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A total of 115 civic groups from around the world signed a joint statement expressing strong concern about President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. (capture from Korea Women’s Associations United’s website)

Over 100 civic groups from across the world are urging South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to retract his campaign pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, demanding that the incoming South Korean administration fulfill the recommendations reached upon by the international community for state governments to establish and strengthen ministries dedicated to gender equality.

On Monday, Korea Women’s Associations United released a joint statement signed by 115 civic groups from around the world. In it, participating organizations criticized the People Power Party (PPP) and Yoon, stating that the party and the former prosecutor general “stirred up and capitalized on the anti-feminist backlash, instead of proposing reasonable policy solutions to current critical issues” during their presidential campaign.

“We, the global civil society organizations, are strongly concerned about this position,” the groups further wrote, adding that “the South Korean government, as the chair of the Asia-Pacific Group of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and a member of the UN Human Rights Council, is currently playing a leading role in gender equality and women’s rights at a global level.” They warned, “The idea of abolishing the Ministry is a serious regression on women’s rights, which will have a detrimental impact not only on South Korea, but also on the Asia-Pacific region and the international community.”

The groups also emphasized that countries around the world have already reached the consensus that government ministries or organizations specializing in gender equality are necessary within state governments. They stated, “The importance of a gender equality national machinery with adequate resources and budget was already recognized in the Beijing Platform for Action in 1995, a global norm on women’s rights unanimously adopted by 189 countries, including South Korea,” adding that in 2021, “the UN Commission on the Status of Women recommended in the 65th Agreed Conclusions that the national governments strengthen the capacity of national machineries for gender equality by allocating sufficient financial, technical and human resources.”

“South Korea is classified as a developed country on economic and social scales, but there is still a long way to go in terms of women’s rights,” the groups went on, urging the incoming South Korean administration “to recognize its obligation to advance gender equality and come up with practical and substantive policy measures to strengthen the mandate and the role of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.”

The joint statement was signed by civic groups working to advance women’s rights in different parts of the world, including the Women’s Major Group, a network of 1,500 women’s groups worldwide; the International Alliance of Women, a group founded in 1902 that advocates for the political rights of women; the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, a network of 265 women’s rights groups from 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific; the Africa Women’s Development and Communication Network; and the Arab Women Network for Parity and Solidarity.

By Choi Yoon-ah, staff reporter

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