Global Unions Federations call for "bold commitments" in advancing the Beijing Platform for Action ahead of UN Commission on the Status of Women

Ahead of the United Nations Commission on the status of Women (UNCSW 64) to be held in March 2020, Global Unions Federations including the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Education International (EI), Public Services International (PSI), UNI Global Union, International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), International Federation of Journalist (IFJ), International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) have co-signed a joint statement  calling for bold commitments in advancing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the human rights of women throughout the lifecycle.

"2020 provides an extraordinary, generational opportunity to reinvigorate the unfulfilled promise of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). Agreed a quarter of a century ago, the BPfA remains the enduring blue-print for achieving gender equality. The political declaration that will be adopted by governments at the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women must be ambitious and forward looking. It must acknowledge current global threats, whether to peace and democracy, to the environment, to human rights, to workers’ rights or to women’s rights. It must offer up a progressive and feminist vision to counter these threats and resume the advance towards gender equality and social justice, rooted in the implementation of the Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", said the GUFs.

Among the key elements incorporated in the statement is the issue of gender-based violence. "Gender-based violence and harassment pervades the world of work, affecting all sectors and occupations",  "Online harassment is a growing problem for women who tend to be disproportionately targeted for abuse. The way women are portrayed in the media influences public perception of women’s role in society and almost one in two women journalists have experienced online abuse."

The GUF proposed that the aspirations of the Beijing Platform for Action can be made real by action on four key axes:


• Guarantee the fundamental human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining
of all women workers;
• Invest in care for gender equality and development, to redistribute the burden of unpaid care;
work, to ensure access to quality public services and to create millions of quality green jobs;
• Eliminate gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work;

• Promote women in leadership through a feminist approach to leadership. 

Read full text in EN, FR, ES (soon). 

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