Women's Economic Empowerment, Gender Equality, Women in Politics, Indigenous Women, UN Women

Harnessing the power of sport for Generation Equality

Date: Thursday, July 1, 2021

On 1 July 2021, leaders in the world of sport came together to make commitments to the Sport for Generation Equality Principles at the landmark Generation Equality Forum in Paris. The Principles embody the vision of equal rights and opportunities for women and girls everywhere that the Beijing Platform for Action laid out 26 years ago. The Beijing Platform asserts that sport has a critical capacity to propel women’s and girls’ empowerment. While there have been important advances, the full potential of sport as a driver for gender equality has yet to be harnessed.




Moderator Åsa Edlund Jönsson, Head of Sports at SVT, introduced the programme and noted the policy in her organization of 50/50 coverage for men’s and women’s sports, before handing the floor to UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka set the tone, stating “Sport for Generation Equality recognizes the importance of sport in our lives, the importance of sport in girls’ lives, young women’s lives... So we welcome you, we embrace you, and we are here to target investments into women in sport, because Generation Equality is about making commitments. They can be investments in money, they could be programmes, they could be laws, they could be policies.”

Deputy Minister of Sport of the Government of France Roxana Mărăcineanu said, “We can no longer just accept announcements, we have to move over to actions. Young people have asked of us for change, and we must rise to their expectations.”

Sharing IOC’s commitment, IOC Member and Chair of the IOC Athletes Commission Kirsty Coventry said, “We can all agree that the current crisis presents many challenges to sport and gender equality at large. This is now why, more than ever, we must ensure that resource allocation continues to support women and girls’ sports, and that we guarantee equal access and opportunities for girls and boys to play sports in a safe and inclusive environment.”

Seiko Hashimoto and Tony Estanguet, Presidents of the Organizing Committees of the upcoming Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games, stressed the importance of gender parity in the Olympic Games and their respective commitments to support women’s leadership, participation, and coverage.

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos announced the launch of the long-anticipated Global Observatory for Women and Sport, a commitment from the 2017 Kazan Action Plan. The Observatory will be an independent entity hosted in Switzerland to advance much needed research and data.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, noted that FIFA invested USD 1 billion into women’s football for the 2019-2022 cycle to grow the women’s game; outlined efforts to use the power of football to prevent violence against women. Looking ahead to the Women’s World Cup in 2023, she explained that “we have the chance to use this tournament as a springboard to inspire women, girls and communities around the world and ultimately change the conversation on gender.”

Sponsors also made important commitments at the Forum. Procter and Gamble Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard highlighted the power of advertising, stating that P&G “will champion the accurate portrayal of female athletes, while raising their voices and highlighting the causes they champion, on and off the field.”. Adidas announced the expansion of its Breaking Barriers programme to create opportunities for 50,000 girls across Europe to benefit from sport, and to create an open platform for any organization to access its curriculum and tools.

Specific to the call in Paris, the Agence Française de Développement and the Japan International Cooperation Agency promised to mobilize the Sport for Development Coalition of Pubic Development Banks, in their roles as co-chairs of the initiative; the Alice Milliat Foundation committed to support more women as sport professionals, and to celebrate their achievements in sport through festivals, awards and competitions; and the International Federation for Sports Officials aims to increase opportunities for women to participate equally in this under-represented field.

Seventeen year-old Camilly Ferreira summed up how her participation in the UN Women/ IOC programme “One Win Leads to Another” in Brazil taught her how to overcome challenges, and learn many other life skills. “From the first sessions, I was able to have a very new perception of who I was and who I wanted to become.” Now she is sharing what she learned with younger girls and spreading the reach of the programme in her community.

For more information about the Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30 June – 2 July) and news coverage, please visit UN Women website

Development Banks accelerate actions for gender equality

Date: Thursday, July 1, 2021

Originally published on www.afd.fr

National, regional and multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, national promotional banks, and export credit agencies – gathered today at Generation Equality Forum, to celebrate the 26 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and to strengthen their collective contributions to Sustainable Development Goal 5 on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.


The PDBs play a particularly critical role in ensuring gender-sensitive COVID-19 response and recovery efforts and will accelerate their work to tackle persistent gender gaps widened by COVID-19. Today commitments will contribute to the progress on gender equality and prevent further backsliding.

Following the first Finance in Common Summit on 12 November 2020 adopting the Paris Development Banks Statement on gender equality and women’s empowerment and signed by 26 PDBs, UN Women and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launched a new global collaboration platform for the PDBs to share expertise and to mobilize commitments to advance gender equality in January 2021.

Since then, the PDBs have worked together to discuss measurements of gender financing and highlight good practices to further enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment, including in climate and biodiversity commitments. The PDBs have each brought their own approaches and characteristics and through their diversity have worked together to launch impactful initiatives and to make targeted commitments.

Launch of the 2XCollaborative gender-lens investing initiative 
More than 16 participating banks and financial institutions, in partnership with GenderSmart Investing and the Investor Leadership Network of global pension funds, launch today a new industry body for gender lens investing: the 2XCollaborative. The 2XCollaborative will convene and equip capital providers to increase the volume and impact of capital flowing to projects, businesses, asset managers and financial institutions that meaningfully and innovatively support women. 2XCollaborative initiatives, like the 2X Gender and Climate Finance Taskforce, will drive gender-smart investing in thematic areas. In committing to the 2XCollaborative, the members build on the success of the 2XChallenge and its USD 15 billion commitment to mobilize more capital towards women’s empowerment.
Unlock funding for gender and climate change
Five financial institutions and members of the 2XChallenge join the Gender and Climate Change Fast Track Initiative, a strategic umbrella commitment to accelerate and scale up gender-responsive climate action in national and regional climate agendas. This initiative will strengthen the focus on joint policy and private sector development and combine partners’ unique experiences with both private and public sectors.
Improve transparency and accountability for gender equality 
More than twenty banks and financial institutions will leverage the alignment between the OECD/DAC gender marker and 2X Challenge criteria, and between 2X Challenge criteria and Women’s Empowerment Principles to strengthen the transparency and accountability of gender funding.
Integrate best practices through the Women's Empowerment Principles 
Banks will sign the Women’s Empowerment Principles, joining the 5,000 organizations in 141 countries who are already signatories, and promote the adoption of the principles by their investees, suppliers and partners.
Strengthen roadmaps and action plans to meet the goals of Generation Equality
The International Development Finance Club (IDFC), a Club of 26 national and regional development banks, has developed a roadmap and action plan on gender equality that will establish IDFC as an active platform for promoting and advocating gender equality and women’s empowerment for the next years. Focus will be on better access to economic opportunities, strengthening gender mainstreaming both internally and in members’ operations, and fighting against all forms of gender-based violence. It will thus participate to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and particularly Sustainable Development Goal 5 to empower women and girls.
At least thirteen banks will participate in the second round of the Center for Global Development’s Gender Equity in Development Finance Survey. In committing to take the survey, PDBs and external stakeholders will gain critical information facilitating collective progress, as the survey assesses PDBs’ internal and external gender equity policies and practices and highlights examples of strong practices as models to emulate.
What's next?
The journey of Generation Equality continues after the Paris Forum. The public development banks will actively continue to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment and revisit progress on their collaborative initiatives at the Finance in Common Summit in Rome, Italy, planned in Autumn 2021.

Media contact: Anne Barthélemy – barthelemya@afd.fr – 06 12 91 97 18

Remarks by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the Opening Ceremony of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, France

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2021

[As delivered]

Thank you very much, dear President Macron, thank you for having us. Thank you to France and Mexico, for both countries made this day possible. Thank you, Secretary-General Guterres, and thank you to the President of the European Council and our youth representative for being here.

Women everywhere in the world are squeezed into a small corner. Women make up one quarter of those who are managers, they are one quarter of parliamentarians around the world, they are one quarter of those who negotiate climate change, they are less than one quarter of those who negotiate peace agreements. All these decisions have a fundamental impact on their capacity to have a life that is meaningful.

When I started to work for UN Women, my budget was also one quarter – of a billion dollars. It was meant to increase to half a billion dollars; of course, we did it and surpassed that. But clearly that was never enough.

That was never enough for the large problems that we face in society that impact women. And so, I went out to you to assist. I went to private sector, philanthropists, to young people and adolescents. And I went to civil society, who were already part and parcel of fighting for change for women and a strategic ally for UN Women.

Generation Equality, which brings us together here, is about change. It is about moving from making promises to telling us what you are going to do in order for the situation of women to change.

So today, I’m going to tell you what we have been able to do. We have almost 1000 commitments that have been made by Member States, by private sector and the other actors that I have highlighted, which will change the lives of women in the areas that we have identified in Generation Equality.

