Arab States youth inform the way forward in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action

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Twenty-two activists representing youth networks from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen met to discuss the implementation of the historic Beijing Declaration and Platform in the framework of the 25th anniversary of its adoption.

Hosted in Cairo from 27 to 29 August 2019 by UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States (ROAS), the meeting was also attended by gender experts from the region who participated in the fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, with the aim of establishing a dialogue and knowledge exchange between two generations of gender equality advocates.

The youth activists participating in the Beijing+25 Youth and Intergenerational Forum are members of the Youth Gender Innovation Agora, a consultative forum and a platform for dialogue with youth established by UN Women ROAS.

The meeting consisted of interactive sessions to exchange knowledge and experiences and identify gaps, challenges and good practices for the promotion of gender equality in the context of the Beijing+25 review process in the region.

The three-day forum concluded with the adoption of the Declaration of the Gender Innovation Agora, to be submitted to the Expert Group Meeting for the review of Beijing+25 in the Arab States Region, to take place in Beirut, Lebanon on 24-25 September 2019.

The document emphasizes the significance of young people both as stakeholders and agents of change in the achievement of the gender equality and sustainable development agendas and proposes a set of recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the Arab States.

Highlighting UN Women’s role in making gender equality a lived reality for all women and girls, Janneke van der Graaff-Kukler, Regional Director a.i. at UN Women ROAS, stated that “UN Women stands at the center of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG5) while working closely with governments, civil society and private sector to implement these agendas.”

Voices from the forum: