This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, whereby 189 countries made comprehensive commitments to prioritise women’s rights and the empowerment of all women at a global level. This visionary programme set out the way to supress barriers that hamper equal participation of women in all areas of life (public and private). These countries commit to make advances and to report back on the progress made in 12 areas of special concern: poverty, education, health, violence, armed conflict, economy, power and decision making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment and the situtation of girls.

The efforts undertaken by the Beijing Platform have been backed by the UN 2030 Agenda. As such, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved without gender equality and the full participation of women in public life. ODS are proposed as a desirable well-being horizon for humankind.

Even though Beijing’s Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda are instruments ratified by countries, local governments have also shown their commitment with the challenges posed by the agenda. Many initatives carried out by cities, big and small, have been put in place to help building societies where women can exercise its economic, political, social and cultural rights fully.

This encompasses projects that help remove the barriers to the presence of women in top positions at the municipal level, measures to support female participation  in the local economic life and educational programmes that promote gender equality in children’s games. This wide array of local actions undertaken by cities contribute to the construction of a more equal society.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day and to celebrate the efforts carried out by Educating Cities in favour of women’s rights, we invite you to check out some of the selected projects available at the IAEC Bank of Experiences:

• Participation in economic life
  • “Morelian Women’s Bazaars” Morelia (Mexico)
• Access to education
  • “A Room of One’s Own” Reading Club” Avilés (Spain)
• Education in equality
  • “Playing in equality: Co-ed playgrounds” Benetússer (Spain)
• Women and political and social participation
  • “Women’s Municipal Council of Morón” Morón (Argentina)
  • “Course for Popular Legal Promoters” Santo André (Brasil)
• Protection against violence
  • “Women Free of Violence Networks” León (Mexico)
  • “Comprehensive Female Genital Mutilation Prevention” Bilbao (Spain)