Countries from the Global South have put their foot forward, regional organizations like the African Union and the European Union have put their foot forward, young people, through their advocacy, have put their foot forward, and philanthropists and the private sector and our Member States have put their foot forward. So, in total, we now have over USD 40 billion put forward by all these actors. And we are still counting.

The private sector will use some of the money for the changes that need to happen in their companies. The philanthropic organizations will use the money for grants, and I am glad that some of the grants will support small grassroots organizations and youth organizations to do their work.

And of course, Member States have committed to change policies and programmes, including making sure that the number of women who are represented in their governments increases. I know that there are governments here today and at home who will tell you about what they are going to do. I do not want to steal their thunder.

So, today is a happy day from that perspective. But this is not everything we need. The fight still has to continue. What we are doing today is to take a step forward. We are extending the number of people who participate in gender equality. We are intergenerational - in that young people are at the core of what we do. What we do must benefit and change the lives of young people.

We thank you for the contributions that you have made and we call on you to stay with us, to monitor what we do with these resources. In UN Women, we have put in place a secretariat that will oversee the implementation of this and will report.

We have organizations that will implement their actions in groups, in the care system, for example, or in bringing policing into gender-responsiveness. There will be groups of countries that are coming together and who will be making announcements in this regard.

This is what we see as enhanced multilateralism. This is what we see as support to the work that we do in the intergovernmental space, where we need to be pushing upwards all the time, so that there is a race to the top.

I want to say, one quarter is not enough. One quarter is not equality. Equality is one half, where both men and women are together. Thank you.

How Spotlight Initiative is working toward Generation Equality

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2021

This story has been adapted from the original version published by The Spotlight Initiative.


Girls and women in Mozambique celebrate the launch of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. Photo: Leovigildo Nhampule/UN Women
The Generation Equality Forum, a civil society-centred, global gathering for gender equality kicked off in Mexico City, Mexico on 29 March. Convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, the Forum aims to secure ambitious commitments to progressing gender equality by mobilizing governments; women’s, feminist, youth-led and international organizations; and the private sector.

The Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has made four recommendations to accelerate progress to eliminate violence against women and girls. Find out how Spotlight Initiative is responding to these rallying cries below.

1. More states and regional actors must ratify international and regional conventions and public and private sector institutions must strengthen, implement and finance evidence-driven laws, policies and action plans to end gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity. 

Photo: UNICEF Nigeria
In 2019, Spotlight Initiative contributed to the signing or strengthening of 41 laws that respond to violence against women and girls in 15 countries. This work continued in 2020. In Kyrgyzstan, the Initiative worked with civil activists and lawyers to change Kyrgyzstan's alimony laws and ensure that women receive financial support after a separation or divorce.

In Latin America, the Spotlight Initiative is supporting the development of a protocol to better protect women human rights defenders — critical given the region is the most dangerous place in the world for human rights defenders, according to data from Front Line Defenders. UN Women is making sure that the protocol has a gender perspective and integrates elements that allows responding to the specific needs of women human rights defenders of the region in their diversity. For achieving this, the draft of the Protocol it's being discussed in direct and broad consultations with the women human rights defenders of the region, as well, qualitative and quantitative evidence on their main needs have been generated and analyzed.

In Nigeria, the Initiative worked with the Ministry of Women's Affairs and community leaders and organizations to help end the “Money-Woman” custom, in which girls are promised to men in marriage in order to settle a debt. This practice often leads to underage marriage, physical and sexual violence, and forced labour. UN Women engaged the community to abolish this harmful practice in partnership with male engagement implementing partner, African Center for Leadership and Development (Center LSD) through targeted advocacy and community sensitization with various community stakeholders, including a virtual national roundtable conference for traditional and religious leaders; while utilizing an accountability framework developed by UN Women Country Office in Nigeria for traditional and religious leaders to guide their approach to eliminating harmful practices.

“It was not a happy marriage,” says Chief Egu*, 65, who was formerly in a Money-Woman marriage. “[My wife] was too young and married off against her will, she was unhappy.” After speaking with a chief who had attended Spotlight Initiative-supported training, Mr. Egu agreed to return his wife to her family. In 2020, the Council of Chiefs held a press conference publicly condemning the practice, as well as introducing penalties for offenders.

2. Scale up implementation and financing of evidence-driven prevention strategies by public and private sector institutions and women’s rights organizations to drive down prevalence of gender-based violence against women, adolescent girls and young women in all their diversity including in humanitarian settings. 

Girls in El Salvador learn about their rights through theatre. Photo: UNICEF.
Evidence shows that prevention is the most cost-effective, long-term way to stop violence. This is why Spotlight Initiative invests the largest share of its resources in tackling the root causes of gender-based violence — discriminatory and patriarchal gender norms, and harmful stereotypes and behaviours.

To support the next generation of change-makers, youth and adolescents are heavily engaged in programming. For example, in El Salvador, which has one of the world’s highest rates of femicide, school children learn about their rights through the use of theatre and the arts. In San Martín, Spotlight Initiative has partnered with the local municipality to use games, puppets, painting and crafts as vehicles to speak to young people about violence prevention. “I have the right to control my own body,” says Lady Carmoda, 8, who participated in a play called ‘The Train of Rights’. "There are laws that protect girls.” 

Additionally, in San Martin City, 240 young people have joined a municipal decision-making body to ensure that the ideas and needs of young people are incorporated into local policy — including those of vulnerable women and

3. Scale up implementation and financing of coordinated survivor-centered, comprehensive, quality, accessible and affordable services for survivors of gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity including in humanitarian settings.
Spotlight Initiative is helping to remove many of the barriers that prevent survivors of violence from seeking help by streamlining, integrating and financing GBV support services. For example, in Mozambique, Spotlight Initiative is supporting ‘one-stop centres’ that allow survivors of violence to report their attacker, seek medical attention and access counselling at a single location without having to retell their story multiple times or relive their trauma.

When Amina*, 14, was raped, she contacted a local organization in Nampula who referred her case to a one-stop centre for GBV survivors. Once there, an integrated team of trained health staff, social workers, police and justice staff helped her. The team registered her case in a single confidential file to be used across sectors. They also referred Amina to a hospital where she received vital care. Justice services followed up on her case and, as a result, Amina’s attacker was sentenced to 12 years in prison. “When people take their case to a one-stop centre, they can solve it without any problem,” said Amina. 

4. Enhance support and increase accountability and quality, flexible funding from states, private sector, foundations, and other donors to autonomous girl-led and women’s rights organizations working to end gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity.

Photo: UN Women/Nassarus Thuantongkhum/Kith&Kin
Spotlight Initiative recognizes that civil society organizations (CSOs), grassroots organizations and women-led and feminist organizations are best placed to understand and respond to their local context. Fifty per cent of funds in 2019 were budgeted for civil society organizations. Additionally, civil society is engaged across all Spotlight Initiative programming through Reference Groups that both advise and hold us accountable.

In 2020, COVID-19 made it difficult for many organizations – particularly small women’s organizations – to continue their work. In response, the UN Trust Fund to EVAW, administered by UN Women, allocated a further US$9 million to support existing grantees in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Flexible funding is critical in allowing organizations to pivot their activities to meet demand. In Viet Nam, for example, Spotlight Initiative support meant a local women’s shelter was able to staff its helpline overnight during COVID-19 lockdowns. UN Women strongly advocated for shifting some of the programme funds to rapidly respond to COVID-19, which included hiring more helpline operators to respond to the increased number of calls to helplines and enabling counsellors to receive calls from their own homes. “[During lockdown] we get many calls late at night or early in the morning while the abuser is sleeping. For this reason, we had to open the hotline number 24/7 so we don’t miss an urgent call for help,” said Linh*, a hotline worker from Hanoi. “Support from the Spotlight Initiative’s Safe and Fair Programme was extremely timely as it meant we could hire more hotline operators for the night shift.” 

The Spotlight Initiative will continue working hand in hand with governments, service providers, civil society organizations and activists to ensure that women and girls everywhere can live a life free from violence.

*The name has been changed to protect the person’s identity.

Media advisory: Generation Equality Forum, Paris

Date: Thursday, June 24, 2021

The Generation Equality Forum is the most catalytic global gathering for gender equality held in the last quarter century. Convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the Governments of France and Mexico, with the leadership and participation of youth and civil society, the Forum is a once-in-a-generation moment to advance global gender equality.

You are invited to key sessions of the Generation Equality Forum, Paris, from 30 June to 2 July 2021.

With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to reverse global progress on gender equality, the Generation Equality Forum in Paris aims to affirm bold gender equality investments, programs, and policies and start a 5-year action journey, based on a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality which will be launched at the Forum. Heads of State and Government, international organizations, civil society, youth, and the private sector will convene in Paris to make tangible commitments to accelerate transformative change.

