THE BEIJING INDIA REPORT AS MILESTONE AND OPPORTUNITY

The report has an inadequate ‘climate-gender’ connection, which must be rectified with policy and ground-level changes

- 

“Tt breaks my heart to see girls dropping out of school due to climate change and migration,” says a didi from Dhanelikanhar village in Kanker, Chhattisgarh. “This generation was supposed to do better.” It has been 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a landmark international agenda outlining an action plan for gender equality across 12 dimensions such as education, health, economics and politics. It has helped India focus attention on gender perspectives in policies, pass the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) or POSH Act, and push for the economic empowerment of women. Yet, the implementation of these laws often falls short, resulting in a gap between fundamental rights and women’s lived experiences.

An important integration

Gender inequality and the climate crisis are one of the greatest challenges of today, which the quote above highlights. It also shows the need to integrate “gender and climate’ especially for rural communities. The inadequacy of a robust climate lens in the Beijing India Report 2024 (India’s Report on Beijing+30) is a significant opportunity — integrating gender and climate considerations is not just an imperative for achieving gender equality but is also essential for India’s sustainable and resilient future and human rights.