The Beijing platform should no longer be viewed as a set of simple goals and aspirations, but must be used as a tool to push for the adoption of gender-sensitive policies.

There is a serious need for our legislators and political parties to seriously push for the development and implementation of policies meant to encourage women to contest for high political positions.

Universities and governments need to enact deliberate policies that favour women and girls.

We must have people who actually understand, who are the beneficiaries of these policies, being part of the policy formulation.

Our country has taken a number of steps to mainstream gender perspectives in poverty-reduction strategies. These have led to the implementation of various income support programmes including development initiatives for rural women

It is time we begin to think of strategies to ensure women inclusion in all levels of governance.

Stop giving meaningless praise and start giving meaningful action.

For meaningful change and impact, it is important to build on and implement agreed decisions.

...that gender equality is not just a phenomenon, but a reality that we all have to embrace if we are to achieve international, continental, regional and national sustainable development.

Male rulers of the land must implement any policy already made to achieve inclusion for women. For me, what comes to my mind is gender policy. We are not asking for much. What women are asking for is not equality. Sometimes when you ask for women’s empowerment, they say: Ahahaaaaa, Feminism!!! We are not asking for equality. Equality is 50-50. In Affirmative action and the gender policy, it is 35%. It is about 1/3 and I don’t think it is too much

Via legislation, administrative measures and public policies with a rights-based perspective, we can reverse situations of inequity. The work is monumental, urgent and difficult because we are dealing with people who are in highly vulnerable situations. The work, however, is worth it because it brings us closer to having better democracies and better societies.

As women in science, we need to work to bridge this gap and come up with recommendations from this conference that will translate into policy to support the recruitment and retention of women and girls in science.

There will always be a gap between the goals set down and scheme of implementation. Women's groups by now have enough data to know where the policies have gone wrong. The whole question is gathering enough political clout to make a change.

Both men and women must step-up their efforts for equality, build on the foundation that has already been established, make the required investments, develop partnerships with the corporate sector and civil society, and hold individuals responsible for their actions.