Charting the path beyond Beijing+30: reflections on CSW69 and the need for transformative change

Attendees pose for a photo at the NGO Forum held in Huairou as part of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China on September 1995. Credits: UN Photo/Milton Grant.

As the world marks thirty years since the Beijing Declaration, CSW69 became a critical juncture to ask: will states take the bold steps needed to truly fulfill the promise of gender equality—or settle for symbolic reaffirmations? CESR’s Mahinour ElBadrawi reflects on the strengths and shortcomings of the Political Declaration adopted in March 2025, and argues that without binding commitments, sufficient public financing, and accountability rooted in human rights law, the path beyond Beijing risks becoming a ceiling on ambition rather than a springboard for transformation.

By: Mahinour ElBadrawi, Global Partnerships Lead at CESR

The year 2025 marks three decades since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPA), a pivotal framework championed by the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. When it was introduced, the Declaration served as a milestone for women’s rights, identifying critical areas such as access to education, labor force participation, political representation, and strategies to combat violence. Although it galvanized momentum around the globe, its core commitments have always been political rather than legally binding, meaning that each government’s implementation depends heavily on national priorities and available resources.

In March 2025, CESR and allies across civil society organizations, feminist movements, trade unions, progressive government champions women’s rights, and UN agencies gathered at the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69). Our central task was to assess the extent to which Beijing’s commitments have been realized, to identify persistent gaps, and to generate new momentum on the road ahead. We collectively recognize that global realities have changed dramatically since 1995: multiple crises—including climate upheavals, increasing militarization, and intensifying economic inequality—threaten to undermine many of the gains that women and gender-diverse people have fought so hard to secure.

Against this backdrop, CESR warns that reaffirming past language, without insisting on robust accountability, risks stagnation rather than progress. We see the non-binding nature of the original Beijing framework as a serious obstacle: without binding mechanisms or dedicated financing, rights commitments remain vulnerable to national political shifts, austerity, or other priorities that displace funding.

The political declaration: a step forward or a roll back?

The newly adopted Political Declaration on the Occasion of the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women (E/CN.6/2025/L.1) attempts to acknowledge both the foundational role of the original Beijing platform and the significant challenges that remain ahead. It recognizes that “no country has fully achieved gender equality,” takes note of multiple obstacles such as systemic discrimination and structural barriers, and reaffirms the importance of mobilizing adequate financial resources. The Declaration also points to new trends like digital technologies, emphasizes the agency of women and girls in peace processes, and advocates for “safe and enabling environments” for feminist organizations, including those representing Indigenous women, women of African descent, and women with disabilities.

Yet, CESR and partners raise a recurring concern: declarations—no matter how progressive they sound—cannot fully address the root causes of inequality without binding mechanisms for compliance and resourcing. Although the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995 was an unequivocal call for equality, it has never been legally enforceable. Meanwhile, partners and allies, such as the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) emphasize that political commitments, however bold, can be undercut by shifting national agendas, debt crises, and austerity policies.

Plenary at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China (1995). Credits: UN Photo/Yao Da Wei.

Financing women’s rights: binding obligations and global tax reform

If the Beijing+30 review focuses solely on safeguarding older, non-binding language from 1995, it overlooks the evolving legal framework under ICESCR. For instance, GC 19 stresses that social protection floors must address women’s disproportionate burden of unpaid care. GC 20 broadens the prohibition of discrimination to cover multiple and intersecting forms, ensuring that women in precarious or informal work can benefit from essential labor protections. By sidelining these advances, the Beijing+30 process risks rolling back stronger, rights-based standards on financing and intersectionality—and forfeiting an enforceable roadmap for gender-responsive public policies.

CSW69 offered an opportunity to connect Beijing commitments with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. CESR and civil society allies repeatedly remind states that achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality must go hand in hand with work on SDGs on poverty, climate, health, and decent work. We underscore the importance of addressing these issues holistically—and aligning financing with women’s rights. The Political Declaration’s references to “adequate, predictable, sustainable and long-term funding” offer a welcome acknowledgment of how crucial resources are. It encourages “gender-responsive budgeting,” “public and financial services,” and “universal, accessible, and sustainable social protection systems.”

However, CESR and partners, including Public Services International (PSI), warn that heavy reliance on public-private partnerships can prioritize profit over equitable service provision—a clear contradiction to the principle that essential services must remain public goods. As Margarita López of PSI reminds us, “structural work means recognizing care as an autonomous public human right. That is, while the right to care is related to other rights, it cannot be dependent on them.”

Debt, austerity, and unfair tax systems further compound the issue. CESR and feminist allies have advocated for a reimagined global financial architecture, including a UN Tax Convention and transparent sovereign debt workout mechanisms. We argue that these reforms are essential to freeing up revenue for social services, preventing exploitation, and protecting marginalized communities. As CESR’s María Ron Balsera stated at CSW69, “States must abolish regressive tax policies & must implement gender responsiveness by ensuring that gender-specific goods and services have zero value-added tax.”

