WUNRN
2010 - BEIJING + 15 REVIEW
______________________________________________________________________
THE UNITED NATIONS 4th CONFERENCE ON
WOMEN
Beijing, China - September 1995
Action for Equality, Development and Peace
BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION
Mission
Statement
Global
Framework
Critical
Areas of Concern
Strategic
Objectives and Actions
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Mission
Statement
- The Platform for Action is an agenda for women's
empowerment. It aims at accelerating the implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women [1] and at removing all the obstacles to women's
active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a
full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political
decision-making. This means that the principle of shared power and
responsibility should be established between women and men at home, in the
workplace and in the wider national and international communities.
Equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition
for social justice and is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite
for equality, development and peace. A transformed partnership based on
equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred
sustainable development. A sustained and long-term commitment is
essential, so that women and men can work together for themselves, for
their children and for society to meet the challenges of the twenty-first
century.
-
- The Platform for Action reaffirms the fundamental
principle set forth in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, [2]
adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, that the human rights of
women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible
part of universal human rights. As an agenda for action, the Platform
seeks to promote and protect the full enjoyment of all human rights and
the fundamental freedoms of all women throughout their life cycle.
- The Platform for Action emphasizes that women share
common concerns that can be addressed only by working together and in
partnership with men towards the common goal of gender* equality around
the world. It respects and values the full diversity of women's situations
and conditions and recognizes that some women face particular barriers to
their empowerment.
- The Platform for Action requires immediate and
concerted action by all to create a peaceful, just and humane world based
on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the principle of
equality for all people of all ages and from all walks of life, and to
this end, recognizes that broad- based and sustained economic growth in
the context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social
development and social justice.
- The success of the Platform for Action will require a
strong commitment on the part of Governments, international organizations
and institutions at all levels. It will also require adequate mobilization
of resources at the national and international levels as well as new and
additional resources to the developing countries from all available
funding mechanisms, including multilateral, bilateral and private sources
for the advancement of women; financial resources to strengthen the
capacity of national, subregional, regional and international
institutions; a commitment to equal rights, equal responsibilities and
equal opportunities and to the equal participation of women and men in all
national, regional and international bodies and policy- making processes;
and the establishment or strengthening of mechanisms at all levels for
accountability to the world's women.
* For the commonly understood
meaning of the term "gender", see annex IV to the present report.
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- The
Fourth World Conference on Women is taking place as the world stands
poised on the threshold of a new millennium.
-
- The
Platform for Action upholds the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women [3]
and builds upon the Nairobi Forward- looking Strategies for the
Advancement of Women, as well as relevant resolutions adopted by the
Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly. The formulation of
the Platform for Action is aimed at establishing a basic group of priority
actions that should be carried out during the next five years.
- The Platform for Action recognizes the importance of
the agreements reached at the World Summit for Children, the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the World Conference on
Human Rights, the International Conference on Population and Development
and the World Summit for Social Development, which set out specific
approaches and commitments to fostering sustainable development and
international cooperation and to strengthening the role of the United
Nations to that end. Similarly, the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States, the International
Conference on Nutrition, the International Conference on Primary Health
Care and the World Conference on Education for All have addressed the
various facets of development and human rights, within their specific
perspectives, paying significant attention to the role of women and girls.
In addition, the International Year for the World's Indigenous People, [4]
the International Year of the Family, [5]
the United Nations Year for Tolerance, [6]
the Geneva Declaration for Rural Women, [7]
and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women [8]
have also emphasized the issues of women's empowerment and equality.
- The objective of the Platform for Action, which is in
full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and international law, is the empowerment of all women. The
full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all women
is essential for the empowerment of women. While the significance of
national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and
religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States,
regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote
and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. [9]
The implementation of this Platform, including through national laws and
the formulation of strategies, policies, programmes and development
priorities, is the sovereign responsibility of each State, in conformity
with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the significance of
and full respect for various religious and ethical values, cultural
backgrounds and philosophical convictions of individuals and their
communities should contribute to the full enjoyment by women of their
human rights in order to achieve equality, development and peace.
