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The Directorate of Gender Affairs in St. John’s, Antigua, has announced its plans to conduct a comprehensive consultative process to produce a report on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA).
The Beijing Declaration, adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women, highlights twelve critical focus areas necessary to attain gender equality and empower women and girls.
Antigua & Barbuda, as a signatory to the convention, must submit a report every five years outlining its achievements, challenges, and future strategies for progress in these areas.
The report will be a collaborative effort among governmental agencies, civil society, and the private sector, with each entity playing a crucial role in compiling the report.
The process will be divided into three phases. In the first phase, the previous reports and other literature relevant to the Beijing Platform will undergo a review.
The second phase will involve gathering data from relevant stakeholders in finance, education, healthcare, and social services to assess the nation’s progress towards gender equality over the past five years.
The third and final phase will be a consultative review and validation exercise to ensure that the report is as comprehensive and accurate as possible.
Civil society organizations have also been invited to submit shadow reports on the nation’s progress on the BPfA.
These shadow reports will allow non-government organizations (NGOs) to offer additional information about the national context, challenges, and successes towards implementing the commitments of the BPfA.
According to Jamie Saunders, the Executive Director of the Directorate of Gender Affairs, this submission reaffirms the nation’s commitment to upholding the principles of gender equality, human rights, and social justice, as enshrined in its national development agenda and international obligations.
He further noted that Antigua & Barbuda takes pride in having been one of the nations that attended the Fourth International Conference on Women in 1995 when the Declaration was signed, and it continues to be an honour to show the nation’s enduring commitment to the principles of the Platform for Action nearly three decades later.
This year’s report on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is scheduled for submission by June 1st, 2024. The Directorate of Gender Affairs urges all stakeholders to actively participate in this consultative process to ensure that the report is as comprehensive and accurate as possible.
Whilst it is good that so much progress has been made in advancing causes for women and girls, more needs to be done to assist boys and men in this modern era, particularly in this part of the world where they are easily led astray by post-slsvety social conditions. They need to be encouraged to participate in community development, and also taught how best to relate to girls and women appropriately for peaceful living.