Women and Gender Issues

Gender-responsive governance and the meaningful participation of women and girls from diverse backgrounds in public life are critical to change gender social norms and achieve gender equality.

In pursuit of gender-responsive environmental interventions and feminist climate justice it is required that gender-specific risks and vulnerabilities are recognized resources and opportunities in transition to green economies are fairly distributed and that the leadership and agency of women and girls in driving transformative change is valued and realized.

This annex presents the varying regional groupings for “Asia and the Pacific” as well as subregions within “Asia and the Pacific” as defined by different United Nations entities cited as the sources of data in this report. Other regions than Asia and the Pacific may also be listed if they contain a country or territory that is a member or associate member to ESCAP. For statistical purposes data used to examine situations in the ESCAP region cover 58 members and associate members located in the geographic region of Asia and the Pacific excluding France the Netherlands the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America which are also members to ESCAP. These 58 ESCAP members and associate members are listed under section A below.

The advancement of gender equality in the world of work is central to women’s economic empowerment. Despite progress in some areas gender disparities in labour markets remain entrenched in Asia and the Pacific. Promoting shared prosperity and decent work calls for accelerated action to enhance women’s access to the labour market quality employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Bolstering investment in the care economy would create new job opportunities and help tackle the disproportionate amount of unpaid care and domestic responsibilities shouldered by women and girls that cause many labour market disparities.

The review of the six thematic areas of issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in Asia and the Pacific provides valuable information on areas where the region has made progress 30 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). Areas that require further investment and concerted action by governments and key stakeholders have also been identified. A range of strategic opportunities have emerged from this assessment which the region can harness to achieve better outcomes.

As we gather to reflect on 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action we stand at a pivotal moment. This Beijing+30 regional review in Asia and the Pacific is not merely a commemoration; it is a call to accelerate our efforts towards achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls across the region.

This annex presents a descriptive overview of information submitted by ESCAP member States and data sources underpinning the analysis contained in the report. It covers all the databases which the drafting team have accessed for data calculation recalculation and compilation to support the analysis across all chapters. It does not cover databases that are used in literature (e.g. publications reports and papers) cited.

The challenges that confront us in the twenty-first century will not be met by mere deference to power reliance on a shaky status quo or operation in old silos. Rather they demand a model of leadership that is norm-based principled inclusive accountable multi-elemental transformational collaborative and self-applied.