Introduction

1. All the major international policy frameworks on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and indeed on development more broadly, recognize the importance of power and decision-making for enabling women to become equal actors in society, with equal access to resources and equal possibilities to fulfil their potential. These include, among others, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; and, most recently, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Beijing Platform for Action, for example, has a section on Women in Power and Decision-making as one of its twelve areas of concern. In the 2030 Agenda, governments committed to “ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making” (target 5.5) and to “recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through […] the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family” (target 5.4).

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

Partnerships for the Goals