Governments from Asia-Pacific get ready to conduct Beijing+30 national reviews

Bangkok, Thailand — Over 100 representatives from governments across Asia and the Pacific participated in the virtual workshop "Beijing+30 National-level Review and Survey” convened by the UN´s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and UN Women´s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

Hosted on 3-4 April 2024, the workshop aimed at strengthening participants’ knowledge and capacity on the reporting process for the upcoming 30+ review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a set of gender-equality commitments agreed at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

The reviews are held every five years, at national, regional and global levels. This year’s will be Beijing+30, with the country-level reviews comprising the first step of the process, followed by the regional reviews. Member states are now called on to complete an online survey and national reports.

Recognizing the need to empower Member States within the Asia and the Pacific region to better engage in the Beijing+30 review process, two identical workshops provided comprehensive training enabling participants from different countries to learn about the reporting process and offering the opportunity to ask questions.

Moderated by Channe Lindstrøm Oguzhan, Social Affairs officer at ESCAP, the workshops included presentations on the outline of the Beijing+30 preparatory process and the national level review and survey.

Addressing the participants, UN Women Research and Data Analyst, Loui Williams, explained the review process, the structure of the reports and how to complete the survey on the online platform. Throughout the workshop, participants had the opportunity to discuss their own experiences on the ongoing national consultations, ask questions and share the challenges they have encountered in the process.

“The national reviews will produce tangible lessons and solutions where concrete action and collaborations towards the implementation of Beijing and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can follow,” UN Women's Senior Advisor for the Beijing Declaration Platform for Action, Jamshed Kazi, said. “Each insight learn is a lesson learn and each commitment made will enrich the review process and result in the advancement of gender equality in the region."

Re-emphasizing the importance of the national review and surveys for continuous reflection and capacity building to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, Cai Cai, ESCAP´s Chief of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Section, Social Development Division, stated, “the national review serves as a vital process: it identifies gaps and setbacks, deepens our understanding of the challenges, celebrates progress made and shines lights on the ways forwards.”

Drawing attention to the need to ensure an inclusive and participatory process, the presenters stressed that it is imperative to involve civil society organizations (CSOs) from an early stage.

Next steps in the Beijing+30 review process

The submitted national reviews will inform the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review, to be convened from 19–21 November at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, preceded by a forum of civil society organizations to ensure their input.

The outcome of the regional review will then feed into the global Beijing+30 review, to be deliberated at next year’s 69th Commission on the Status of Women, in March 2025.

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