Source: Global Times
The UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has called for stepping up efforts to build on gains in the implementation of Beijing declaration, a commitment by governments to ensure gender equality, women's empowerment and human rights among others.

Despite some of the strides made with regards to gender equality and women empowerment, Africa still has a long way to go; the continent can and must do better, said Carlos Lopes, UNECA Executive Secretary, on Wednesday at the 9th African Regional Conference on Women (Beijing+20) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Almost 20 years back, about 189 UN member states in 1995 adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, China.

The declaration was a statement of the political commitment by governments to work towards equality between men and women, with a special focus on women's empowerment; and the Platform for Action outlined strategic objectives and actions in 12 critical areas of concern.

The UNECA and the AU Commission has organized the ministerial conference to review the progress made in the past 20 years on the African continent.

This came prior to the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women due to be held in March 2015 to review the progress made in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action.

The review process is expected to provide an opportunity for multi-stakeholder consultation and awareness-raising on the commitments made, with a view to galvanizing accelerated action.

Africa is on an encouraging pathway translating some of Beijing' s promises into actions, said the UNECA Executive Secretary at the opening of Wednesday's regional Conference.

Lopes noted that Africa has registered encouraging achievements in women/girls education, women's participation in decision making processes, and reducing maternal mortality among others.

"Today, more African women are literate than ever before and more girls attending school," said Carlos, adding that bold implementation of policies in some countries have gone a long way in increasing overall school enrolments and reducing gender differences.

"With regard to voice and agency, Africa has witnessed a gradual increase in the proportion of women in decision making processes, particularly in national parliaments," he said.

In this regard, Lopes mentioned the achievements in Rwanda and Cape Verde where women's participation is higher in parliament and ministerial level.

He also hailed the achievements in some African countries where women have become leaders; and also Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, who Lopes said is an inspiration to women everywhere.

Celebrating the achievements, the Executive Secretary also called for efforts to address school life disparity by dealing with early marriage, high cost and poor quality of education as well as increasing the opportunities for women to attain tertiary and higher level education.

He also underlined the need to deal with women's ownership of agricultural assets and other economic issues such as wage disparities between men and women, which he said extremely high as well as women employment opportunities.

"We cannot build dynamic African countries, if women and girls, who form the majority of the population, remain marginalized or exclude," said Lopes.

The Executive Secretary noted that there is unfinished business that requires Africa to build on the gains registered over the last 20 years.

He called for more investment in women's education, health, property rights, access to and control over financial resources, knowledge and information.

Thokozile Ruzvidzo, Coordinator of the African Center for Gender Social Development Policy Division at UNECA, told Xinhua that the regional conference focuses on the implementation of the Beijing declaration.

She reiterated that remarkable achievements have been registered in different areas, particularly in the education sector in Africa.

The resulting regional report will inform the global report to be presented at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March 2015.

The regional report will set out the main achievements, obstacles and recommended actions for each area of concern and highlight individual country experiences, according to the organizers.