Members of the media may apply to attend all virtual sessions of the Generation Equality Forum at this link. A dedicated press section will give registered journalists access to all press releases, press conferences, replays of sessions and the ability to request interviews with speakers in digital private rooms. Accreditation is also available via the Elysee Press service for a limited number of journalists for the onsite media room in Paris here. There will be the possibility to organize duplex transmission zones near the Carrousel du Louvre.

The three-day event will include an in person opening event for high-level guests as well as over 110 events held by UN Women, the Government of France, young people, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector. A sequence of “Action Coalition” events will launch commitments and five-year action agendas on topics from Gender-based Violence to Economic Justice and Rights.

Notable attendees in-person and via live link include:

Hillary Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State;
Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States
Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya
Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina
Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor
Kaïs Saïed, President of Tunisia along with others including
Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank
Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of the World Bank
Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Darren Walker, President of Ford Foundation
Alice P. Albright, Executive Director of the Global Partnership for Education
Julieta Martinez, Feminist climate activist
Opening Ceremony, Wednesday 30 June, 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. CEST / 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EDT
Hybrid in-person and virtual event held at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris hosted by the President of the Republic.
Includes remarks by President of France Emmanuel Macron, President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris, and advocate for women’s rights Hillary Clinton will also make remarks.

You can join the event through registration to the event platform or view live on UN Web TV or via the social media of the Élysée and French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

*Note that the opening ceremony includes opening remarks and commitment announcements, followed by a virtual concert.

*A brief onsite press conference will be held immediately following the opening ceremony at approximately 7:30 p.m. CEST. The press conference will be conducted by Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Elisabeth Moreno. All onsite registered media are invited to attend.

Closing Ceremony, Friday 2 July, 7 – 7:50 p.m. CEST / 1 – 1:50 p.m. EDT
Hybrid in-person and virtual event in Paris.
Closing session featuring key announcements and outcomes. You can join the closing session event with prior registration to the event platform. Speakers of the closing ceremony will include French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian; Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard; French Minister for Gender Equality, Diversity and Equal Opportunities Elisabeth Moreno; Lopa Banerjee, Executive Coordinator of the Generation Equality Forum, UN Women; Pacific feminist leader Sharon E.R. Bhagwan Rolls (CSAG) and activist Selin Ozunaldin.

For more information: https://forumgenerationegalite.fr/en

To see the programme: https://forumgenerationegalite.fr/sites/default/files/2021-06/EN_A4_FGE_Programmejuin2021.pdf

Media registration for the 3-day event is compulsory. To register click here: https://media.forumgenerationegalite.fr/media/steps/step1.htm

For onsite media attending the opening ceremony, a confirmation email will be sent to you with additional logistical information. Therefore, access to the Forum venue will not be possible without this confirmation of accreditation. The ceremony will be broadcasted live, a note detailing the broadcasting channels will be sent to you beforehand. A duplex zone will be available near the Carrousel du Louvre. The number of places of press is limited at the Forum venue. To accredit yourself to this event, within the limits of available places, click here.

For your information, the entire event will be filmed, and the images will be accessible on the event site. Please note that the images will be available in real time on social media.

For information relating to onsite media opportunities in Paris and the hosting of the event by the government of France please contact Margaux Bonnet, Chief of Communications for the Paris Forum, margaux.bonnet[at]diplomatie.gouv.fr

For information relating to UN Women’s role as the event convenor contact media.team[at]unwomen.org and Clare Winterton, Senior Communications Advisor, UN Women, clare.winterton[at]unwomen.org.

Follow the conversation on social media in the following hashtags: #ActForEqual #GenerationEquality

Remarks by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, on the implementation of recommendations in the independent victim-centred review of UN Women policies and processes on tackling sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment at the UN Women Executive Board

Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021

[As delivered]

I would sincerely like to thank all Member States for their continuous support and engagement with UN Women in our efforts to tackle sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) as well as sexual harassment (SH).

UN Women is deeply committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful work environment, while having the highest standard of policies and processes in place to ensure the effective prevention and response to SEA and SH, using a victim-centred approach.

I am pleased to report to you that we have completed the implementation of all the recommendations from the independent and victim-centered review of UN-Women’s Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment  policies and procedures.

SEA and SH constitute fundamental transgressions of UN Women’s mandate of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. We know that SEA and SH, abuse of power, harassment and discrimination are deeply rooted in inequalities and power imbalance, with SEA and SH sharing the same gendered inequalities. To tackle these issues, we aim to achieve a culture change that looks at power relations, leadership and the role of civility to build an environment where dignity and respect are the norms, including in our interactions online and with the communities we serve.

Within UN Women we have developed an inclusive workplace strategy that aims at strengthening leadership, focusing on people management and promoting diversity, inclusion and standards of conduct. All personnel are periodically informed of the standards of conduct and the mechanisms to address work-related concerns such as existing support and reporting options and disciplinary measures taken.

In 2020 our efforts further focused on scenario-based training as well as the design of a multi-phase communications campaign on sexual harassment at country level. The actions taken to raise awareness amongst potentially affected populations has differed across country and regional offices and included training implementing partners and their staff on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH), with the focus on reporting mechanisms and the development of posters and flyers in local languages with key reporting information. This is part of the work on country inter-agency PSEAH networks of UN Women, which form part of country offices in the organization of community events dedicated to the topic of reporting as part of established community-based compliance mechanisms.

On the topic of risk mitigation, SEA and SH risks are being assessed within UN Women’s Enterprise Risk Management Policy and Framework since the inclusion of two respective risk labels in the Entity Standardized Risk Register in Quarter 3 of 2019. Mitigation measures are put in place where needed. Additionally, UN Women ensures that its implementation partners have minimum standards in place to prevent and response to SEA, inter alia, incorporating the requirements of UN protocols on allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving implementing partners into UN Women’s Implementing Partner Policy Framework. Moreover, UN Women is working in collaboration with other UN agencies to put in place common partner assessment tools to further enhance safeguards and appropriate action related to SEA.

On the country-level response in inter-agency collaboration matters, UN Women aligns its efforts on tackling SEA and SH with the UN System and ensures a cohesive approach across our regional and country offices, while also guaranteeing coordination with a collective PSEAH strategy in country action plans overseen by respective UN Women Country Teams (UNCT) and Resident Coordinators. In addition to our Country Representatives, who represent UN Women within the UNCT effort, our SEA and SH focal points are also able to position UN Women in inter-agency initiatives in their respective locations, thus contributing to and reinforcing the UN-wide efforts.

With regard to support for survivors mentioned in the report, UN Women maintains and promotes a victim-centred approach in all matters related to SEA and SH and ensures that the voices of victims/survivors are at the heart of its efforts, including through safe and accessible reporting mechanisms, support to victims/survivors and confidential and respectful investigations.

During COVID-19, the reporting pathways available for all allegations, including SEA and SH, provided by the Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) have remained consistent, safe and accessible. Allegations of SEA are reported in near real-time through the online reporting mechanism, the iReport SEA Tracker, which is up to date.

UN-Women will continue to fight for organizational and cultural change that ends SEA and SH until it is achieved for all.

Thank you.

Opening statement by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at the UN Women Executive Board, Annual Session 2021
Looking back to look forward

Date: Monday, June 21, 2021

[As delivered]

Good morning, distinguished Delegates, guests and colleagues. Welcome to the Annual Session of the UN Women Executive Board 2021. I begin with thanks to the President of the Executive Board, Mr Alie Kabba. I have appreciated your support throughout this year, and your unwavering commitment to the organization and I also would like to thank the Members of the Bureau for their support. I know we can count on you to safeguard the agenda as champions, advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls wherever you are, now and in the future. I also thank the Executive Board overall for all the work you do and the  interactions that we have had with this Executive Board in the last eight years.

In reviewing UN Women’s work in the past years, I start with the COVID-19 response. Let me first express our solidarity with the countries who are still struggling with the pandemic and, our solidarity with India, where we have lost many people. We continue also to express our solidarity with the people in Africa where WHO reports a full battle with the third wave. We urge for vaccines to be accessible by all countries. We are also calling on all nations to direct their fiscal response packages and government stimulus packages to support women who continue to struggle, whether through services that will support them as survivors of domestic violence, or support to entrepreneurs, formal and informal traders and cooperatives with cash transfers, grants and subsidized credits to arrest and reverse the descent into poverty. This is particularly important because in many countries women are not yet benefitting sufficiently from government support. This is one of the jobs I leave with my colleagues and with my successor to continue.

The decrease of women in the labour market will make the pandemic last in the lives of women for many generations to come. To avoid this, debt relief, greater financing, and increased levels of official development aid will be important in preventing a major regression in gender equality caused by COVID-19.

Women universally need alternatives for caregiving. Younger women below 30 and women who are of child-raising age are the most at risk of loss of income and livelihood because they have to look after their children. We need laws and policy reforms in this regard, in the public and private sectors, that address this and ensure that children, old people, people with disability and others are not left unattended.

