India and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: Thirty years of rhetoric,reform,and reckoning

Abstract

While India has consistently voiced its commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment, it lacks a formal National Action Plan (NAP) specifically dedicated to implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA). This institutional gap limits the transformative potential of the BDPfA and delays progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda. The Human Development Report 2025, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), underscores this disconnect: India’s Gender Development Index (GDI) score stands at 0.874, placing it in group 5, the lowest-performing group globally in terms of gender parity. In contrast, countries such as Iceland (0.972), Norway (0.970), and Switzerland (0.970) are among the highest-ranked globally and are recognised for achieving near gender parity. Despite advancements in women’s education and political participation, India’s performance across the 12 critical areas of concern outlined in the BDPfA remains uneven. To bridge this gap, an NAP should be enacted as a priority to institutionalise the BDPfA and align India’s domestic actions with evolving global standards.