ULAANBAATAR DECLARATION: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

22-23 August 2024, Ulaanbaatar

We, participants of the World Women’s Forum, gathered in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on 22-23 August 2024, are:

Reaffirming our commitment to international law, including the United Nations Charter and its purposes and principles, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Reaffirming further our commitment to the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, SDG 5 in particular, and to accelerating our efforts to achieve gender equality, women’s participation and the empowerment of women and girls in all domains,

We are

Recalling that women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in political, civil, economic, social, and cultural life at the national, regional, and international levels, and elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls are priority objectives of the gender equality and human rights agenda for the international community,

Noting with deep concern the adverse impacts of the geopolitical tensions and conflicts on inter alia their humanitarian consequences including for women and children and for global food security,

Recognizing that women and girls still face barriers to substantive equality and empowerment due to their sex, race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability as well as structural inequalities and specific obstacles related to their socio-economic status,

Acknowledging that climate change is a common concern of humankind and recognizing that women and girls, particularly in developing countries and small island developing states face disproportionate impacts from the adverse effects of climate change, environmental degradation and disasters, and these impacts have far-reaching consequences for safeguarding food security and ending hunger,

Recognizing that women are critical agents of change in climate action, and in ensuring food security and nutrition for all,

Emphasizing that full, equal, and meaningful participation of all women and girls in the digital space is essential to close the gender digital divide, and advance inclusive and sustainable development,

Recognizing that sports, arts and culture are important enablers and drivers of sustainable development with their growing contributions to socio-economic development, culture of peace, tolerance and respect, as well as highlighting the pivotal role of sports, arts, and culture in the empowerment of women and girls and fostering social inclusion;

We commit to:

• Strengthening the role of women in global multilateral affairs through a greater engagement of women into the implementation of the development goals with particular emphasis on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
• Supporting women’s equal and full participation in conflict resolution and peacebuilding while recognizing their significant contribution to the maintenance and promotion of international peace and security as well as global food security,
•  Mainstreaming gender equality into all policies and programmes in the effort to integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development,
•  Ensuring equal access of women and girls to political participation and representation at all levels as well as equal opportunities for leadership and decision-making at all levels, including in relation to environment-related decision making,
• Improving the economic empowerment of women and girls, particularly in the informal and digital economies, through equal opportunities to access to and control of economic resources and financial services, market access to decent employment and capacity development, including entrepreneurship training, and facilitate their access to agricultural inputs, extension services and land, water, sanitation and irrigation, global supply chains, markets and innovative technologies,
• Addressing climate change with climate policies and actions that are fully respecting human rights while pursuing gender equality, empowerment of women and the interests of present and future generations,
• Advancing the implementation of integrated, multi-sectoral solutions to protect, conserve and restore nature and ecosystems, as part of a country-driven gender-sensitive and participatory approaches, building on the best available science and evidence as well as Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge and local knowledge systems,
• Promoting gender mainstreaming approaches into climate-resilient agricultural policies and practices and develop sustainable agrifood systems including through supporting small-scale food producers, in particular women, girls, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, so that they can effectively contribute to poverty alleviation, hunger eradication and food security and nutrition,
• Striving for significant increases in investments to close the gender gaps in all spheres and strengthening support for institutions in relation to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at all levels,
• Eliminating gender disparities in education and training and ensuring equal access for women and girls to quality education and training at all levels and all sectors, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education,
• Designing and implementing policies aimed at closing gender digital divides especially for rural-urban women and girls, young women, and older women, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and increasing the number of women-led and/or women-owned digital start-ups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially in developing countries, and facilitating their access to markets using digital technologies,
• Pursuing policies and actions taking advantage of the growing contributions of sports, art and culture to the empowerment of women and girls while ensuring equal opportunities for them,
• Continuing cooperation within the United Nations system and other regional and international fora and diverse initiatives, promoting international cooperation including South-South and triangular cooperation, and supporting collaboration and partnership with all relevant stakeholders including civil society and grassroots organizations, the private sector and academia, that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to enhance our efforts towards substantive gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and to intensify the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

We pledge

Our support for initiatives of the United Nations Secretary-General’s “Our Common Agenda” and the Summit of the Future to take place in New York on 22-23 September 2024 bringing together the world leaders to forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.

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This Declaration is originally published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia.