, climate change and other challenges, including as victims of gender-based violence and human trafficking. 1 See https://forum.generationequality.org/about. 3