Twenty-five years ago, tens of thousands of activists and delegates came together in China’s capital city to create the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the most ambitious roadmap for the empowerment of all women and girls around the world. While countries have made modest but hard-earned gains towards achieving the aims of  the Platform, we cannot ignore the damaging effects the most recent crisis to hit our world has had. 

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have not been gender-neutral. It has further widened existing gender inequities. New data shows that as soon as next year, 47 million more women and girls will be pushed below the poverty line as a result of the crisis. That means over 400 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day. 

The strain of the pandemic on health systems limits access to key sexual and reproductive health services. Women are losing precarious livelihoods faster in the economic fallout. Violence against women and girls has intensified since the outbreak.

COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of our gains towards gender equality. It is a wake-up call. If we do not redouble our efforts and act boldly now, we will both dangerously regress in the modest gains made over the past 25 years and also worsen the situation for women and girls. 

Today, a quarter of a century after the Fourth World Conference on Women, UNOPS stands ready to help countries deliver on the goals of the Platform – so that together we can build a future where women and girls can participate in society equally and live lives free from violence and threat.