Beijing +20 National Review, Philippines
2015 is a milestone year in the development arena; it was even dubbed as the international year of
evaluation. It will be the time when countries have to assess and evaluate themselves on the progress in
terms of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also marks the twentieth year since the
Fourth World Conference on Women where States agreed to and signed the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action.
The Beijing Platform for Action or the BPfA is a landmark document for advancing the rights of women
and gender equality worldwide. It aims to accelerate the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women. The international community came to a consensus and
agreed to a comprehensive blueprint of commitments supporting the full development of women and their
equality with men in many key areas. The BPfA affirmed the principles that would govern future actions
and strategies for women, and firmly set in place an agenda for empowering women by integrating their
concerns in national plans and policies. Governments and the UN agreed to promote gender
mainstreaming as a strategy to ensure that a gender perspective is reflected in all policies and programs
at the national, regional and international levels.
For the Philippines, the Beijing Conference broadened the discussions on women’s rights to include
violence against women, women’s leadership and political participation and economic concerns. It
connected what were previously regarded as women’s issues with other pressing concerns on
environment, human rights, population, and armed conflict. The country also adopted gender
mainstreaming as the strategy to advance women’s rights in the country
2015 is a milestone year in the development arena; it was even dubbed as the international year of
evaluation. It will be the time when countries have to assess and evaluate themselves on the progress in
terms of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It also marks the twentieth year since the
Fourth World Conference on Women where States agreed to and signed the Beijing Declaration and
Platform for Action.
The Beijing Platform for Action or the BPfA is a landmark document for advancing the rights of women
and gender equality worldwide. It aims to accelerate the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-Looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women. The international community came to a consensus and
agreed to a comprehensive blueprint of commitments supporting the full development of women and their
equality with men in many key areas. The BPfA affirmed the principles that would govern future actions
and strategies for women, and firmly set in place an agenda for empowering women by integrating their
concerns in national plans and policies. Governments and the UN agreed to promote gender
mainstreaming as a strategy to ensure that a gender perspective is reflected in all policies and programs
at the national, regional and international levels.
For the Philippines, the Beijing Conference broadened the discussions on women’s rights to include
violence against women, women’s leadership and political participation and economic concerns. It
connected what were previously regarded as women’s issues with other pressing concerns on
environment, human rights, population, and armed conflict. The country also adopted gender
mainstreaming as the strategy to advance women’s rights in the country