SDC's commitment to gender equality is based on international guidelines and Switzerland's obligations to ratified international standards.
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of 2015 and its Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The new sustainable development goals framework replaced the expiring Millennium Development Goals and the Rio+20 agenda.
The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 1979. CEDAW is the most important international human rights standard concerning the rights of women and girls. Switzerland has ratified CEDAW in 1997 as well as CEDAW's optional protocol and in doing so has committed to undertake a series of measures to implement CEDAW.
At the Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing, 189 states adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (BDPA) with goals in 12 critical areas of concerns. The 59th session of the CSW in March 2015 reviewed achievements and challenges in the implementation of the BDPA 20 years after its adoption (Beijing+20).
The UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, adopted in 2000, aims at preventing and protecting women and girls from gender-based violence in conflicts and strengthens women's participation and the integration of gender-related aspects into local peace, transformation and state-building processes. Switzerland has adopted a National Action Plan 1325 to implement UNSCR 1325 into its peace and development policies and programmes.
