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Women’s freedom from violence, participation in politics and economic empowerment are the Asia-Pacific’s next challenges

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November 27, 2019

Women’s freedom from violence, participation in politics and economic empowerment are the Asia-Pacific’s next challenges

Source: South China Morning Post

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana,

Great strides have been taken to empower women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing adopted an ambitious global agenda to achieve gender equality 25 years ago. Gender parity has been achieved in primary education. Maternal mortality has been halved.

Today, the region’s governments are committed to overcoming the persistent challenges of discrimination, gender-based violence and women’s unequal access to resources and decision-making.

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference for the Beijing+25 Review is meeting in Bangkok from November 27-29 to explore how more Beijing Declaration commitments can be met to improve the lives of women and girls in the region. Asia-Pacific governments have reviewed their progress and identified three priority areas where action is imperative to accelerate progress in the coming five years.

First, we must end violence against women, a severe human rights violation which continues to hinder women’s empowerment. As many as one in two women in the region have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in the past 12 months.

Click here to read the full article published by South China Morning Post on 27 November 2019.

Focus areas

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana,

Great strides have been taken to empower women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing adopted an ambitious global agenda to achieve gender equality 25 years ago. Gender parity has been achieved in primary education. Maternal mortality has been halved.

Today, the region’s governments are committed to overcoming the persistent challenges of discrimination, gender-based violence and women’s unequal access to resources and decision-making.

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference for the Beijing+25 Review is meeting in Bangkok from November 27-29 to explore how more Beijing Declaration commitments can be met to improve the lives of women and girls in the region. Asia-Pacific governments have reviewed their progress and identified three priority areas where action is imperative to accelerate progress in the coming five years.

First, we must end violence against women, a severe human rights violation which continues to hinder women’s empowerment. As many as one in two women in the region have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in the past 12 months.

Click here to read the full article published by South China Morning Post on 27 November 2019.

Focus areas