Angola: Angola reaffirmed on Tuesday in New York, its commitment to continuing to work to guarantee the dignity, opportunities, and rights of all women and young girls, thereby contributing to a more just, prosperous, and inclusive future. According to Angola Press News Agency, a press release to which ANGOP had access on Wednesday in Luanda, this commitment was reiterated by the Minister of Social Action, Family, and Women's Promotion, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto. The minister made the statement at the general debate on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly. The theme was "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development, and Peace for the 21st Century." Neto emphasized that following the country's commitments to the Beijing Platform for Action and the implementation of the Second Generation Action Plan of Resolution 1325, Angola has made remarkable progress in defending and effectively implementing measures such as gender parity and eq uitable political financing in the last five years. These advances are legal milestones against gender-based violence and promote public policies that foster women's economic autonomy, she said. Neto assured that the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action remains closely linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 5 on gender equality. The minister added that Angola's second Voluntary National Report highlighted the progress achieved and reinforced the alignment between the SDGs and national planning instruments. She noted that the Angolan Gender Observatory (OGA), a digital platform for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating sex-disaggregated data, was created to monitor indicators of gender inequality and women's rights. The OGA supports gender-sensitive public policies and assists state institutions, academic institutions, and civil society in monitoring progress. Regarding economic empowerment, the minister announced that the Angolan government recently approved the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. This strategy guarantees access to safe and functional financial products and services regardless of social condition, gender, age, or location. The Inclusion Strategy also promotes financial education and inclusion campaigns that provide bank accounts for women and training for multipliers in personal and family finance. Regarding vocational training and job promotion, she reported that, over the past five years, women have been trained in technology, industry, and service provision due to awareness campaigns and incentives for female participation in these fields. The minister also said that Angola has reinforced its focus on combating multidimensional poverty by implementing a cash transfer program for vulnerable women and young girls.
