The Implementation Status of the Outcome Document of Beijing Platform for Action - May 2003

Throughout history, women have been disadvantaged. They face barriers to full equality and advancement because of factors such as gender, race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion and disability. More than 1 billion people in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. Discrimination in girls' access to education persists in many areas, owing to customary attitudes, early marriages and domestic work. Women have unequal access to and use of basic health resources, including primary health services. Women's unemployment is a serious and increasing problem in many countries. Furthermore, violence against women exists in all societies resulting in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts and coercion. Women are victims of armed conflicts and massive violations of human rights.

Traditional value systems governing the private domain of the family allow extremely limited opportunities for women to make decisions, exercise their rights and access opportunities. The constrictions of women's private lives reflexively restrict their role in the public sphere. Discrimination against women is detriment to societies the world over.

Since 1975, the United Nations has been organizing women's conferences to raise public awareness of women's issues and mainstreaming gender equity programmes on national and international levels. The “First World Conference on Women,” held in 1975 Mexico City marked the starting point for achieving international consensus on women's rights. The “Second World Conference on Women”, Copenhagen 1980, declared that equality entails not only legal recognition and elimination of de jure discrimination, but de facto equality of responsibilities and opportunities for participation of women in development both as beneficiaries and as active agents of change. The “Third World Conference on Women” was held in Nairobi in1985. The comprehensive strategies developed there called for the participation of and opportunities for women in all spheres of life, as equal partners with men. It further declared that the role of women in national liberation struggles should be recognized.

The “Fourth World Conference on Women”, Beijing 1995, was the largest conference ever held, with 17,000 participants, including delegates from 189 countries, non-governmental organizations and international civil servants. The commitments made in Beijing were not only the result of diplomatic negotiation but also the product of the strong and organized women's movement. The growing influence of the women's movement has created the momentum for the continuous global conferences and summits addressing women's role in the world community.

The stated objectives of the Beijing Conference were:

The major outcome of the Conference was the "Beijing Platform For Action" (BPFA), a blueprint for raising the status of women worldwide. The Platform is a call for concrete action:

The main objective of the BPFA is the empowerment of all women, a goal which is in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with fundamental tenets of international law. The full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women is essential for the empowerment of women. It is the duty of each State, regardless of its political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The BPFA also recognizes that women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because they are indigenous women or of other status.

All the BPFA participating countries made commitments to the equal rights and inherent human dignity of women; principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments, in particular Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and the Declaration on the Right to Development.

The BPFA was agreed to and signed by all member States of the United Nations (although some nations placed reservations on certain paragraphs of the declaration). The BPFA identified twelve critical areas of concerns to be addressed in order to empower women and ensure their human rights, which are as follows:

In 1999, signatory governments were called upon to present self-evaluation of their implementation of the BPFA. Non-governmental organizations were invited to submit Shadow Reports. Nepal submitted its Country Report at the Special Session held on 5-9 June 2000 in New York to review and assess progress towards gender equality and women empowerment after the Fourth World Conference on women in 1995. 1  The Country Report on Beijing Plus Five included Nepal's progress in implementing BPFA, highlighting initiatives, achievements, constraints/obstacles, emerging issues and future action commitments of Nepal in each of the 12 critical areas of concern identified by the BPFA for attaining gender equality and women empowerment.

Among the initiatives Nepal had taken after the Beijing Conference were the establishment of the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare in 1995, which was later renamed the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) which was charged with the responsibility of advocating and coordinating activities for gender equality and empowerment. MWCSW adopted a National Plan of Action (NPA) for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment to implement the commitments of the BPFA. The government also started the scholarship programme, nutrition programme, Community Based Child Development Centers (CBCDC), and the free and compulsory primary education programme. In the area of health, Nepal initiated the Second Long-Term Health Plan (1997-20017), the Ninth Plan (1997-2002), a reproductive health programme and the safe motherhood programme.

In March 1997, MWCSW formed a National Task Force to draft national plans and policies for the prevention of girl trafficking. Under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the government established the Women's Police Cells to make reporting of violence against women easy and accessible. Non-governmental organizations worked in coordination with the government for the empowerment of women. NGOs formed the Beijing +5 Network Committee, coordinated by the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD). The Beijing +5 Committee prepared the advocacy leaflet on twelve critical areas of concern. A book “Compilation of Documents Relating to Review of Beijing Platform For Action ” was published by FWLD. Workshops/Dissemination Programmes on BPFA were organized by the NGO's.

The analysis of the country and NGO reports resulted in the Outcome Document. The Outcome Document analyses the achievements of and obstacles to the implementation of the twelve critical areas of concern of the BPFA.

Clearly, economic instability has a severe impact on the lives of women as the States are not in a position to provide social protection and social security. Funding for the implementation of BPFA is scarce. The negative impact of globalization and structural adjustment is that it has laced a disproportionate burden on women. The Outcome Document has identified women's lack of access to science and technology, which is the fundamental component of development. They are excluded from new fields and the opportunities it presents. On the other hand, women and girls have started migrating in search of work, which can increase their earning opportunities and self-reliance. However, it exposes them, to inadequate working conditions, increased health risk, the risk of trafficking, economic and sexual exploitation, racism, racial discrimination and other forms of abuse, which impair their enjoyment of their human rights and, in some cases, constitute violations of human rights. This is particularly true for poor, uneducated, unskilled and undocumented migrants. The Outcome Document identified that HIV/AIDS has a devastating impact on women in developing countries.

FWLD's study “The Implementation Status of the Outcome Document of Beijing Platform for Action” supported by The Asia Foundation compiles major and significant initiatives and achievements made by government and civil society within three years (2000-2003) since the adoption of the Outcome Document in 2000 by the UNGASS. It basically analyses the implementation status of the Outcome Document and examines the current status on a specific critical area identified in the Beijing Conference and also highlights the gaps and challenges to implement the Outcome Document. The study further provides recommendations to make future actions effective. The study was conducted in Biratnagar, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Kanchanpur and Kathmandu respectively.

Since the Beijing Conference and the adoption of the Outcome Document, the government of Nepal has taken number of initiatives to further the empowerment of women in Nepal . Up to this date, no study has been conducted to assess the implementation status of the Outcome Document in Nepal . This study is a brief look at the initiatives and challenges taken by the governmental and non-governmental organizations for the empowerment of women in Nepal after adoption of the Outcome Document in UNGASS in June 2000.

The main purposes of the study were:

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