Brussels, 12/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On the 20th anniversary of the signature of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Council adopted conclusions encouraging more to be done for gender equality, at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council meeting on Thursday 11 December.
This international action programme aims to bring about greater autonomy for women. It was established in the framework of the United Nations at the fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995.
The Council's conclusions on this subject take note of the 'considerable' progress which has been made in a number of areas by the member states and the institutions of the EU. However, they particularly recommend that this commitment be reinforced in areas in which there has been less progress (poverty and social exclusion, millennium development goals and violence, amongst others). The member states are called upon to comply with the commitments of the European Pact for Gender Equality and to make effective use of the related European programmes and funds. The Commission is expected to present a new gender equality strategy for post-2015 and bears this principle in mind in all European strategies, policies and funding. The member states and the Commission are also called upon to sign, ratify and implement the Convention of Istanbul, a Council of Europe document on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. (MD)