In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women adopted the Beijing Declaration
and Platform for Action for Equality, Development and Peace (BPfA).
The BPfA is an agenda for women’s empowerment. It reaffirms the fundamental
principle whereby the human rights of women and the girl child are an
inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. As an
agenda for action, the BPfA seeks to promote and protect the full enjoyment of
all human rights and fundamental freedoms by women throughout their lives.
The BPfA addresses twelve critical areas of concern requiring
particular action towards the advancement of women:
E1.
Proportion (number and percentage) of men and women trained specifically in
gender equality among:
–
diplomatic staff and civilian and military defence staff employed by the Member
States and Community institutions, and
–
staff participating in UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) and ESDP missions,
including military and police staff
E2.
Proportion (number and percentage) of women and men among:
–
heads of diplomatic missions and EC delegations
–
staff participating in UN peacekeeping operations and ESDP missions,
including military and police staff
E3.
Funding (as a total amount and as a percentage of cooperation programmes)
allocated by the Member States and the European Commission, in countries
affected by armed conflict or in post-conflict situations, to support gender
equality, broken down, where possible, to reflect funding to support:
–
female victims of violence, and
–
the participation of women in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction
Indicator
E3a. Proportion of funding for these programmes allocated to NGOs working for
gender equality and women's empowerment
E4.
Proportion (number and percentage) and country of origin of female and male
asylum seekers who have obtained the status of refugee, or benefit from
subsidiary protection
F1.
Employed men and women on parental leave (paid and unpaid) within the meaning
of Directive 96/34/EC on the framework agreement between the social partners on
parental leave, as a proportion of all employed parents
F2.
Allocation of parental leave between employed women and men as a proportion of
all parental leave
F3.
Children cared for (other than by the family) as a proportion of all children
of the same age group:
-
before entry into the non-compulsory pre-school system (during the day);
-
in the non-compulsory or equivalent pre-school system (outside pre-school
hours);
-
in compulsory primary education (outside school hours)
F4.
Comprehensive and integrated policies, particularly employment policies, aimed
at promoting a balance between work and family life for both men and women
(including, for example, a description of available child care facilities,
parental leave and flexible working time arrangements, of services offered by
companies for their employees, and of flexible opening hours of public services
such as local authority offices, post offices, crèches, and shops)
F5.
Dependent elderly men and women (unable to look after themselves on a daily
basis) over 75
-
living in specialised institutions;
-
who have help (other than the family) at home;
-
looked after by the family
as
a proportion of men and women over 75
F6.
Total "tied" time per day for each employed parent living with a
partner, having one or more children under 12 years old or a dependent:
-
paid working time;
-
travelling time;
-
basic time spent on domestic work;
-
other time devoted to the family (upbringing and care of children and care of
dependent adults)
F7.
Total "tied" time per day for each employed parent living alone,
having one or more children under 12 years old or a dependent
-
paid working time;
-
travelling time;
-
basic time spent on domestic work;
-
other time devoted to the family (upbringing and care of children and care of
dependent adults)
F8.
Ratio for all employees
F9.
Ratio for the total sum of wage
F10.
Ratio for part-time work
F11.
Ratio by age and education
F12.
Segregation in the labour market
F13.
Ratio according to personal characteristics
F14.
Breakdown of the hourly wage gap between men and women using the Oaxaca
technique
F15.
Measures to promote equal pay and combat the gender pay gap
F16.
Influence of collective bargaining on the promotion of equal pay and the
elimination of the gender pay gap
F17.
Effect of part-time work, parental leave, time credit systems and career breaks
on the gender pay gap
The European Union regards equality between women and men as a fundamental
principle. In December 1995, the European Council acknowledged the commitment
of the European Union to the BPfA and expressed its intent to review its
implementation across the Member States on a yearly basis.
Since 1999 a number of quantitative and qualitative
indicators have been developed by the Presidencies of the EU Council to monitor
progress towards the achievement of the goals of the BPfA. By 2012 the Council
adopted the conclusions and took note of the proposed indicators in ten out of
twelve critical areas defined by the BPfA. Currently, indicators for the
following two areas are yet to be developed: Human Rights of Women; Women and
the Media.