- Since the World Conference to Review and Appraise the
Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development
and Peace, held at Nairobi in 1985, and the adoption of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the world has
experienced profound political, economic, social and cultural changes,
which have had both positive and negative effects on women. The World
Conference on Human Rights recognized that the human rights of women and
the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of
universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in
political, civil, economic, social and cultural life at the national, regional
and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of
discrimination on the grounds of sex are priority objectives of the
international community. The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirmed
the solemn commitment of all States to fulfil their obligations to promote
universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all human rights
and fundamental freedoms for all in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations, other instruments related to human rights and
international law. The universal nature of these rights and freedoms is
beyond question.
- The end of the cold war has resulted in international
changes and diminished competition between the super-Powers. The threat of
a global armed conflict has diminished, while international relations have
improved and prospects for peace among nations have increased. Although
the threat of global conflict has been reduced, wars of aggression, armed
conflicts, colonial or other forms of alien domination and foreign
occupation, civil wars, and terrorism continue to plague many parts of the
world. Grave violations of the human rights of women occur, particularly
in times of armed conflict, and include murder, torture, systematic rape,
forced pregnancy and forced abortion, in particular under policies of
ethnic cleansing.
- The maintenance of peace and security at the global,
regional and local levels, together with the prevention of policies of
aggression and ethnic cleansing and the resolution of armed conflict, is
crucial for the protection of the human rights of women and girl children,
as well as for the elimination of all forms of violence against them and
of their use as a weapon of war.
- Excessive military expenditures, including global
military expenditures and arms trade or trafficking, and investments for
arms production and acquisition have reduced the resources available for
social development. As a result of the debt burden and other economic
difficulties, many developing countries have undertaken structural
adjustment policies. Moreover, there are structural adjustment programmes
that have been poorly designed and implemented, with resulting detrimental
effects on social development. The number of people living in poverty has
increased disproportionately in most developing countries, particularly
the heavily indebted countries, during the past decade.
- In this context, the social dimension of development
should be emphasized. Accelerated economic growth, although necessary for
social development, does not by itself improve the quality of life of the
population. In some cases, conditions can arise which can aggravate social
inequality and marginalization. Hence, it is indispensable to search for
new alternatives that ensure that all members of society benefit from
economic growth based on a holistic approach to all aspects of
development: growth, equality between women and men, social justice,
conservation and protection of the environment, sustainability,
solidarity, participation, peace and respect for human rights.
- A world-wide movement towards democratization has
opened up the political process in many nations, but the popular
participation of women in key decision-making as full and equal partners
with men, particularly in politics, has not yet been achieved. South
Africa's policy of institutionalized racism - apartheid - has been
dismantled and a peaceful and democratic transfer of power has occurred.
In Central and Eastern Europe the transition to parliamentary democracy
has been rapid and has given rise to a variety of experiences, depending
on the specific circumstances of each country. While the transition has
been mostly peaceful, in some countries this process has been hindered by
armed conflict that has resulted in grave violations of human rights.
- Widespread economic recession, as well as political
instability in some regions, has been responsible for setting back
development goals in many countries. This has led to the expansion of
unspeakable poverty. Of the more than 1 billion people living in abject
poverty, women are an overwhelming majority. The rapid process of change
and adjustment in all sectors has also led to increased unemployment and
underemployment, with particular impact on women. In many cases,
structural adjustment programmes have not been designed to minimize their
negative effects on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups or on women, nor
have they been designed to assure positive effects on those groups by
preventing their marginalization in economic and social activities. The
Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations [10]
underscored the increasing interdependence of national economies, as well
as the importance of trade liberalization and access to open, dynamic
markets. There has also been heavy military spending in some regions.
Despite increases in official development assistance (ODA) by some
countries, ODA has recently declined overall.
