A/HRC/PRST/28/1 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 1 April 2015 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-eighth session Agenda item 1 Organizational and procedural matters Statement by the President PRST 28/1. Twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action At the 52nd meeting, held on 25 March 2015, the President of the Human Rights Council made the following statement: “The Human Rights Council: 1. Notes that 2015 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995 and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which have contributed greatly to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, while recognizing the importance of the implementation of these commitments and translating them into effective action by all States, the United Nations system and all other relevant stakeholders; 2. Welcomes the progress made towards achieving gender equality, but also notes that major challenges and obstacles remain in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly1 and the declarations of the Commission on the Status of Women on the tenth and fifteenth anniversaries of the Fourth World Conference on Women; 3. Stresses that the full, effective and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is essential to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals; 4. Welcomes the inclusion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as a stand-alone goal in the proposed sustainable development 1 Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex. GE.15-06872 (E) 