So, we’ve been talking about the Beijing Declaration and Commission on the Status of Women recently as three of the girls from the Because I am a Girl Speakers’ Bureau are currently in New York adding their voice to the discussion. (Read updates from Amy and Saba).

I thought it might be useful to look a little closer at what exactly the Beijing Declaration is…

First and foremost, the Beijing Declaration is a platform for action.  Not a platform for sitting around and doing nothing.

The main goal is to ensure that women are able to fully enjoy “all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”  But the Declaration also acknowledges that women currently do not have full access to their rights and freedoms in all cases around the world.  So, it identifies several specific areas that need action – these are areas that act as obstacles to women enjoying their rights and freedoms.  The 12 areas that are listed in the Declaration are:

If you want to read more, you can link to the full declaration here.

Every five years from when the Beijing Declaration was drafted, the world does a stop and check to see how its doing on reaching the document’s goals.  That’s what’s happening in New York right now, and the girls from the Speakers’ Bureau are there to weigh in on how they think that the world is doing to improve the status of women.

If you had the chance to weigh in, how would you say the world is doing in improving the status of women?