- Absolute poverty and the feminization of poverty,
unemployment, the increasing fragility of the environment, continued
violence against women and the widespread exclusion of half of humanity
from institutions of power and governance underscore the need to continue
the search for development, peace and security and for ways of assuring
people-centred sustainable development. The participation and leadership
of the half of humanity that is female is essential to the success of that
search. Therefore, only a new era of international cooperation among
Governments and peoples based on a spirit of partnership, an equitable,
international social and economic environment, and a radical
transformation of the relationship between women and men to one of full
and equal partnership will enable the world to meet the challenges of the
twenty-first century.
- Recent international economic developments have had in
many cases a disproportionate impact on women and children, the majority
of whom live in developing countries. For those States that have carried a
large burden of foreign debt, structural adjustment programmes and
measures, though beneficial in the long term, have led to a reduction in
social expenditures, thereby adversely affecting women, particularly in
Africa and the least developed countries. This is exacerbated when responsibilities
for basic social services have shifted from Governments to women.
- Economic recession in many developed and developing
countries, as well as ongoing restructuring in countries with economies in
transition, have had a disproportionately negative impact on women's
employment. Women often have no choice but to take employment that lacks
long-term job security or involves dangerous working conditions, to work
in unprotected home-based production or to be unemployed. Many women enter
the labour market in under-remunerated and undervalued jobs, seeking to
improve their household income; others decide to migrate for the same
purpose. Without any reduction in their other responsibilities, this has
increased the total burden of work for women.
- Macro and micro-economic policies and programmes,
including structural adjustment, have not always been designed to take
account of their impact on women and girl children, especially those
living in poverty. Poverty has increased in both absolute and relative terms,
and the number of women living in poverty has increased in most regions.
There are many urban women living in poverty; however, the plight of women
living in rural and remote areas deserves special attention given the
stagnation of development in such areas. In developing countries, even
those in which national indicators have shown improvement, the majority of
rural women continue to live in conditions of economic underdevelopment
and social marginalization.
- Women are key contributors to the economy and to
combating poverty through both remunerated and unremunerated work at home,
in the community and in the workplace. Growing numbers of women have
achieved economic independence through gainful employment.
- One fourth of all households world wide are headed by
women and many other households are dependent on female income even where
men are present. Female-maintained households are very often among the
poorest because of wage discrimination, occupational segregation patterns
in the labour market and other gender-based barriers. Family
disintegration, population movements between urban and rural areas within
countries, international migration, war and internal displacements are
factors contributing to the rise of female- headed households.
- Recognizing that the achievement and maintenance of
peace and security are a precondition for economic and social progress,
women are increasingly establishing themselves as central actors in a
variety of capacities in the movement of humanity for peace. Their full
participation in decision-making, conflict prevention and resolution and
all other peace initiatives is essential to the realization of lasting
peace.
- Religion, spirituality and belief play a central role
in the lives of millions of women and men, in the way they live and in the
aspirations they have for the future. The right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion is inalienable and must be universally enjoyed.
This right includes the freedom to have or to adopt the religion or belief
of their choice either individually or in community with others, in public
or in private, and to manifest their religion or belief in worship,
observance, practice and teaching. In order to realize equality,
development and peace, there is a need to respect these rights and
freedoms fully. Religion, thought, conscience and belief may, and can,
contribute to fulfilling women's and men's moral, ethical and spiritual
needs and to realizing their full potential in society. However, it is
acknowledged that any form of extremism may have a negative impact on
women and can lead to violence and discrimination.
- The Fourth World Conference on Women should accelerate
the process that formally began in 1975, which was proclaimed
International Women's Year by the United Nations General Assembly. The
Year was a turning-point in that it put women's issues on the agenda. The
United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985) was a world-wide effort to
examine the status and rights of women and to bring women into
decision-making at all levels. In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, which entered into force in 1981 and set an international standard
for what was meant by equality between women and men. In 1985, the World
Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations
Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace adopted the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, to be implemented
by the year 2000. There has been important progress in achieving equality
between women and men. Many Governments have enacted legislation to
promote equality between women and men and have established national
machineries to ensure the mainstreaming of gender perspectives in all spheres
of society. International agencies have focused greater attention on
women's status and roles.