Intersectionality in action: defending the most marginalized

Since 1995, international standards have also evolved to specify states’ responsibilities in addressing overlapping forms of discrimination. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has issued pivotal General Recommendations (Nos. 28, 33, 34, 35, and 37) that explicitly call on governments to adopt comprehensive measures for rural women, women facing barriers to accessing justice, and women affected by climate change and natural disasters. Likewise, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) affirms the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples to land, resources, and cultural integrity—critical for Indigenous women who often confront layered inequities. These post-Beijing developments highlight that upholding women’s human rights now requires a deeper, intersectional lens, moving beyond the relatively narrow scope of 1995.

Intersectionality remains a key dimension of CSW69 discussions. Feminist movements now recognize how injustices arise from interlocking systems of oppression—race, class, disability, sexuality, and more. Although the Political Declaration references “multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination,” it lacks concrete implementation guidelines. If states merely reaffirm Beijing’s original language without integrating these post-1995 expansions in CEDAW and UNDRIP, they risk excluding historically marginalized communities from legal and policy protections. CESR emphasizes that any Beijing+30 outcome must fully incorporate these obligations, ensuring that frameworks like CEDAW’s General Recommendations and UNDRIP guide the creation of intersectional policies and accountability mechanisms. Without referencing or implementing such expanded standards, the risk of rollback for women, Indigenous peoples, and other underrepresented groups looms large.

Indigenous women’s groups continue to voice concerns about land rights and extractivism, while women in conflict-affected regions spotlight militarism and displacement. CESR asserts that governments, international institutions, corporate actors, and civil society must share responsibility for turning declarations into tangible results. We echo the calls of APWLD and Nepal’s National Indigenous Women's Forum (NIWF), for binding laws, budgetary allocations, and robust UN monitoring to hold states accountable to the latest developments in human rights norms and obligations that developed after BDPA- pushing forward, not rolling back.

Mahinour ElBadrawi, CESR’s Global Partnerships Lead, also present at CSW69, stressed the power of a human rights framework to mobilize resources, confront anti-rights narratives, and protect gender justice gains. “We must build collective power across movements, including with faith-based organizations, under a multilateral UN system grounded in democratic values where no one is left behind,” she said during the event Religion, Rights and Resistance: How to Reclaim Gender Equality.

A roadmap for implementation

At CSW69, CESR and allies reiterated the urgent need for debt relief and fiscal reform to fund universal public services and care infrastructure. We stress that any transformation of the global economic system must redistribute the responsibilities for care among families, communities, the private sector, and the state. These systemic shifts are crucial for turning rhetorical promises into lived rights.

Looking ahead, CESR urges the Commission on the Status of Women to strengthen its monitoring role by requiring states to report on budgetary and legislative implementation and to align its outcomes with other UN processes such as the SDG High-Level Political Forum and Financing for Development. Gender equality cannot stay siloed. Governments must unify conversations across economic, climate, and social justice domains.

In addition to these policy engagements, CESR contributed actively to civil society mobilizations at CSW69—co-organizing events on the human right to care, resisting anti-rights narratives, and joining global feminist marches and rallies (read more about CESR’s CSW69 activities here.)

Despite the limits of non-binding frameworks, CESR and partners such as APWLD, PSI, and NIWF remain committed to a legally grounded, resource-backed, and intersectional approach to gender justice. The Political Declaration acknowledges care work, digital harms, and conflict, but now governments must follow through with real accountability. The road to Beijing+30 must not be paved with symbolic gestures alone.

As the CSW69 and Beijing+30 review comes to an end, CESR calls on member states to:

• Integrate women’s rights in all relevant UN processes (Financing for Development, High-Level Political Forum, etc.) and demand binding commitments from states.

• Adopt concrete timelines for implementing CSW69 commitments and publicly track progress, streamlining issues of gender justice and womens’ rights across all above discussed UN processes. 

• Engage in global tax and debt reform to mobilize resources for women’s economic social and cultural rights and climate.

• Conduct gender budget audits and guarantee financing for women’s rights, including universal healthcare, childcare, social protection, as well as recognize and finance the human right to care.

• Pass legislation that protects human rights defenders, especially in contexts where civic space is shrinking.

A springboard or a ceiling on ambition?

In the coming months, CESR calls on governments and international institutions to implement these steps as a measure of genuine political will. Whether Beijing+30 becomes a springboard for transformative justice—or a ceiling on ambition—depends on whether states embrace bolder, rights-based commitments. The Political Declaration, for all its affirmations, is only as strong as the measures that follow it. We remain determined to ensure that women, girls, and gender-diverse people can claim their rights—and that the global community meets its obligations through binding mechanisms, robust financing, and an unwavering commitment to intersectionality.

By strengthening the Beijing+30 framework with legal rigor, adequate resources, and inclusive implementation, we can seize this opportunity to turn decades-old promises into enduring realities for all.