State of Peace and Conflict 2025

CWA # 1897
State of Peace and Conflict 2025
30 Years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: Achievements, Gaps and the Road Ahead
Conflict Weekly #313, 31 December 2025, Vol. 6, No. 52

R Preetha
31 December 2025

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15 September 2025 marked 30 years of the Beijing Declaration. On 15 September 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by 189 governments. The declaration, widely known as the most progressive global blueprint for advancing women’s rights, put forth twelve critical areas of concern and outlined objectives to achieve gender equality, development, and peace through women’s empowerment. As it marks 30 years and adopted the “Beijing+30 Action Agenda,” it is necessary to assess the progress achieved, existing limitations, and changes needed to accelerate action towards full gender equality.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: Background and Context
First, it placed women’s rights at the centre stage. The Beijing Conference showcased a decisive shift in global governance by moving women’s rights from the margins to the centre of international policy-making. Building on earlier UN conferences in Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), and Nairobi (1985), the conference put together two decades of advocacy into a coherent and actionable global agenda. Importantly, it saw strong leadership from the Global South, reflecting the lived realities of women worldwide. Participation was unprecedented, both in scale and diversity. Over 17,000 participants attended the official conference, many of whom came from developing countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. This ensured that issues such as poverty, development, environmental justice, and post-colonial inequality were incorporated within the global women’s agenda. The Conference decisively affirmed that women’s rights are human rights and institutionalised gender mainstreaming as a core policy principle.

Second, an era of global civil society activism. The Beijing Conference took place during a time period which saw post–Cold War optimism and increasing global civil activism. A line of key UN conferences took place in the early 1990s: from the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and the Vienna Conference on Human Rights (1993) to the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (1994) and the Copenhagen Social Summit (1995). All of the above collectively reoriented international cooperation toward human-centred development, and within this broader momentum, civil society played a key role. Alongside the official conference, the NGO Forum in Huairou brought together nearly 30,000 activists, providing space for feminist movements, grassroots organisations, and transnational networks to directly take part in negotiations. Their advocacy positioned the Beijing agenda not merely as a state-led agreement but as an outcome of global social mobilisation.

Third, the platform for action and its twelve critical areas. The Beijing Platform for Action is the operational core of the Declaration, which looks at materialising the political commitments into an actionable framework. It identifies twelve critical areas of concern: women and poverty; education and training; health; violence against women; women and armed conflict; women and the economy; women in power and decision-making; institutional mechanisms; human rights of women; women and the media; women and the environment; and the girl child. For each area, the platform outlines objectives, policy measures, and responsibilities at national and international levels. Recognised as the most comprehensive global framework on gender equality, it has helped develop laws, policies, and global agendas, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and remains the reference point for Beijing+30 assessments.

Progress and Achievements Since 1995
First, institutionalising gender equality: law, governance and peacebuilding. Around 88 per cent of countries have enacted laws or established services to address violence against women and girls. Education has become a key area of reform, with 44 per cent of countries improving the quality of education, training, and lifelong learning opportunities for women and girls. Progress is also seen in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. From just 19 National Action Plans in 2010, the number has increased to 112 globally, reflecting the institutionalisation of commitments to women’s participation in conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and post-conflict recovery. These frameworks, rooted in the Beijing Platform for Action, have expanded recognition of women’s roles in conflict resolution and responses to sexual violence, although implementation and resourcing remain uneven. Gender considerations are also increasingly seen in areas once treated as gender-neutral, such as environmental and climate policy.

Second, social mobilisation, innovation and new forms of activism. National reviews show developments such as integrated care systems, expanded access to education for girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and growing advocacy for feminist climate justice. Civil society remains a central driver of progress, with transnational feminist networks sustaining pressure on governments and institutions. The UN Women 2025 review report notes that a new generation of young activists has further reshaped advocacy strategies, using digital platforms to mobilise support, challenge discriminatory norms, and amplify marginalised voices. This combination of institutional reform and social mobilisation has helped push gender equality on national and international agendas, even in the backdrop of changing political and economic contexts.