- The growing strength of the non-governmental sector,
particularly women's organizations and feminist groups, has become a
driving force for change. Non-governmental organizations have played an
important advocacy role in advancing legislation or mechanisms to ensure
the promotion of women. They have also become catalysts for new approaches
to development. Many Governments have increasingly recognized the important
role that non-governmental organizations play and the importance of
working with them for progress. Yet, in some countries, Governments
continue to restrict the ability of non-governmental organizations to
operate freely. Women, through non-governmental organizations, have
participated in and strongly influenced community, national, regional and
global forums and international debates.
- Since 1975, knowledge of the status of women and men,
respectively, has increased and is contributing to further actions aimed
at promoting equality between women and men. In several countries, there
have been important changes in the relationships between women and men,
especially where there have been major advances in education for women and
significant increases in their participation in the paid labour force. The
boundaries of the gender division of labour between productive and
reproductive roles are gradually being crossed as women have started to
enter formerly male-dominated areas of work and men have started to accept
greater responsibility for domestic tasks, including child care. However,
changes in women's roles have been greater and much more rapid than
changes in men's roles. In many countries, the differences between women's
and men's achievements and activities are still not recognized as the
consequences of socially constructed gender roles rather than immutable
biological differences.
- Moreover, 10 years after the Nairobi Conference,
equality between women and men has still not been achieved. On average,
women represent a mere 10 per cent of all elected legislators world wide
and in most national and international administrative structures, both
public and private, they remain underrepresented. The United Nations is no
exception. Fifty years after its creation, the United Nations is
continuing to deny itself the benefits of women's leadership by their
underrepresentation at decision-making levels within the Secretariat and
the specialized agencies.
- Women play a critical role in the family. The family is
the basic unit of society and as such should be strengthened. It is
entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support. In different
cultural, political and social systems, various forms of the family exist.
The rights, capabilities and responsibilities of family members must be
respected. Women make a great contribution to the welfare of the family
and to the development of society, which is still not recognized or
considered in its full importance. The social significance of maternity,
motherhood and the role of parents in the family and in the upbringing of
children should be acknowledged. The upbringing of children requires
shared responsibility of parents, women and men and society as a whole.
Maternity, motherhood, parenting and the role of women in procreation must
not be a basis for discrimination nor restrict the full participation of
women in society. Recognition should also be given to the important role
often played by women in many countries in caring for other members of
their family.
- While the rate of growth of world population is on the
decline, world population is at an all-time high in absolute numbers, with
current increments approaching 86 million persons annually. Two other
major demographic trends have had profound repercussions on the dependency
ratio within families. In many developing countries, 45 to 50 per cent of
the population is less than 15 years old, while in industrialized nations
both the number and proportion of elderly people are increasing. According
to United Nations projections, 72 per cent of the population over 60 years
of age will be living in developing countries by the year 2025, and more
than half of that population will be women. Care of children, the sick and
the elderly is a responsibility that falls disproportionately on women,
owing to lack of equality and the unbalanced distribution of remunerated
and unremunerated work between women and men.
- Many women face particular barriers because of various
diverse factors in addition to their gender. Often these diverse factors
isolate or marginalize such women. They are, inter alia, denied their
human rights, they lack access or are denied access to education and
vocational training, employment, housing and economic self-sufficiency and
they are excluded from decision-making processes. Such women are often
denied the opportunity to contribute to their communities as part of the
mainstream.
- The past decade has also witnessed a growing
recognition of the distinct interests and concerns of indigenous women,
whose identity, cultural traditions and forms of social organization
enhance and strengthen the communities in which they live. Indigenous
women often face barriers both as women and as members of indigenous
communities.
