Asia-Pacific confce on gender equality begins

The 2-day Asia-Pacific conference on gender equality began in Bangkok on Wednesday morning. Ministers, mostly women affairs, of the UN Asia-Pacific region have converged on its regional headquarters in the Thailand capital with an aim to agree on a common gender goal for the post-2015 development agenda. The conference ‘Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Beijing+20 review’ comes ahead of next year’s 20-year celebration of the adoption of the global agenda for gender equality – the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) convened the conference in cooperation with UN Women. ‘This 20 year review of the Platform for Action occurs at the nexus between the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals and the formulation of Sustainable Development Goals,’ ESCAP Executive Secretary Shamshad Akhtar said in her opening address. More than 700 participants including ministers and representatives of civil society have attended the opening session, according to a news agency.