UN Women welcomes agreement on post-2015 development agenda

With great anticipation for the journey we are about to embark upon, UN Women welcomes the agreement by Member States on the post-2015 development agenda adopted today at the UN Summit. “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” is a comprehensive blueprint for people and planet that for the first time brings together the three dimensions of sustainable development in one ambitious document.

Importantly, the document strongly emphasizes the centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve the sustainable development agenda. UN Women welcomes the transformative stand-alone Sustainable Development Goal that addresses structural barriers to women’s empowerment along with important targets on gender equality in other Goals. We also welcome the commitment to significantly increased investments in gender equality. We need a Planet 50–50 by 2030, and we must Step It Up for gender equality.

UN Women congratulates Members States in reaching this historic agreement and recognizes the important contributions of civil society organizations, especially the women’s organizations and networks that provided the consistent and clear advocacy that helped to ensure strong language on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The next step, to complement the commitment on Financing for Development and the post-2015 agenda, will be a strong agreement on climate change as an outcome of the Paris conference later this year.

We know that the real test will be the depth and speed of implementation at the country level, with a focus on the most marginalized women and girls. It will require the strong lead of governments with the full participation of other stakeholders, including women’s organizations. There is no time to waste in implementing this path-breaking agenda.

UN Women stands ready to fully support governments in this historic endeavour.