- In the past 20 years, the world has seen an explosion
in the field of communications. With advances in computer technology and
satellite and cable television, global access to information continues to
increase and expand, creating new opportunities for the participation of
women in communications and the mass media and for the dissemination of
information about women. However, global communication networks have been
used to spread stereotyped and demeaning images of women for narrow
commercial and consumerist purposes. Until women participate equally in
both the technical and decision-making areas of communications and the
mass media, including the arts, they will continue to be misrepresented
and awareness of the reality of women's lives will continue to be lacking.
The media have a great potential to promote the advancement of women and
the equality of women and men by portraying women and men in a
non-stereotypical, diverse and balanced manner, and by respecting the
dignity and worth of the human person.
- The continuing environmental degradation that affects
all human lives has often a more direct impact on women. Women's health
and their livelihood are threatened by pollution and toxic wastes,
large-scale deforestation, desertification, drought and depletion of the
soil and of coastal and marine resources, with a rising incidence of
environmentally related health problems and even death reported among
women and girls. Those most affected are rural and indigenous women, whose
livelihood and daily subsistence depends directly on sustainable ecosystems.
- Poverty and environmental degradation are closely
interrelated. While poverty results in certain kinds of environmental
stress, the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global
environment is the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production,
particularly in industrialized countries, which are a matter of grave
concern and aggravate poverty and imbalances.
- Global trends have brought profound changes in family
survival strategies and structures. Rural to urban migration has increased
substantially in all regions. The global urban population is projected to
reach 47 per cent of the total population by the year 2000. An estimated
125 million people are migrants, refugees and displaced persons, half of
whom live in developing countries. These massive movements of people have
profound consequences for family structures and well-being and have
unequal consequences for women and men, including in many cases the sexual
exploitation of women.
- According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates,
by the beginning of 1995 the number of cumulative cases of acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was 4.5 million. An estimated 19.5
million men, women and children have been infected with the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since it was first diagnosed and it is
projected that another 20 million will be infected by the end of the
decade. Among new cases, women are twice as likely to be infected as men.
In the early stage of the AIDS pandemic, women were not infected in large
numbers; however, about 8 million women are now infected. Young women and
adolescents are particularly vulnerable. It is estimated that by the year
2000 more than 13 million women will be infected and 4 million women will
have died from AIDS-related conditions. In addition, about 250 million new
cases of sexually transmitted diseases are estimated to occur every year.
The rate of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, including
HIV/AIDS, is increasing at an alarming rate among women and girls,
especially in developing countries.
- Since 1975, significant knowledge and information have
been generated about the status of women and the conditions in which they
live. Throughout their entire life cycle, women's daily existence and
long-term aspirations are restricted by discriminatory attitudes, unjust
social and economic structures, and a lack of resources in most countries
that prevent their full and equal participation. In a number of countries,
the practice of prenatal sex selection, higher rates of mortality among
very young girls and lower rates of school enrolment for girls as compared
with boys suggest that son preference is curtailing the access of girl
children to food, education and health care and even life itself.
Discrimination against women begins at the earliest stages of life and
must therefore be addressed from then onwards.
- The girl child of today is the woman of tomorrow. The
skills, ideas and energy of the girl child are vital for full attainment
of the goals of equality, development and peace. For the girl child to
develop her full potential she needs to be nurtured in an enabling
environment, where her spiritual, intellectual and material needs for
survival, protection and development are met and her equal rights
safeguarded. If women are to be equal partners with men, in every aspect
of life and development, now is the time to recognize the human dignity
and worth of the girl child and to ensure the full enjoyment of her human
rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights assured by the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, [11]
universal ratification of which is strongly urged. Yet there exists
world-wide evidence that discrimination and violence against girls begin
at the earliest stages of life and continue unabated throughout their
lives. They often have less access to nutrition, physical and mental
health care and education and enjoy fewer rights, opportunities and
benefits of childhood and adolescence than do boys. They are often
subjected to various forms of sexual and economic exploitation,
paedophilia, forced prostitution and possibly the sale of their organs and
tissues, violence and harmful practices such as female infanticide and
prenatal sex selection, incest, female genital mutilation and early
marriage, including child marriage.
