31-Jan-2020: National Consultation on the review of Beijing +25
To mark 25 years of the adoption of Beijing Platform for Action, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD), the National Commission for Women (NCW) and UN Women organized a National Consultation on the Review of Beijing+25, to galvanize all stakeholders to implement actions that remove the most conspicuous barriers to gender equality. The aim of the consultation was to bring together civil society and the women and youth of India, gender equality advocates from all walks of life, in a national public conversation on the urgent actions that need to be taken for the realization of gender equality.
The objectives of the Consultation were to assess progress and challenges to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in India over the past 5 year, discuss lessons learned, priority actions required to realized gender equality and the empowerment of women by 2030, discuss emerging areas that have impact on women’s empowerment.
The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, was one of the largest ever gatherings of the United Nations, and a critical turning point in the world’s focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), (Beijing + 25). A quarter of a century on, several innovations and progress has been made on many fronts across the 12 critical areas of concern of the BPfA.
Under the helm of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was expanded to all 640 districts resulting in a 13-point improvement in the sex ratio from 918 (2014-15) to 931 (2018-19), the female net enrolment ratio of 93.55 percent at the elementary level and a significant decline in the overall drop-out rate to 19.8% for boys and girls. Over 17.43 lakh women were reached out under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY Maternity Benefit Programme) and over 18.6 lakh were addressed through Women Helpline Number (181) across country as on September 2018. To improve the overall gender responsiveness of the police and encourage participation of women in the force, advisory have been issued to increase representation of women to 33 percent resulting in extension of reservation in 15 additional States in the last 5 years. Further, to strengthen the ecosystem for working women and encourage economic participation, extension of maternity leave duration from 12 to 26 weeks and compulsory establishment of crèche in work spaces have been effectuated through legislative amendment.
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China, 1995), is an agenda for women’s empowerment. It aims at removing all the obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life through ensuring women a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. This means that the principle of shared power and responsibility should be established between women and men at home, in the workplace, and in the wider national and international communities. The Declaration and Platform for Action affirm that equality between women and men is a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice. It is also a necessary and fundamental prerequisite for equality, development and peace.
To this end, governments, the international community and civil society, including non-governmental organisations and the private sector, are called upon to take strategic action in the following twelve critical areas of concern for women globally:
- Women and poverty
- Education and training of women
- Women and health
- Violence against women
- Women and armed conflict
- Women and the economy
- Women in power and decision-making
- Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
- Human rights of women
- Women and the media
- Women and the environment
- The girl-child
13-Dec-2019: Breast Milk Banks
As per the “National Guidelines on Establishment of Lactation Management Centres in Public Health Facilities”, Breast Milk Banks in India are known as Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres (CLMC) and Lactation Management Unit (LMU), depending on the level of health facilities where these units are established. The national guidelines with operational and technical guidance on establishment of Lactation Management Centres in public health facilities have been shared, and funding support is provided to the States and UTs for the same as per proposals received in their Annual Programme Implementation Plans.
The foremost endeavour of the health care providers in a health centre is to conserve the natural act of breastfeeding. Lactation Management Centres are in no way intended to lessen the importance of mother’s own milk or the practice of breastfeeding. If mother’s own milk is insufficient or not available for any unavoidable reason, Donor Human Milk (DHM) is the next best alternative to bridge the gap.
11-Oct-2019: Govt launches Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan, SUMAN, an initiative for quality health care at no cost
Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan along with several State Health Ministers launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan, SUMAN. The initiative was launched during the 13th Conference of Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.
The initiative aims at assuring dignified, respectful and quality health care at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility in order to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. It also provides a positive birth experience to both mother and infant.
Government is committed to achieve the target of reducing the maternal mortality and child mortality. As per survey conducted in the recent past, the number of cases of blindness in the country has decreased from 0.68 per cent to 0.38 per cent.