Realizing Women’s Rights: what Women’s Day 2020 entails

“I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights,” is the theme curved for this year’s Women’s Day. The theme has been aligned with UN Women’s new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. “Adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the Beijing Platform for Action is recognized as the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere.” This year’s agenda seeks to advance gender equality worldwide, as the global community takes stock of progress made for women’s rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. This day is also expected to mark several other galvanizing moments in the gender equality movement: a five-year milestone towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; and the 10th anniversary of UN Women’s establishment. A recent report from the African Development Bank (AfDB) shows that while many African states have made important strides in passing laws to ensure greater gender equality, the challenge ahead for the continent is to ensure economic empowerment is more widespread, notably for women. To that end, the