Spain reaffirms commitment to promote gender equality

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To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and within the CSW59 framework, Spain along with UN Women and other strategic partners, reviewed and appraised the country’s implementation of the commitments set forth in the Platform for Action.

Spain commitment
The panelists (from left to right): Laura López de Cerain (Director of Multilateral, Horizontal and Financial Cooperation of the AECID), Luiza Carvalho (UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean), Susana Camarero (Secretary of State. Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain), Carmen Plaza (General Director of the Women Institute and Equal Opportunities of Spain), Ana Mato Adrover (Vice President of the Spanish Parliamentary Committee for International Development Cooperation). Photo credit: Nuria Felipe/ ONU Mujeres

Spain, represented by its Agency for International Development Cooperation of Spain (AECID), and the Ministry for Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain (MSSSI), analyzed the path towards gender equality during the last 20 years and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to continue with its leading role to drive progress on issues such as women’s economic empowerment, eradicating violence against women and girls and reconciling work and family life.

In this regard, Laura Lopez de Cerain, Director of Multilateral, Horizontal and Finance Cooperation of AECID, highlighted the agency’s most important contributions to the economic, political and social empowerment of women through innovative funding mechanisms and programs in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, such as the Safe Cities “Free of Violence Against Women and Girls” initiative that has achieved unprecedented results in Quito, Ecuador. (Video Link)

Also, during the meeting, Luiza Carvalho, UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and Caribbean, gave an overview of the main advances and challenges for women in the Post 2015 context in UN Women’s three priority areas: women’s economic empowerment, advancing women’s political participation and leadership and ending violence against women, acknowledging the important contribution made by Spain to the organization at the regional and global levels and to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women in the international development agenda.

Gender equality is a hallmark of the Spanish development cooperation policy to promote gender equality and women’s political and economic empowerment.

Reflections on the progress achieved and the remaining challenges on women's rights, in the framework of this 20th anniversary, will enrich and strengthen the position of gender equality as a stand‐alone goal and integrated through gender‐sensitive targets into all goals of the post 2015 development agenda.