The Beijing Platform for Action is a global agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment, adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. It is a comprehensive and transformative blueprint for achieving the equal rights of all women and girls, with 12 critical areas for action, including education, health, violence against women, and economic opportunity.
The consultation will underscore the theological foundations of the WCC’s commitment to gender equality: that justice, in the biblical sense, ensures that all people have equal access to resources, opportunities, and protections necessary for their flourishing.
For the WCC, this includes advocating for women’s rights and working towards the elimination of all forms of gender-based discrimination and violence, as outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action.
Those gathered will observe Thursdays in Black on 4 December, as well as participate in plenary presentations and panel discussions on topics such as Indigenous perspectives, ecumenical diakonia, and many others. The consultation will release a message as well.
Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive for a Just Community of Women and Men, said that the consultation programme will allow for a creative, inclusive space in which people can reflect on the past, present, and future of the Beijing Platform for Action and all its critical areas.
“The Beijing 30+ Consultation affirms the WCC’s commitment to gender equality in the many facets through which it is expressed: theologically, contextually, and most of all through action,” she said.
The consultation is among several significant anniversaries commemorated by the World Council of Churches in 2025, including the 1700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, 100 years since the Life and Work Conference in Stockholm, the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, and others.