Story by Memory Chamisa
GENDER equality champions, ministers, and government representatives have gathered in Beijing, China, for the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women to renew their collective pledge to promote women’s development.
The meeting comes as Zimbabwe joins the world in commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, which adopted the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a milestone document in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Convening under the theme, “One Shared Future, New and Accelerated Process for Women’s All-Round Development,” delegates are expected to take stock of the progress made 30 years later.
Welcoming the delegates, China’s President Xi Jinping, stressed the impact of advancing gender equality globally and nationally, as a driver of sustainable development.
Presenting Zimbabwe’s position and success stories, the Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa called for bold, measurable actions and underscored the critical need for transformative change, inclusive action that delivers for all women and girls everywhere.
“The role that the women’s movement and civil society have and continue to play in advancing the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, noting their leadership has been transformative in driving every major step forward.
“In Zimbabwe, we have made significant progress towards gender equality. We had a Vice Woman President, now we have the Prosecutor General who is female, Attorney General as well the Minister of Defence, young women in Cabinet serving as Ministers and Deputy Ministers, others are CEOs of big companies and right now the President of the Olympic Committee is from Zimbabwe and a woman too,” she said.
“Women play an important role in creating, promoting and carrying forward human civilisation. And the international community has a shared responsibility to advance the cause of women. Modernisation of the world should involve and benefit women.
“It is imperative to promote high quality development for women through scientific and technological innovation. Gender balance is not a luxury, but the foundation for peace, the driver of innovation and the key to a liveable world.”
Over the past three decades, guided by the spirit of the Beijing World Conference on Women, government has registered significant achievements, with equality between men and women now a universal consensus, not only for the country, but the international community.
The landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, unanimously adopted at the conference in 1995 by over 180 countries and regions, stands as a cornerstone of women’s empowerment and remains the key global policy document on gender equality.
It outlines strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of global gender equality across 12 critical areas of concern, including poverty, education, health, and violence against women.