The related loss of girls’ education as well as harmful cultural practices that restrict access to learning must not be allowed to continue, because we cannot have another lost generation. Girls must go back to school, across all ages, and we must work urgently to ensure universal digital literacy. These initiatives are part of our actions through Generation Equality and integral to UN Women’s new Strategic Plan.

The Global COVID-19 Gender Response Tracker launched last year has been a critical asset for recognition of these acute vulnerabilities and for stimulating response. The tracker now covers 219 countries and territories. That data shows us the reality in almost all countries. For example, there has been a strong emphasis in national responses on preventing and/or responding to violence against women and girls. However, response to the economic fall-out remains largely gender blind. I therefore ask for your active support in this area of economic recovery.

The COVID crisis has not been the only one to address. Since 2018, through our joint work, 365 million people in 42 countries have benefitted from disaster risk reduction policies, plans and strategies.

Distinguished delegates, a critical part of our mandate has been normative work. Together with you, we have been able to make major inroads on ending discriminatory laws. In the last 10 years, 89 countries have stronger legal protection through over 700 legal reforms, half of which removed discriminatory provisions towards against women. 75 countries, home to 2.6 billion women and girls now have a stronger legal, regulatory and policy environment on women’s economic empowerment.  96 countries have strengthened legal and policy frameworks to prevent and respond to violence against women. Work with both the police and judiciary is underpinning the ability of women to benefit from these changes. We supported national police forces in over 80 countries worldwide to make them more survivor-centred, trauma-informed and perpetrator-focused. I want to thank the countries that have come forward and have committed themselves to this work. 95 countries or territories have adopted National Action Plans on women, peace and security. The work I leave for those who remain is to make sure that these Action Plans work significantly for women and girls in every corner of the world.

These are dramatic and wide-ranging policy and legal reforms that we have worked very hard to bring forward and we want to make sure that they deliver for women and girls. Though poorly funded these are signature elements for us. I leave you with you momentum in this area which you can continue.

Distinguished delegates, as we look back over the last eight years, there are further areas of work and achievement that signal important directions for the years ahead. In all of these areas of work, we have worked closely with you and civil society, without whom we could not have moved as far as we have. We have gained vitality and strength that would not have existed without the work of civil society and I take this moment to thank them and to appreciate the sisterhood that we have enjoyed in the work with them. I want to thank them for standing with us, even when we have been at a very low point and being there to lift us.

Initially with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, we raised the tempo on ending gender-based violence and we continue this vital work with Secretary-General Guterres. All over the world people have responded. The 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls has turned the globe orange, although we have not yet covered every country.

We know from the Corporate Evaluation of UN-Women’s convening role in ending violence against women that our COVID-19 response strongly illustrated the power of a coordinated UN system. It also illustrated the value of our extensive policy work and our advocacy support, such as had global impact in our ‘Shadow Pandemic’ campaign.

We have also issued the first ever UN Prevention Framework on Violence against women and girls; the first ever Essential Services Package for women and girls subject to violence; and The Gender Responsive Policing Handbook, which has been adopted by many countries.

The #MeToo movement has propelled the jurisprudence for gender-based violence and made it possible for many of the countries to bring big men down. Thank you for this work that you have done.

Our Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces programme with a new Global Package of Tools is now operating in 53 cities in 32 countries.

In 2020 we led an interagency working group of eight United Nations entities that resulted in unprecedented mobilization of multiple stakeholders on violence against women. Financing at scale, including through the Spotlight Initiative, has now taken this work to a much higher level and it has brought connections with thousands of civil society organizations from everywhere in the world.

Coordination has been important in this work. UN Women is one of the entities with the highest proportion of joint programmes, with 66 per cent of UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks having gender-specific outcome results, up from 47 per cent in 2012.

All of this has been our increased coordination activity, which goes beyond the UN. This kind of Coordination remains at the heart of our ability to mobilize and maximize the combined resources of all our partnerships, including within the UN and outside the UN.

We value the 190 members of the UN Inter-agency Network of Women and Gender Equality (IANGWE), and the 400 gender focal points who are supporting us to do gender parity work. Through them we have seen more women occupying positions throughout the UN. Last year IANGWE’s analysis for the Beijing +25 anniversary recommended urgent, sustained and coordinated action to safeguard gender equality gains, many of which we will be able to pursue in our Strategic Plan. We will take this beyond the UN through Generation Equality to reach many more people. 

We continue to focus on leading the “gender theme groups” at the country level, harmonizing joint UN Country Teams (UNCT) processes through the UNCT SWAP and tracking financial resources through the establishment of the gender equality marker. 

Distinguished delegates, we have also pushed forward on women’s economic empowerment.

The pandemic brought home the vital importance of solving women’s unpaid care burden. This work still has a long way to go, but we have started in a strong way to reduce and to redistribute the unpaid care work of women.

We brought this issue to public view in 2015 in our flagship Progress of the World’s Women “Transforming economies, realizing rights” and showed with new research and evidence how millions of women were limited by caregiving and trapped in low paid, poor quality jobs. Now we have a clear focus on the need for a true care economy for women to achieve economic justice, and a newly formed Global Alliance on Care with 20 countries to be formalized in Paris. The aim is to create up to 80 million decent care jobs to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work and broaden support for ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers.

The jobs of the future must be greener and sustainable for women. Our climate-smart agriculture programme in 19 African countries has allowed women farmers to increase the value of their products up to 10 times. We hope to expand this programme, for example to the Sahel, where women face many challenges. The Network of Women Farmers in the North of Senegal helped to protect its 16,000 members during COVID-19, fighting poverty through agriculture and were the suppliers of rice to government and the people of Senegal.

The jobs of the future must be decent jobs that offer women safety and financial reward.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) which started with just 200 signatory companies now has more than 5,000, benefitting over 10 million employees in 141 countries. That is still not enough, but it is progress, and my staff have worked very hard to nurture these companies.

Since 2010, the number of countries with gender balanced parliaments has more than tripled from 7 to 24. Although we want to reach 50 per cent balance for all, this is progress. The number of countries with severe women’s underrepresentation almost halved from 52 to 27.

Our work on capacity-building for women political candidates has resulted in more than 30,000 women trained each year with raised profile in their communities. We see acceptance of the use of quotas and special measures is gaining ground. For example, in the Commission on the Status of Women’s Agreed Conclusions this year you agreed for 50 per cent of women to be represented in all public institutions and we thank you for taking that step.

We are also working to increase women’s leadership and influence of health policies.  For example, in over 50 countries we are supporting women living with HIV to influence the HIV response.

In women, peace and security we have seen a significant increase in resources and institutional mechanisms. In 2010 just 19 countries had National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security. Now there are 95. Since 2012, the share of peace agreements with specific provisions for women and girls has marginally increased from 22 to 25 per cent. This is an area we have to push very hard on.

We have seen a nearly three-fold increase in the allocation of funding to UN peacebuilding projects promoting gender equality as a principal objective. The Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund now supports 357 women’s organizations. The innovative Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations is helping to boost the number of women participating in decisions and actions relating to their own security, and that of their communities.

Engaging youth in the decisions that affect their lives has been at the heart of our work. This applies also to the 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 10-24, nearly 90 per cent of whom live in developing countries.

We started with nurturing and supporting youth in our CSW, making sure that they participate actively.  Young people are at the centre of our ambitions and we must put them where their influence can shape our future and co-create with us. For example, together with UNICEF, ITU, UNDP and the private sector, as well as philanthropic organizations, we are working to promote girls in ICT and STEM, breaking negative gender stereotypes in learning and training, and helping them access 21st century opportunities that make new economic pathways.

Our work on promoting and entrenching positive social norms takes on increased urgency in this context including the engagement with men, who are traditional leaders and who are leading faith-based organizations. These are men whose work has made waves in fighting against child marriage, returning girls back to school, ending FGM, ending violence against women, and changing the laws in the areas in which they have jurisdiction in order to protect women.

Other leaders include private sector influencers like the Unstereotype Alliance. We are making sure that we change the way in which women and men are projected in public across the world.

HeForShe’s IMPACT Champions continue to demonstrate the vital role of men and boys and how they can play a critical role. We are encouraged that so many men are really coming forward and taking on this work in their own organizations.

Ending discrimination is at the centre of our work, including racial justice. We have been able to fight for LGBTIQ+ people, as well as for people with disabilities. We have been stressing the importance of bringing these special and significant groups to the forefront.

UN Women has its own Black Caucus, which has fought for people within the UN as well as beyond the UN. They have fought against racial prejudices and have made sure that we strive for diversity within our own organization. These are women and men who are fighting especially for women in the global south, and who have helped us to bring in young women from all over the world to be part of the UN. Similarly, they have fought against sexual exploitation of women, sexual harassment, and made sure that the changes that we see and want for women all over the world can also be seen in UN Women.

