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UNITED NATIONS, March 9-- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday was encouraged by what he saw as movement-building in gender equality, and asked for more efforts to further carry forward the cause. This year, the world marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and its Platform for Action, which together define the most comprehensive and transformative global agenda for gender equality and women's empowerment, he told the opening meeting of the 64th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). "A key legacy of the Beijing process was movement-building. These past 25 years have seen growing, strengthened, vibrant, transnational and diverse women's movements that are increasingly challenging slow and piecemeal progress by calling for urgent systemic change." They are advancing gender equality and demanding accountability from governments and other powerful actors. They are forging coalitions and working across themes, sectors and political boundaries to advance the rights of women and girls and show how they are inextricably linked to economic, social and environmental justice for all, said Guterres. "These movements are proposing bold new alternatives for a different world." By January 2020, the United Nations has achieved gender parity -- 90 women and 90 men -- in the ranks of its full-time senior leadership, two years ahead of the target that the secretary-general set at the start of his tenure, and the world body has a roadmap for parity at all levels in the coming years, said Guterres. | 