- Half the world's population is under the age of 25 and
most of the world's youth - more than 85 per cent - live in developing
countries. Policy makers must recognize the implications of these
demographic factors. Special measures must be taken to ensure that young
women have the life skills necessary for active and effective
participation in all levels of social, cultural, political and economic
leadership. It will be critical for the international community to
demonstrate a new commitment to the future - a commitment to inspiring a
new generation of women and men to work together for a more just society.
This new generation of leaders must accept and promote a world in which
every child is free from injustice, oppression and inequality and free to
develop her/his own potential. The principle of equality of women and men
must therefore be integral to the socialization process.
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CRITICAL AREAS OF
CONCERN
- The advancement of women and the achievement of
equality between women and men are a matter of human rights and a
condition for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a
women's issue. They are the only way to build a sustainable, just and
developed society. Empowerment of women and equality between women and men
are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and
environmental security among all peoples.
-
- Most of the goals set out in the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women have not been
achieved. Barriers to women's empowerment remain, despite the efforts of
Governments, as well as non-governmental organizations and women and men
everywhere. Vast political, economic and ecological crises persist in many
parts of the world. Among them are wars of aggression, armed conflicts,
colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, civil
wars and terrorism. These situations, combined with systematic or de facto
discrimination, violations of and failure to protect all human rights and
fundamental freedoms of all women, and their civil, cultural, economic,
political and social rights, including the right to development and
ingrained prejudicial attitudes towards women and girls are but a few of
the impediments encountered since the World Conference to Review and
Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women:
Equality, Development and Peace, in 1985.
- A review of progress since the Nairobi Conference
highlights special concerns - areas of particular urgency that stand out
as priorities for action. All actors should focus action and resources on
the strategic objectives relating to the critical areas of concern which
are, necessarily, interrelated, interdependent and of high priority. There
is a need for these actors to develop and implement mechanisms of
accountability for all the areas of concern.
- To this end, Governments, the international community
and civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the
private sector, are called upon to take strategic action in the following
critical areas of concern:
- The persistent and
increasing burden of poverty on women
-
- Inequalities and
inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training
- Inequalities and
inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services
- Violence against women
- The effects of armed or
other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign
occupation
- Inequality in economic
structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities and in
access to resources
- Inequality between men
and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels
- Insufficient mechanisms
at all levels to promote the advancement of women
- Lack of respect for and
inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women
- Stereotyping of women
and inequality in women's access to and participation in all
communication systems, especially in the media
- Gender inequalities in
the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the
environment
- Persistent
discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child
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Strategic
Objectives and Actions
- In each critical area of concern, the problem is
diagnosed and strategic objectives are proposed with concrete actions to
be taken by various actors in order to achieve those objectives. The
strategic objectives are derived from the critical areas of concern and
specific actions to be taken to achieve them cut across the boundaries of
equality, development and peace - the goals of the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women - and reflect their
interdependence. The objectives and actions are interlinked, of high
priority and mutually reinforcing. The Platform for Action is intended to
improve the situation of all women, without exception, who often face
similar barriers, while special attention should be given to groups that
are the most disadvantaged.
-
- The Platform for Action recognizes that women face
barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as their
race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability, because
they are indigenous women or because of other status. Many women encounter
specific obstacles related to their family status, particularly as single
parents; and to their socio- economic status, including their living
conditions in rural, isolated or impoverished areas. Additional barriers
also exist for refugee women, other displaced women, including internally
displaced women as well as for immigrant women and migrant women,
including women migrant workers. Many women are also particularly affected
by environmental disasters, serious and infectious diseases and various
forms of violence against women.
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