Our work on disability inclusion has been even more important during the pandemic, and in settings of conflict and post-conflict with support to 67 countries last year alone. We are also leading a Joint Programme to coordinate the UN System’s disability inclusion response to COVID-19 in support of UNCTs, governments and civil society, to ensure a gender equality and intersectional perspective, with strong emphasis on partnerships.

Looking ahead, Generation Equality aims to fast-track and accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to respond to the pandemic.

You have challenged us to diversify our sources of funding. Our resources have grown – from just USD 275 million in 2013, to our highest ever total revenue of USD 563.9 million in 2020. Generation Equality is a response to that, with the aim of raising funds so that the women’s agenda is not just implemented by UN Women but also by other organizations.

We have therefore spent years mobilizing a whole ecosystem of partners committed to making the foundational changes that will accelerate implementation, in alignment with our new Strategic Plan. These plans are set finally to come to fruition next week, at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris. We thank the Government of France for having made this possible, just like the Government of Mexico.

There will be 54 governments committed to acceleration. We thank you for your radical impatience and we welcome also private sector and philanthropic organizations, youth, civil society and individuals who have come forward for Generation Equality.

The successful forum in Mexico was the first point where the magnitude of the new stakeholders emerged.  They demonstrated the commitment and the intergenerational thirst that is there.

For example, Women Moving Millions announced USD 100 million for feminist movements and women leaders. The Canadian Government, Ford Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also announced new support for civil society.

We thank our banner private sector partners like Microsoft, Gucci, Pay Pal, Koç, KERING, Clue, Accor, Salesforce, for being leaders in the multi-stakeholder Action Coalitions, and for being strongly supportive of and complementary to our intergovernmental and civil society partners.

Together they create the ecosystem that is taking us forward.

We have seen COVID-19 undermine and threaten the achievement of the SDGs. The Action Coalitions and the Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action Compact constitute a global acceleration plan to increase progress over the next five years and counteract those negative forces. Along with the energy of youth who dare, they bring a reconfiguration of partnerships.

In our contemporary situation, democracies can be seen to be more vital than ever – but they can only be truly democratic if youth are also represented.

This time of crisis has highlighted the need to rouse all sectors of society to build a new, inclusive world through multilateralism that will build back better. In this regard the CSW has become an important place where we can bring together all these stakeholders to take us forward. The CSW cannot be a place where we retain the status of women. It has to be a place where we raise the status of women much higher. We cannot stall and diminish their status. We have lost some time, but CSW has adopted some excellent Agreed Conclusions that have propelled women forward.

As I end today, I am proud to have overseen an entity that has significantly increased its influence within the UN system, and expanded its partnerships and influence beyond the UN System. It is my hope that my successor will work ‘outside the box’ and will take this vision forward in even bigger and more adventurous ways.

Before I close, I want to take a moment to thank you as Member States for the support that you have given me. I also want to thank the dynamic UN Women staff, who have spent sleepless nights with great commitment, working well beyond what duty called them to do. There is no organization that I know of with people that are so dedicated to their work. It has really been a joy and a privilege to work with all of you.

I also want to thank my Executive Office, my Deputy Executive Directors and our staff that have supported us together. It has been great to work with them. What I say to them is thanks for your ubuntu. I am because you are.

And Member States, we will be with you and work with you in order to make sure that we build a strong organization.

Thank you.

Countdown begins towards the Generation Equality Forum

Date: Monday, June 21, 2021

The Generation Equality Forum – a milestone event for global action and investment in gender equality – will take place virtually and in Paris France 30 June – 2 July 2021. With over 22,000 participants already registered from all sectors of society, excitement is building.

World leaders including French and Mexican Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Andrés Manuel López Obrador; Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta; President of Argentina Alberto Fernández; Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Tunisia President Kaïs Saïed and United States Vice President Kamala Harris will take part in the event, along with co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad, the President of Ford Foundation Darren Walker and the Executive Director of the Global Partnership for Education Alice P. Albright.

Hillary Clinton, whose speech declaring that “women’s rights are human rights” was an iconic moment in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, is also scheduled to attend and speak. She will join dynamic speakers from feminist and youth movements, civil society, philanthropy, governments and the private sector – all to be announced in coming days.

Organizations and members of the public can take part in the Forum in two important ways:

Register to attend the Forum. Registration for the virtual Forum is free.
Make a commitment. Organizations can submit commitments for investment and action on gender equality to become part of this important moment for re-energized action on gender equality. The deadline to make a commitment is 22 June.
The Forum is convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the Governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society. It takes place at a critical moment. As the impacts of COVID-19 threaten to roll back existing gains for women’s rights, it will put gender equality at the heart of the building back better agenda. The Paris Forum will unveil a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality, formally launch six Action Coalitions and a Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, and announce new equality initiatives focused on health, sport, culture and education. The event will fuel investment and action for gender equality, strengthen global movements, and ensure implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

International Widows’ Day

Explainer: What you should know about widowhood

Date: Monday, June 21, 2021


Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez, (second from left) a human rights activist and co-founder of a widows association in the municipality of Comalapa, Guatemala has spearheaded the construction of a memorial for victims of the conflict in Comalapa. It’s called the “Center for the Historical Memory of Women”. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
For many women around the world, the devastating loss of a partner is magnified by a long-term fight for their basic rights and dignity. Despite the fact that there are more than 258 million widows around the world, widows have historically been left unseen, unsupported, and unmeasured in our societies.

Today, as armed conflicts, displacement and migration, and the COVID-19 pandemic leave tens of thousands of women newly widowed and many others whose partners are missing or disappeared, the unique experiences and needs of widows must be brought to the forefront, with their voices leading the way.

On International Widows’ Day, 23 June, take a look at some of the issues affecting widows around the world and what must be done to safeguard and advance their rights.

What challenges does widowhood bring?

Hawa, 23, was eight months pregnant when her husband was killed in the fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR). Her father and brother were also killed and her mother disappeared, leaving her completely alone. She fled and crossed into Cameroon, becoming a refugee at the Gado camp, where she gave birth to a son, Haphisi Ibrahim. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
As widows move through their own experiences of grief, loss, or trauma after the death of a spouse, they may also face economic insecurity, discrimination, stigmatization, and harmful traditional practices on the basis of their marital status.

In many countries, widows do not have equal inheritance rights, and they may be stripped of their land, evicted from their home, or even separated from their children. They may be denied access to inheritance, bank accounts, and credit, which can have significant financial impacts for them, their children, and future generations. It is estimated that nearly one in ten widows worldwide lives in extreme poverty.

Women are also much less likely to have access to pensions than men, so the death of a spouse can lead to destitution for women of older ages. On the other hand, child widows, girls given into marriage before 18 years old and whose husband died, experience multiple rights violations and face life-long impacts from premature marriage and widowhood. At least 1.36 million of the approximately 258 million widows globally are child widows, but the true number is likely higher due to under-reporting.

In addition to facing economic insecurity, widows may be subject to stereotypes, prejudices, and harmful traditional practices with severe consequences. They may face restrictions on their dress, diet, and mobility for years after the death of a partner.

In some contexts, widows may be perceived as “carriers” of disease and forced out of social structures entirely or subjected to “ritual cleansing” practices involving forced sex or bodily scarring that can have life-threatening health consequences. Sometimes widows are forcibly “passed on” to or “inherited” by a new designated partner, such as the brother or other relative of her deceased spouse, denying her of her rights to safety, bodily autonomy, justice, and dignity in life after loss.

How does widowhood intersect with other forms of discrimination?

Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
When a woman’s value is contingent on having a spouse, widowhood can force women out of familial and social structures, leaving them particularly vulnerable to poverty, isolation, and violence. These challenges may be compounded by struggles that widows face on account of other intersecting identities: as Black and Indigenous women, members of LGBTQI+ communities, women affected by conflict, women with disabilities, women of young and older ages, women living in poverty or rural areas, and other marginalized identities.

Rosalia Tuyuc Velásquez, from San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, has not seen her husband since 23 May 1984, when he was captured by the army during the 36-year-long armed conflict between the military and guerilla groups that killed at least 200,000 people, mostly indigenous. “I looked for him in hospitals, on the streets and in prisons. I never found him,” says Velásquez, who, more than 35 years later, is still searching for his remains.

But her search is not only for her family, she says. It’s also a search for peace and dignity for thousands of indigenous women who were raped, and who lost their spouses and loved ones during the conflict: “Perhaps we didn’t know what human rights were, but we knew what it meant to live free. When the conflict came, all that freedom, peace, security went away. Not only for my family, but thousands of families.”

How can we ensure that global movements include widows’ perspectives?

