Catalyzing change for gender equality

Great strides have been taken to empower women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 adopted an ambitious global agenda to achieve gender equality. The region has achieved gender parity in primary education, and halved maternal mortality. Today, the governments in the region are committed to overcoming the persistent challenges of discrimination, gender-based violence and women's unequal access to resources and decision-making.

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference for the Beijing+25 Review will be held in Bangkok this week to explore how more Beijing Declaration commitments can be met to improve the lives of women and girls in the region. Governments in the Asia-Pacific have reviewed their progress and identified three priority areas, areas where action is imperative to accelerate progress in the coming five years.

First, we must end violence against women, a severe human rights violation which continues to hinder women's empowerment. One in every two women in the region has suffered physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Countries in the region have adopted laws and policies to prevent and respond to violence against women. This is progress on which we must build.