Third, the numbers tell a story of partial progress. Between 1995 and 2024, more than 1,531 legal reforms worldwide sought to strengthen women’s rights. Women’s political representation has expanded, with the share of women in parliaments more than doubling over three decades. In education, girls outperform boys in upper-secondary completion in many regions, reflecting long-term investments in access and retention. However, these gains remain uneven. Women still enjoy only about 64 per cent of the legal rights of men, and political institutions remain male-dominated. Significant regional disparities continue in education, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia, where 59.5 million girls remain out of school. Labour force participation gaps have stagnated, and women continue to shoulder around 2.5 times more unpaid care work. Digital access and social protection coverage have expanded, but remain far from universal. Overall, progress has been real but insufficient, requiring consolidation and acceleration.

30 Years Later: Limitations and Challenges
First, patriarchal norms and power structures. Patriarchal norms, which are deeply seated in our society, continue to challenge transformative change. Gender discrimination remains firmly attached to social, political, and economic structures, leading to unequal power relations and limiting women’s participation in decision-making and economic life. Despite legal reforms, women occupy only about 27 per cent of parliamentary seats globally. In other cases, harmful norms sustain practices such as child marriage, gender-based violence, and unequal unpaid care burdens. Nearly one in three women experiences physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, showcasing how legal progress often fails to eradicate underlying societal attitudes.

Second, underfunding. Gender equality commitments are rarely matched with adequate financial resources; UN Women estimates an annual gap at approximately USD 360-420 billion. This funding gap is limiting progress in violence prevention, health care, and economic empowerment. While more than 100 countries have adopted gender-responsive budgeting initiatives, only about half systematically track gender-related spending. Funding shortfalls also affect women-led organisations disproportionately, especially in developing regions and crisis-affected contexts. This risks leaving gender equality as a policy aspiration rather than a budgetary priority.

Third, backlash, democratic erosion, and risk of regression. Recently, backlash against women’s rights has increased and is closely linked to democratic erosion and political polarisation. The UN Women’s 2025 review notes that anti-rights actors have slowed down the implementation of existing commitments. Nearly one-quarter of governments report that backlash is hampering the implementation of the Beijing agenda points. Attacks on reproductive rights, shrinking civic space, and funding cuts stand as threats to hard-won gains, more so for marginalised women.

Fourth, the new challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, economic instability, and escalating conflicts have added weight to the long-standing inequalities. More than 600 million women and girls now live in proximity to armed conflict, while climate and economic shocks push millions into poverty. At present, digital technologies have increased opportunities but have also enabled new forms of violence and harassment against women.

The Road Ahead
First, from commitments to action. The “Beijing+30 Action Agenda” provides a roadmap to fill the gaps. Its “6+1” framework prioritises closing the digital gender gap; placing women at the centre of sustainable economic development, ending violence, strengthening leadership, enhancing accountability in peace and humanitarian action, and advancing climate justice. The “+1” highlights the critical role of youth, recognising that intergenerational leadership is needed for sustaining progress as we move forward.

Second, closing accountability, financing, and participation gaps. At present, five cross-cutting areas are important to realising the declaration’s vision. First, accountability gaps have to be closed by strengthening institutions, which involves ensuring gender equality across all policies and improving data systems to track outcomes. Second, women’s voices, especially those of marginalised groups, must be elevated through equal participation. Third, funding gaps need to be addressed, which requires gender-responsive budgeting and reforms to global financial systems grounded in equity. Fourth, technology must be harnessed to close digital divides while addressing risks such as increased online violence. Finally, services and infrastructure must be shock-proofed to prevent gender equality setbacks during crises, conflicts, and humanitarian emergencies.

Most importantly, confronting patriarchal norms and the societal resistance to change. Thirty years later, the patriarchal structures continue to impact everyday realities. More reforms, programs and initiatives are in place, but social attitudes and institutional cultures have been slower to change. With the 2030 deadline approaching, incremental gains are no longer sufficient, complacency is no longer an option. To move towards full gender equality we must act now, deliberately, to end discriminatory norms through education, intergenerational dialogue, and sustained investment. Policies and frameworks can provide essential support but a gender-equal world will be realised only if patriarchy is confronted and is actively undone by collective societal effort.

About the author
R Preetha is a Postgraduate student from Stella Maris College, Chennai. 
 

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