In July 2020, Gender & Development Journal published a special issue to mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women. The special issue offered a critical appraisal of the work done to achieve the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and took stock of how much more needed to be done to realise a feminist future. The time of the issue’s publication coincided with the global pandemic, and the editors and authors of the Beijing +25 attempted to make sense of how this health crisis might shape the gains made in realising gender justice, while amplifying the challenges that lay ahead. The +25 special issue addressed several critical themes, ranging from tackling religious conservatism and questioning the effectiveness of multilateralism, to engaging with young feminist activisms and transnational feminisms. Five years on, the Beijing +30 special issue will reflect on these questions and the new opportunities and challenges these present, in a radically new context.
The current political climate characterised by wars, forced displacement, occupation, worsening impacts of climate crises and environmental degradation, rising conservatism, and a backlash against hard-earned women’s rights has made it harder to reach the goals set by BPfA. The Global Gender Gap report (2024) estimates that it will take another 134 years to achieve gender parity across the globe (WEF 2024); an additional 51 years compared to what was predicted in 2016 (WEF 2016). Given this, it is important and urgent to keep working at multilateral, national, and local levels towards gender equitable goals, and the Beijing +30 review provides a litmus test to know where we stand and what is required in moving forward.
This special issue aims to explore some of the opportunities to push back against shrinking political rights and spaces and draw from the collective intentions of the BPfA. It asks: to what extent is the BPfA being creatively reinterpreted and politically mobilised by women and other marginalised groups to meet the emerging challenges of rising conservatism, climate crises, wars and increasing social and economic marginalisation in the last five years; and work towards more feminist, equitable futures? This special issue will build on the gaps, opportunities, and learnings of the Beijing +25 issue.
Our Guest Editors:
This special issue will be guest edited by a group of reputed gender experts including Lina Abou-Habib, Hashem Hashem, and Deniz Alca, who have been involved in decades of feminist activism and knowledge generation.
Read the detailed call for contributions here: Beijing +30
Submissions
This theme is relevant across the sectors of academia, policy, and feminist movements and organisings. We invite contributions from community and grassroots leaders, civil society organisations, and networks, as well as political and legal representatives, researchers, academics, policymakers, and practitioners.
Please send your abstract of no more than 250 words with details about your research and preliminary findings or a small multi-modal proposal (a two-minute video clip abstract or 250 word abstract with images) using the submission link below.
Please submit your abstract or proposal here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7JsNKLC4TMVHtXmPvE9ftUr-rGGrLVHRuAwvqmqlPN_KK8Q/viewform?usp=sharing
Deadline: 24 March 2025, 11:59pm UTC.
Please read the Guidelines for contributors carefully before abstract/proposal submission. Please send any queries to genderanddevelopment.south@gmail.com.
Note about Gender and Development:
Gender & Development, co-published by Oxfam and Routledge/Taylor & Francis, has been a steadfast source of essential readings in the field of development for over 30 years. Since its founding in 1993, the journal has critically explored a range of cross-cutting issues in the areas of gender and development. It is a trailblazer in establishing inclusive and decolonialist approaches to knowledge creation and management in the wider international humanitarian and development sectors. While previously hosted by Oxfam Great Britain, a consortium of Oxfam affiliates in the global South – Oxfams Brazil, Colombia, India, KEDV (Turkey), Mexico and South Africa – has now been hosting the journal since 1st January 2022.