In 1995, more than 40,000 women’s rights activists and leaders convened at the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women. Together, they set a goal to achieve the ‘full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power.’
Many gains
As we now approach the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Conference, we’ve seen some dramatic achievements.
For one, the 1990s saw an explosion of female firsts and a steady uptick in women’s representation. During the 1980s, only six women served as their nation’s first head of state. By the 1990s, this number jumped to 16.
In 1995, seven UN member states still denied women equal voting rights to men. Now, gendered voting has ended in all territories except the Vatican, after Saudi Arabia finally enfranchised women and provided for them to run for municipal office in 2015. Twenty years ago, there were no female CEOs of Fortune 500 countries, now there are 25.
But many miles to go
These changes, though exponential, are still very fresh. Just two years ago, when 15 female world leaders held office, eight of them were their country’s first woman in power.
So, what can be made of the progress and challenges in the 25 years since Beijing? Here are five points to consider in the post-Beijing agenda:
1. While progress has been fast paced, it has been uneven and may plateau
The number of national female parliamentarians globally grew from 11.3% in 1995 to 23% in 2015. Today, it is 24.3%. While this figure has more than doubled since Beijing, it remains low. Based on current trends, women will not have equal representation in parliaments until 2065, and will only comprise half the world’s leaders in 2134.
Progress also varies regionally, with concentration of female heads of state overwhelmingly in Europe (although a greater proportion of women in India are more actively engaged in the political process than in Germany, Denmark or the UK).