Margaret Owen. Photo courtesy of Margaret Owen
Widows’ voices and experiences must be centred in the movements and policies that impact their lives. From local campaigns to international action, it is imperative that widows speak to and make decisions about their own situations and needs.

Margaret Owen is a widows’ rights advocate and human rights lawyer. Although she had been involved in the women’s rights movement for most of her life, Owen hadn’t paid attention to widows’ rights until her husband’s passing. Shortly after the death of her husband, a woman from Malawi whom she was helping came to her home. “Before she even sat down, she gasped,” recalls Own. “Looking around my living room, she said, ‘your husbands’ brothers let you stay here and keep all these things?’” Her words stayed with Owen as she began researching global widows’ issues and discovered a major lack of awareness on the subject, even among feminists. To fill this gap, Owen founded Widows for Peace through Democracy, an organization that works to ensure that all widows are protected from discrimination and violence and can enjoy their full human rights.

Owen advocates for the meaningful inclusion of widows in all areas that impact them, including conflict settings, where women who lost their spouses, family, and loved ones must be able to participate fully in peacebuilding and reconciliation processes. “ It is vital that National Action Plans in the Women, Peace, and Security context include actions to count, map, and profile widows and half-widows (their partners are missing or disappeared), so that their needs are addressed, and they have access to restorative justice, support, pensions, and resettlement,’ she says. “How can there ever be truth and reconciliation, justice, an end to violence against women, and sustainable peace without the inclusion of widows?” Owen asks.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of women have been widowed by the virus and may be grieving, while cut off from their usual socio-economic and family supports. As nations continue to fight the virus on the front lines or begin recovery efforts, widows must not be left out of economic stimulus and social assistance programmes, or as decision-makers and beneficiaries of plans to “build back better”.

What can we do to safeguard and advance the rights of widows worldwide?

Durdana, a once landless woman farmer, proudly shows off her land and Land Tenancy Agreement in Dadu District, Sindh Province, Pakistan. In Pakistan, UN Women, in collaboration with local partners, has worked with more than 1,200 rural women farmers to acquire land tenancy rights. “I do not know anything else but working in the fields,” says Durdana. “For the first time in my life I can say something is mine. This land, as far as the eye can see is mine—this paper says so.” Photo: UN Women/Faria Salman
To safeguard and advance widows’ rights, here are some actions that governments, policymakers and each of us can take:

Adopt social and economic reforms to improve widows’ access to inheritance, land, pensions, and other social protections. Ensure that fiscal policies, economic relief measures for COVID-19 includes widows.
End discriminatory laws and patriarchal systems that have long disadvantaged women. Women cannot inherit equally as men in 36 countries, cannot be heads of households or families in 31 countries, and cannot have a job or pursue a profession in 17 states. Such discriminatory laws, which rob widows of property, shelter, income, social benefits, and opportunity, must be struck down to advance women’s rights worldwide.
Empower widows to support themselves and their families and live with dignity by ensuring access to education and training opportunities, decent work and equal pay, and by reversing social stigmas that exclude, discriminate, or lead to harmful and violent practices against widows.
Collect gender data—better quality demographic information, broken down by age and gender, to ensure that widows are counted and supported, now and in the future. The United Nations suggests a minimum of five marital status categories when collecting census data, “widowed and not remarried” included.
Support international efforts and advocacy to uphold and expand the rights of widows as enshrined in international laws and conventions.
On International Widows’ Day, learn and share stories, voices and experiences of widows and support their rights. Follow #WidowsDay on social media.

I am Generation Equality: Shreen Saroor, women’s rights activist

Date: Friday, June 18, 2021



Shreen Saroor runs the Women’s Action Network (WAN) in Sri Lanka, a collective of women’s groups that empowers and advocates for women and women survivors of war, violence and other injustices. Photo courtesy of Shreen Saroor
I am Generation Equality because…

Three things you can do to become part of Generation Equality:
Amplify the voices of survivors and victims of violence
Create positive spaces to promote peace and reconciliation

Join the #GenerationEquality campaign by sharing stories like this with your friends and social media networks
At the height of Sri Lanka’s civil war in 1990, my family was forcibly evicted from our home in Mannar, in the Northern Province. Those early years of my life were filled with experiences of war, violence, loss and resistance – I was resisting the war and atrocities committed against minorities. Shortly after the eviction, I lost my father. As the eldest child, the responsibilities within the family fell upon me. Those were turbulent times and I knew that I needed to stand strong.

1n 1998, after completing university in Colombo, I returned to my hometown and joined forces with women’s rights activists, who were refugees at the time, and had lost everything, including their right to education. I realized that I was privileged to have had a university education, and felt the need to serve my community. So, I ventured into the development field and started to fight for the rights of women through the Mannar Women’s Development Federation. From there on, there was no turning back ­– I became a defender of women’s rights.

The birth of a women’s rights movement

Women and children were particularly affected as the war advanced.

They suffered atrocities and children were forcibly recruited as soldiers. Children were born as refugees in their own country and this identity marker was leaving permanent scars. Tamil and Muslim women were constantly on the run, to protect their families, to protect their children, and to protect themselves.



“It is only by survivors coming together that strong movements are birthed”



They were displaced, moving from place to place, carrying whatever was left of their belongings in plastic bags as they travelled. There was seldom a sense of ‘home’ among them.

Many women leaders had disappeared or died, and their once vibrant women’s organizations became inactive. Thus, we initiated the Women’s Action Network (WAN) in 2009 to restart and re-establish the struggle for women’s rights, and empower a younger generation of women’s rights activists.

Empowering survivors

A key principle that we abide by is not to take up the place of survivors, or speak on their behalf, but to empower them in their own struggle for justice, and to help them only if there is a space to do so and if they want us to. Our intent is not to build an organization, but a women’s rights movement. And it is our strong belief that it is only by survivors coming together that strong movements are birthed.

We do not own the movements, we do not hold onto them, and we certainly do not take credit for them. This makes Women’s Action Network a proud collective of women, with our story interwoven with the issues of women in a post-war context, along with their experiences of resistance and aspirations for the future.

Women’s rights are human rights, and must be defended

Do men struggle as much as women? Take the issues of microcredit, the elephant-human conflict, poverty alleviation, and loss of land, for example – women are the most affected. Throughout Sri Lanka, domestic violence has increased against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, and grave, unspeakable torture is perpetrated against women and girls in their own homes. Victim and witness protection for survivors of sexual and other forms of violence is lacking in the country. While national policies are in place, the implementation gap must be closed. There should be collective ownership to support and amplify the voices of survivors and victims of violence.

We also need to create positive spaces by bringing people together to collectively discuss cultural diversity and to promote peace and reconciliation. [Additionally], justice processes should not be mired with any interference.

As women’s rights activists, we are operating within constricted spaces. We are challenged daily to keep our fellow activists safe in a highly patriarchal context where backlash against our work is imminent. But our struggle must go on because women’s rights are human rights, and must be defended.


Shreen Saroor runs the Women’s Action Network (WAN) in Sri Lanka, a collective of women’s groups that empowers and advocates for women and women survivors of war, violence and other injustices. As the Generation Equality Forum – a landmark event to catalyze rapid advancement on gender equality – approaches, she calls on leaders to close the gaps between policies and implementation. The Forum is convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society.

A week of action, a generation for equality

Date: Friday, June 18, 2021

The Generation Equality Forum is just around the corner. Taking place from 30 June to 2 July in Paris, France, the Forum will bring together governments, feminist leaders, youth, and change makers from every sector, to confront the gender equality crisis and spur major investments, policy and programmes to advance gender equality and women’s rights.

Leading up to the landmark event, young leaders from around the world shared their activism during the #ActForEqual Week of Action. From addressing inequalities for women and girls living with HIV, to furthering feminist action for climate change, young people spoke out about the issues they are passionate about and shared how they are engaging in this critical moment for gender equality.

Hear from five young activists about why the Generation Equality Forum is important for all generations, how they #ActForEqual, and how you, too, can commit to change.

Selin Özünaldım

Selin Özünaldım, from Istanbul, Turkey is an advocate for girls in STEM and equal access to education.

“I’m passionate about this because in order to prepare girls for the jobs of today and tomorrow, it is essential for governments to provide girls with digital and ICT skills through prioritizing education,” she says.

Özünaldım and hundreds of passionate youth activists from around the world are working to bring local views, voices, work and knowledge to the global stage and support local mobilization of the upcoming Generation Equality Forum.

Özünaldım hopes that the Forum will generate commitments to clear procedures for youth decisions in policy-making processes.

“There should be full disclosure on creation of these decision-making procedures for us to ensure that our work is part of the new policies to come,” she says.

“We cannot leave change up to the world leaders.”


