The Clinton Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a new partnership to gather and analyze data about the status of women and girls’ participation around the world, as part of the Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings initiative.
The partnership was announced during a discussion between Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Melinda Gates hosted by New York University and moderated by Chelsea Clinton.
The partnership teams the Foundations to work with leading technology partners to collect these data and compile them into a compelling and publicly accessible review that will identify the progress that has been made, and the gaps that remain, in the 20 years since the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. It will also provide evidence of the strong connection between rights and opportunities for women and girls and prosperity, stability and security around the world.
The data will be released in digital and written forms as part of a progress report in 2015 in advance of the anniversary of the Beijing Conference.
In order to narrow the gender gap and advance the status of girls and women, girls and women must be counted. Data not only measures progress—it inspires it.
In 1995, at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 189 nations agreed to an ambitious Platform for Action that called for the “full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life.” At this conference, Secretary Clinton memorably declared that “women’s rights are human rights.”
Nearly twenty years later, progress has been made, with greater participation in public life and nations enacting public policies to promote full equality. Yet for all of this progress, women and girls still comprise the majority of the world’s unhealthy, unfed, and unpaid, and hard-won rights and legal protections remain elusive on the ground. Advancing the status of women and girls remains the unfinished business of our time.
Secretary Clinton launched No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project to galvanize the world’s support for the full participation of women and girls. Through No Ceilings, the Clinton Foundation will evaluate and share progress, chart the path forward, and mobilize the private sector, governments, civil society and individuals to accelerate full participation for women and girls in the 21st century.
Source: Clinton Foundation
