The Beijing Platform: the birth of gender mainstreaming as a feminist approach?

Nava San Miguel Abad

Chapter Spotlight 1 in Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming, 2026, pp 59-62 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The year 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), where the Declaration and Platform for Action were adopted. This spotlight reflects on how these landmark agreements have advanced gender equality and women's rights globally over the past three decades. The gender mainstreaming approach was consolidated as a transformative—though complex—practical instrument, yielding significant outcomes and lessons learned. It laid the groundwork for progress in other cross-cutting priorities such as human rights and diversity, and contributed to the development of sustainable, feminist-driven peace in a world grappling with multiple and profound crises, including environmental challenges and armed conflicts. The concept of gender mainstreaming was shaped by theoretical genealogies and by social movements advocating equality and social justice, which were progressively incorporated into UN mandates through successive World Conferences on Women—from Mexico (1975) to Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995). Recognizing this legacy is essential to a feminist approach grounded in historical and political context.

Keywords: Beijing Platform; Gender Mainstreaming; Feminist and Development Approach; Theoretical and Practical Feminist Genealogies; 30th Anniversary of the Beijing UN Conference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035353415
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