Men leaders are key allies to advance gender equality: IPU Assembly

Men leaders, in particular parliamentarians, are key allies in efforts to enhance women's participation and advance gender equality, according to a report released during a event co-held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union ( IPU) and the UN Women on Sunday.

Parliamentarians attending the 132nd Assembly of the IPU held in Vietnam's capital Hanoi reviewed 20 years of implementation of Beijing vision for "gender balance".

Speaking at a side event on "Achieving the Vision of Beijing: the Views of Men," IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong said the year 2015 marks a momentous year for reviewing global efforts for gender equality and women's empowerment.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPA) is an international declaration of women's rights set up at the UN's landmark Fourth World Conference on Women, held in China's Beijing in 1995.

In 2015, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the BDPA, signed by 189 governments, is celebrated.

Begona Lasagabaster, head of Policy Division of UN Women said at the event that during post-2015 period, among new development goals, goal of gender equality will play an important role in the agenda.

The UN Women official quoted 166 reviewing documents from members of parliaments as saying that situation of discrimination against women has been decreasing.

However, many women and female children are unable to access education, said Lasagabaster, adding that more efforts need to be done to ensure speeding up the process.

According to the report, 20 years after the BDPA, women remain a significant minority among political leaders. In January 2015, only 22 percent of all national parliamentarians were women and only 19 countries have either a woman head of state or a woman head of government.

Increasing women's political participation and leadership requires a range of interventions, chief among which is political will. Male leaders, in particular parliamentarians, are key allies in efforts to enhance women's participation and advance gender equality, said the report.

At the event, participants will have chance to discuss men's roles and responsibilities in addressing gender equality, good practices shared in terms of men political leaders to achieve gender equality, challenges faced by men while engaging on gender equality, and campaigns developed to encourage men's involvement, such as UN Women-led HeForShe among others.

The 132nd IPU Assembly is being held in Hanoi from Saturday to Wednesday with the participation of parliamentarians from global parliaments, regional inter-parliamentary and international organizations. Endi