Honourable Chair,
I am honoured to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States as we gather for the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
We are here to reaffirm that commitments made 30 years ago in Beijing are non-negotiable and must be fulfilled. While we have made considerable progress, only five years from 2030, we are still far from achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, goal number five of the SDGs.
Since the last anniversary in 2020, we have realised that we have to not only keep gender equality high on the global agenda, but this task has become even more pertinent. Hard-won gains towards a better world for all are being questioned or in certain situations even reversed. These last 5 years were marked by adversity, including health and financial crises, renewed conflicts, challenges to our normative structures, and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. These all have had a disproportionate impact on women and girls, further contributing to increasing gender gaps and inequalities.
The Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome of its review conferences rightly considers gender equality the basis for all efforts to achieve more peaceful, prosperous societies and a sustainable planet.
The EU is committed to step up action and work with all partners within the EU and worldwide to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls through policy and legislative measures, gender mainstreaming and tackling the root causes of gender inequalities. Men and boys must act as agents of change and are also beneficiaries in this process. Backsliding on the progress that we have achieved over the past 30 years is not acceptable!
\*\*\*
We must recognize that the world is changing. This is why the EU emphasizes the need to address the structural and institutional barriers, be they social, political, cultural or economic, which limit the potential of women and girls of all ages; and to ensure that all women and girls drive and benefit equally from advances in innovation and technology, including the green and digital transition.
To overcome the digital gender divide, we need to work together to develop and enforce ethical and gender-transformative guidelines, policies, and laws within digital governance. We need to ensure a safe and inclusive online environment and AI applications that advance digital inclusion, safety and security and combat mis- and disinformation and bias.
\*\*\*
The EU underlines the significance of full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women and girls in all aspects of peace and security, as recognized by the UN Pact for the Future and by the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security 25 years ago. The EU reiterates its call for strengthening the influence and leadership of women and girls in conflict prevention and resolution at all levels, including in political dialogues, formal and informal mediation, crisis management, peacebuilding and peacekeeping, peace negotiations, disarmament and reintegration.
With the increase in armed conflicts around the world, concerted efforts are also needed on preventing and addressing all forms of conflict-related sexual violence, offering psychosocial support and healthcare to survivors, improving their access to justice and ensuring accountability for the perpetrators.
\*\*\*
The Secretary General called for eradication of sexual and gender-based violence. In May 2024, the EU has adopted legislation to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and domestic violence, including intimate partner violence, through a comprehensive set of measures of prevention, protection, support and access to justice applicable to victims and survivors wherever they live, and whichever offence they have been subjected to. It also introduces EU-wide criminalisation of the most wide-spread forms of technology facilitated gender-based violence, which is an urgent issue to address, given the exponential spread and dramatic impact of violence online, and its impact which hinders women’s and girls’ full, equal and meaningful participation in our societies. The ongoing EU/UN Spotlight initiative focuses on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.
\*\*\*
The EU stresses the role of civil society in accelerating the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and in driving the gender-transformative implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, in particular women’s rights organizations and women human rights defenders in pushing and building up gender equality and empowerment. The EU emphasizes a holistic, intersectional approach that addresses the specific needs and empowers women and girls, who face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including those affected by conflict, displacement, climate change and environmental degradation and socioeconomic barriers.
The EU remains committed to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights and to the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the outcomes of their review conferences and remains committed to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), in this context. Having that in mind, the EU reaffirms its commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the right of every individual to have full control over, and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, free from discrimination, coercion and violence. The EU further stresses the need for universal access to quality and affordable comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information, education, including comprehensive sexuality education, and health-care services.
The European Care Strategy launched in September 2022 stressed the importance of affordable accessible and high quality care service for children and other dependents for women’s economic empowerment, together with an equal sharing of care between women and men. The same year the EU has also adopted legislation on paternity, parental and carers’ leave and on flexible working time arrangements for all with care responsibilities. Furthermore other recently adopted EU directives advance equal pay for equal work or work of equal value promote gender balance in company boards and strengthen the role of equality bodies.
However, we must improve regulatory and policy frameworks at all levels. The EU calls, in particular for strengthening the full, equal and meaningful representation, participation and agency of women and girls at all levels of decision-making, including in leadership roles. In the EU leadership, we strive to walk the talk: 3 out of the 4 main EU institutions and bodies are currently lead by women: The European Commission, the European Parliament and the European External Action Service.
The EU also recognizes the urgent need to ensure that women and girls are at the forefront of climate action. Women, particularly in vulnerable communities in vulnerable situations, are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet they remain underrepresented in climate-related decision-making.
Chair,
We have just adopted an ambitious political declaration of the CSW. I want to thank UN Women and the CSW Bureau for their hard work. At this session, we are reinforcing our confidence in the CSW as the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion and protection of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. We support the call in the UN Pact for the Future to explore options to revitalise the CSW and to ensure that the Commission is strengthened.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is a milestone for all women and girls, for those who were there in Beijing and those who were not yet born: this is a moment for dialogue, to find inspiration and to learn from each other. However, this is also a call to action. Together, we must transform our conversations into bold change and create lasting impact.
Let us mark this anniversary with our firm recommitment!