News in Press-centre

Victoria Panova, Vice President for International Relations of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), represented Russia at the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York. The official delegation also included employees of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

The key topics of the meeting were the improvement of national social protection systems, the expansion of access of women and girls to public services and sustainable infrastructure. In addition, experts from the UN Commission on the Status of Women assessed the implementation of recommendations regarding progress towards sustainable development and the empowerment of women, formal meetings were held, including through ministerial interaction, as well as several expert and educational events to share best practices to protect the interests of women around the world.

“Until today, issues of gender equality have not been fully resolved all over the world - women’s wages are on average a quarter less than men’s wages, and in rural areas the difference is even higher. More women work in the informal sector, there is a significant underestimation of the importance of unpaid work done by many women, there are significant gaps in the legislation of many countries in terms of protecting women's rights. The whole list of problems can be continued for a long time. And all this despite the fact that women and girls make up at least half of the world's population. In accordance with the research, the full inclusion of women in the economy will significantly increase the global gross domestic product - at least 12 trillion dollars. These problems are called upon to discuss and propose their solution to the UN Committee on the Status of Women,” said Victoria Panova.

According to the FEFU Vice President, the event is held annually and each time it becomes a truly large-scale international event with the participation of delegations from dozens of states. In 2020, the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration on Women's Rights will be celebrated, which in turn gives hope for the adoption of breakthrough solutions in this area and will allow us to assess exactly what has been done in the past quarter century to achieve real equality.

In addition to participating in the main program of the session, Victoria Panova presented the position of the Union of Women of Russia at the events of the International Union of Women on the expansion of access to social protection services and the promotion of women's rights and opportunities. As part of the workshops, specialists identified the main barriers to women's access to social infrastructure, and also made a number of recommendations for the adoption of national social protection programs for women.

As a delegate of the Russian Federation at the Women's G20, the FEFU Vice President also participated in a panel discussion held by the Japanese government as a chairing country in the G20. Its main task was to assess the results of the implementation of the G20 decisions and their impact on improving the status of women in the world.

The Commission on the Status of Women is a functional body of the UN Economic and Social Council. She reviews the implementation of international standards for the protection and promotion of women's rights, as well as the development of proposals for their proper implementation. The Women's Union of Russia traditionally participates in meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women, presenting proposals and recommendations for achieving gender equality in the world.