Pip Gardner

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Pip Gardner, from the United Kingdom, is a gender equality and human rights activist and a member of the UN Women’s Generation Equality Youth Task Force since 2019.

“Over these last two years I’ve been working alongside fellow colleagues in the Youth Task Force to ensure that the perspectives of LGBTQI youth, myself being a trans and queer person, are really taken into consideration,” shares Gardner.

“I think the biggest thing we can do at the Forum is to reframe the conversation about gender equality for all genders and not just equality between men and women.”

At the global level, Gardner hopes that world leaders include LGBTQ+ people in their actions coming out of the Forum, and they encourage each of us to #ActForEqual at a local level.

“Why not find out about local Pride activities or LGBTQ+ actions taking place in your community this month?”


Doreen Moraa Moracha

Doreen Moraa Moracha, from Kenya, is an advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence.

She aims to create hope, raise awareness and bring encouragement for people living with HIV.

“I joined the Generation Equality Youth Task Force because I believe I bring the voice of young women and girls who are living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, where the burden of the HIV epidemic is still felt to date,” says Moracha.

“We need to address the inequality when it comes to women and girls living with HIV. 

At the Forum, Moracha wants to see leaders commit to removing laws and policies that undermine the achievement of gender equality and oppress women and girls.

“Your voice matters, no matter how small you think it is, it’s going to bring the change we need in order to achieve gender equality,” she says.

“I believe we can.”


Julieta Amara Martínez

Julieta Amara Martínez, from Chile, is a climate justice activist with a gender perspective.

“In a world where women represent 70 per cent of the world’s most vulnerable people, 80 per cent of climate refugees, and only 38 per cent of national delegations at COP25, it is essential to give girls the tools and spaces to become agents of change,” she says.

For Martínez, the Forum is significant because it will be an intersectional, inter-generational opportunity to dialogue and act with the purpose of achieving gender equality.

She would like to see leaders commit to concrete actions and deadlines in favor of gender equality and encourages everyone to play a role and #ActForEqual.

“We all have to build the change...The strength is in the community.”


Kehkashan Basu

Kehkashan Basu is an environmental and human rights activist.

She works with people affected by climate disasters, focuses on education for sustainable development, and is a Youth Leader of the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice.

At the Generation Equality Forum, Basu hopes commitments are made to localizing the Sustainable Development Goals, localizing solutions, and recognizing the unique challenges that girls and women face across the world.

She’s also pushing for more and better gender-disaggregated data to inform climate action policies.

“I would also like leaders to commit to having sex and gender-disaggregated data in place that does not brush women’s issues under the rug, but actually highlights them and recognizes how we can bring about solutions.”


How can you #ActForEqual?
2021 can be a landmark year for gender equality if we #ActForEqual and step up for gender equality. Use #ActForEqual on social media to share your activism and the topics you are passionate about.

Register for the Generation Equality Forum by 27 June 2021 to join the multi-actor and inter-generational gathering and follow UN Women on social media to stay up to date with Forum news.

World Refugee Day

Together with refugees, we build a safer and more vibrant world

Date: Thursday, June 17, 2021

20 June is World Refugee Day and this year’s theme is about the power of inclusion – “Together we heal, learn and shine”.

Every two seconds, someone is forced to abandon their homes, fleeing crisis. At least 100 million people were forced to flee their homes in the last decade, seeking refugee either within or outside the borders of their country. By the end of 2019, 79.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide.

This year’s World Refugee Day is unfolding against the backdrop of global crisis and social change, as the COVID-19 pandemic has left few lives and places untouched. The pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities of women and girls, who constitute approximately half of those displaced; they face higher risks of gender-based violence, abuse and exploitation, and have difficulty accessing justice, health and response services.

The critical gaps in gender equality are a key driving force behind the Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris from 30 June to 2 July. The Forum will announce a set of catalytic Action Coalitions with acceleration plans on key areas that matter to all women and girls – from gender-based violence, to climate change, technology, health, and economic systems that leave women and girls behind.

On World Refugee Day, here are some voices of refugees and displaced people who step up every day to build a stronger, safer and more vibrant world, despite many challenges. Generation Equality stands #withrefugees today and every day.

Empowering women, youth and persons with disabilities in Jordan

Ibtsam Sayeed Ahmed, 40, is using her story to empower other women, youth and people with disabilities to stand up for their rights, Jordan. Photo: UN Women/ Lauren Rooney
“In 2012, a bomb hit my house in Dar'aa [Syria], and with that one bomb, my life completely changed,” says Ibstam Sayeed Ahmed, 40. “Momentary pain turned into years of pain. I had to learn to walk again, to adjust to only having one hand, support myself, and ultimately learn how to live again.”

Ahmed fled to Jordan with her sister, but they were separated at the border amid the mayhem of others fleeing. Her sister returned to Dar’aa and was killed days later.

“I was very alone in the world,” says Ahmed.

“Overcoming all of my hardships was difficult. My mobility was not my only barrier. Being a woman, alone in the camp, unsupported, added to my strain. But I did it! I took each day as it came, each new step, and reminded myself to keep on persevering.”

Ahmed got a job in the UN Women Oasis Center as a teaching assistant, educator and peer facilitator, which allowed her to financially support herself and save to pay for her medical bills. Today, she actively empowers women, youth and persons with disabilities to stand up for their rights and pursue an education.

“Empowering yourself is key to breaking any barrier that is in front of you. And in empowering myself, I then had the confidence to empower others,” she says.

Read more here.

Teaching girls to read and write in Bangladesh

Rima Sultana Rimu. Photo: UN Women/Mahmudul Karim
“When I look around me, I see that women and girls in the Rohingya community are treated as less than men and are not given the same rights and opportunities,” says Rima Sultana Rimu, an 18-year-old peace activist in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, host to one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.

“This year, all the problems that the Rohingya girls and women are facing in the camps have been made much worse with the Covid-19 pandemic. Many girls have not been in school…There has been an increase in child marriage in the camps, and I have launched a campaign to raise awareness of how damaging this can be to girls.”

When Rimu started speaking out for women’s rights, some of her family members were in opposition. They told her she was disrespecting her religion and behaving improperly. She pressed on, determined.

“Most of the women and girls in the Rohingya community can’t read or write, so they cannot fully understand their rights,” says Rimu. “Without education, girls struggle to become economically empowered, which means they will never be in control of their own futures. Teaching girls how to read and write is one of the biggest ways I can make a difference.”

“I feel very positive and strong. I love this work and I have big plans for myself,” she says. “Maybe one day I’ll even be Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Why not? I will not stop until every woman and girl becomes aware of their rights and can live happily and safely as equals.”

Read more here.

The power of sport in transforming refugee lives in Luxemburg

Ethiopian marathon runner and former refugee Yonas Kinde in Ham forest, Luxembourg City. Photo: UNHCR/Colin Delfosse.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Yonas Kinde has swapped the cheers of international races for the sounds of nature during early morning runs in the forest near his home in Luxembourg.

Five years after competing in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio as part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, Kinde now fits his training in around his other commitments – studying for a qualification in pharmaceutical logistics and working in a hospital pharmacy that is distributing COVID-19 vaccines. “In this difficult moment, it makes me happy that I can contribute, that I can do something for the COVID patients,” he says.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee doctors, nurses and pharmacy workers like Kinde have worked on the front-lines to contain the spread of the virus, treat patients and help people get vaccinated. But long-distance running remains Kinde’s passion. He rarely goes a day without training.

On World Refugee Day, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling on communities and governments to include those forced to flee in health care, education and sport. Giving refugees opportunities to get involved in sport can help them to gain confidence and feel welcomed and included in their new communities.

“Thanks to sport, I met a lot of important people in my life,” he said. “Sport gave me a family, not just in Luxembourg, but around the world.”

Read the full story here. 

Working on the front lines of COVID-19 prevention in Uganda

Women peace mediators from Nyumazi Settlement in Uganda receive hygiene items to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Photo: UN Women/Aidah Nanyonjo
By 9 a.m., the morning sun already feels hot in the Bidibidi settlement for refugees and displaced persons, located in the Yumbe District of Uganda. A steady file of women gathers around a borehole to collect water. They will repeat this chore again in the evening.

Forty-year-old Joyce Maka waits for more women to arrive at the water collection point. The mother of three is a refugee herself; she arrived from South Sudan in 2018, after the rebels had killed her husband. Today, she is among 12 peace mediators in the settlement, and she is here to raise awareness about prevention and health safety measures to combat COVID-19.

“We encourage them to stay at least two metres away from each other; we also encourage them to wash their hands before and after pumping water,” Maka explains.

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Uganda rose, women peace mediators, who resolve community disputes and challenges, joined the fight against the pandemic in refugee settlements in the districts of Yumbe and Adjumani, bordering South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They meet people on the streets to have one-on-one conversations, making sure that every household has a hand washing point, clean racks to store utensils and access to toilets.

