International and National Commitments to Gender Equality
The movement to ensure the entitlement of women to their basic human rights and freedoms, along with men, began in 1946 with the creation of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. More than 30 years later, the adoption in 1979 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was a significant historical moment in the work of this Commission and the evolving global movement toward gender equality.
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Article 1 of the Convention defines “discrimination against women” as: "... any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field." |
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Since its adoption, Canada and all member states of the United Nations, with the exception of six countries, have ratified this Convention and taken actions to address its 30 articles. Parties that have ratified the Convention are required under Article 3 to take: "...all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men." |
During subsequent years, many countries established ministries or other national government organizations with responsibility to implement articles of the Convention, including developing national legislation to uphold women’s rights, and other legislative, policy, and programming initiatives to advance the situation of women and gender equality within their governments and society.
In 1995, during the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, an equally important international commitment was made by Canada and other countries to advance women and gender equality. During this Conference, the Platform for Action was adopted. This ground-breaking document was premised on the following statement, taken from its text: “The Platform for Action is an agenda for women’s empowerment. It aims 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.” The Platform for Action identified 12 critical areas of concern related to the inequalities and discrimination faced by women and girls worldwide and it detailed numerous strategies to address these.
The Beijing Conference called on all governments to develop their own national plan of action with specific targets and to establish “national government machineries” (such as ministries, departments, agencies, and commissions) to implement these plans. The approach of gender mainstreaming was endorsed as the means by which national governments would advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. The participating governments made commitments to report on their progress on implementing their plans and reaching their targets. Every four years, the governments that have ratified CEDAW and committed to the Beijing Platform for Action present a detailed report to the UN on their progress toward meeting their goals, and these reports are made public. The reports provide a useful starting point for any audit of gender equality in a country.
With the establishment in 2000 of the internationally recognized United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) came further government commitments to address inequalities between women and men, and discrimination toward women and girls by 2015. Of the seven MDGs, two specifically concerned women.
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Millenium Development Goal #3 - Promote gender equality and empower women Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015. Indicators:
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Millenium Development Goal #5 - Improve maternal health Target: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio. Indicators:
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It is against these measures in particular, as well as the goals and targets set by governments in their own national plans of action, that countries around the world have been able to measure the progress toward their commitments to eliminate inequalities between women and men, girls and boys, and to empower women.
The Millennium Development Goals were to be achieved universally by 2015, yet gaps remain in meeting these targets. Late in 2015, member states of the United Nations approved a new set of 17 post-MDG targets, called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that are to be achieved by 2030. Goal #5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
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