UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations on Friday announced the postponement of two major events to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the landmark U.N. women’s conference in Beijing because of the coronavirus pandemic, putting off until next year the meetings where thousands of people from across the world will try to make progress toward gender equality. UN Women said the “Generation Equality" forums in Mexico City in May and Paris in July, where civil society representatives and activists from all nations had been expected, have been delayed until the first half of 2021, with new dates to be announced in the coming months. The 150-page road map adopted in Beijing in 1995 called for bold action in 12 areas to achieve equality for women, including combating poverty and violence, ensuring all girls get an education and putting women at top levels of business and government, as well as at peace-making tables. It said for the first time in a U.N. document that women’s human rights include the right to control and decide “on matters relating to their sexuality, including their sexual and reproductive health, free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”

Source: International New York Times April 03, 2020 20:26 UTC