Read the story here.

Exemplifying solidarity in Turkey

Najmat Alsabah Mustafa is a Syrian leader supporting Turkish and Syrian women in Gaziantep before and during COVID-19. Photo: Courtesy of KEDV
Najmat Alsabah Mustafa is a Syrian community leader in Gaziantep, Turkey. As part of the ‘Home to Home Solidarity Programme,’ jointly run by UN Women and the Foundation for the Support of Women's Work (KEDV), she learned leadership skills and now helps vulnerable Turkish and Syrian women access healthcare, legal assistance, psycho-social and livelihood support.

Between December 2019 and April 2020, Mustafa and her colleagues visited 764 Syrian and Turkish women. However, when COVID-19 prevention measures made home visits difficult, the community leaders started using their phones to stay in touch with vulnerable women and provide help when needed.

“Through phone calls, I realized that the household chores of Syrian women doubled during COVID-19,” says Mustafa.

“I talk to many women who are over 65 years old. They tell me how the situation has psychologically affected them. Through the solidarity groups, we support each other. Women talk about their needs and problems, and together we try to find solutions. We also share our own experiences and ideas on how to divide household chores among family members,” she adds.

“As women, we are among the most affected by COVID-19 in our community. Because of community pressure, many cannot complain about their conditions. Thanks to the programme, we can reach women, and make sure their voices are heard by relevant institutions.”

“When we support each other, we can overcome all challenges,” Mustafa added.

Read more here.

UN Women Executive Board to convene annual session 2021

Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The UN Women Executive Board will convene for this year’s annual session from Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 June 2021, remotely via the Zoom Platform.

The President of the Executive Board, Alie Kabba, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, will open the Session at 10 a.m. EDT. UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, will deliver opening remarks, which include updates on the COVID-19 response and the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review of Operational Activities for Development (QCPR).

Over the three days, the Executive Board will receive briefings on the draft Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and on the draft integrated budget estimates of UN Women for the biennium 2022–2023. The Board will further consider reports of the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women on the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2018–2021; on the evaluation function of UN Women in 2020; the corporate evaluation of UN Women’s coordination and convening role in ending violence against women; the internal audit and investigation activities for the period of 1 January to 31 December 2020; the report of the Advisory Committee on Oversight for the period of 1 January to 31 December 2020; and UN Women’s related management responses.

There will be several briefings on policy and program matters, including on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 72/279 and the implementation of recommendations in the independent victim-centred review of UN Women policies and processes on tackling sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment. During a special segment, the Board will also bid farewell to outgoing Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

The detailed agenda of the 2021 annual session and all official documents may be accessed on the Executive Board webpage. The session can be followed via UN Web TV

Global leaders discuss ambitious and urgent actions to accelerate progress on women’s leadership at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris

Date: Thursday, July 1, 2021

At a high-level event on the second day of the landmark Generation Equality Forum in Paris, UN Women, in partnership with the Council of Women World Leaders, convened world leaders to discuss ambitious and urgent actions to ensure that women and young people, in all their diversity, are promoted as leaders and supported as a force for positive change and progress.

“Uniting all our forces, across generations, genders and geographies to ensure women and girls in all their diversity will thrive – is what we need for a better world”, said Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, a network of 82 current and former women presidents and prime ministers and the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government.




The high-level dialogue was held under the umbrella of Leaders for Generation Equality, a campaign launched in cooperation with the Council of Women World Leaders at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly in 2019 which brings together a high-level network of global intergenerational women leaders aiming to change the traditional picture of a leader.

“For so long, the picture of a leader has been the traditional one of a man, but the Leaders for Generation Equality campaign [are] about re-framing leadership and showing that leaders are – and should be – diverse, intergenerational and intersectional”, said the moderator Hajer Sharief, Libyan Peace and Human Rights Activist and Founder of Together We Build It Organization.

Highlighting women’s and young women’s leadership as one of the key drivers for gender equality worldwide, the dialogue explored how leaders can create space and enabling environments for diverse women leaders. Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women asserted, “if societies do not reach a point where they recognize, of their own volition, the importance of parity, it is the responsibility of institutions to implement quotas and targets”.

Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia (2010 - 2013), Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College London and Member of the Council of Women World Leaders, added, “there is no merit in patriarchy, you just have to be a man”. She also addressed the systemic scrutiny and discrimination women leaders face in politics, affirming that “many manifestations of sexism are universal, and women can come together from every part of the world and fight against it”.

José Manuel Barroso, Chairman of Goldman Sachs International, Prime Minister of Portugal (2002 - 2004) and President of the European Commission (2004 - 2014), said, “it’s important that [women’s leadership] does not appear as a women’s issue, but as a human rights issue.” “It was not easy,” said Barroso, speaking about his experience advocating with Member States for gender parity.

Closing the dialogue, moderator Hajer Sharief asked leaders to identify an urgent and transformative action needed to accelerate progress on women’s leadership in the next 25 years. In response, speakers endorsed an empowering call to action in favor of quotas and special measures as the priority action to strengthen the participation of women in all their diversities in leadership and decision-making positions.

For more information about the Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30 June – 2 July) and news coverage, please visit www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/generation-equality-forum-paris

Which Generation Equality hero are you?

Date: Friday, June 18, 2021


Illustration by Taylor McManus
Feminism means many different things to many people but what every feminist has in common is a belief in, and commitment to, equality. Generation Equality is uniting feminists and activists from different parts of the world, with different races, religions, ages, socioeconomic status, sexualities and gender expressions, to #ActforEqual.

Taking place in Paris, from 30 June – 2 July, the Generation Equality Forum will bring together governments, activists, private sector partners and youth, and leaders from every sector. Together, they will commit investments, programmes and policies that fast-track progress towards an equal future for all.

As we start our action journey, learn more about some of our feminist action heroes who make up Generation Equality. Which Generation Equality action hero do you support and aspire to be? Tell us how you're taking action for an equal future using #ActForEqual.

Tech Hero

Illustration by Taylor McManus
The world needs science and technology, and science and technology need women and girls. But, only 0.5 per cent of girls want to work in ICT professions by the time they turn 15, compared to 5 per cent of boys.

The Tech Heroes are barrier-breakers who are stepping into a historically male-dominated industry of technology and innovation as leaders and change-makers. They are girls like Somaya Faruqi, who worked to build a low-cost ventilator to help communities in Afghanistan during COVID-19, and they are innovating, creating and driving change every day. And, they are inspiring and encouraging the next generation of girls to pursue STEM careers so that girls and women shape and benefit from technology.

Learn about the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality to find out more.

Climate Action Activists

Illustration by Taylor McManus
Women, especially young women and girls, are leading climate action movements all around the world, and yet they are often missing from the climate related decision-making roles.

The climate action activists are those who never give up on making their voices heard for a sustainable future. They speak up for their generations and the generations to come, and encourage everyone to do their part to protect the earth. They take action to address the risks posed by rising temperatures and the destruction of natural resources. They demand governments to implement policies that will help protect the environment.

In Turkey, Selin Goren works to bring local experiences and perspectives of the climate crisis to the international level and raises the voices of marginalized communities facing injustice.


Selin Gören, a climate activist from Turkey, with a sign that says, "Don't leave anyone behind! #ClimateJusticeIsSocialJustice". Photo: Esin Gören
Some Climate Action Warriors also go by “eco-feminists”, as they see the intersection of climate change and issues of gender justice and understand that taking climate action is taking action for women’s empowerment. So, they mobilize those around them to protect and amplify the voices of grassroots and indigenous communities, including front-line defenders, across social and political arenas.

Find out about the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice to learn more.

Defender of Women’s Rights

Illustration by Taylor McManus
Do you call out sexism when you see it? Intervene when you witness harassment? Do you speak up for gender equality and stand up for human rights? Call for more women in leadership roles? Then you are one of the defenders of women’s rights who mobilize for an equal future and challenge the patriarchy.

These are the feminist leaders, including young feminists, who create and support movements and organizations, including those led by indigenous women, young feminists, people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ and others who are historically excluded. For example, Ibtsam Sayeed Ahmed, a Syrian refugee who uses her own experience of living with disability to encourage and empower other women and young people to stand up for their rights. 


Ibtsam Sayeed Ahmed, 40, is using her story to empower other women, youth and people with disabilities to stand up for their rights, Jordan. Photo: UN Women/ Lauren Rooney
The defenders of women’s rights lift each other up to ensure all feminists can carry out their work without fear of reprisal to advance gender equality, peace, and human rights for all.

In a world where Less than 1 per cent of global development aid for gender equality and women’s empowerment goes to women’s equality organizations, the defenders of women’s rights persist to bring change. They carry on the essential work that needs to be done to increase women’s representation in national parliaments, which grew from only 12 per cent in 1995 to an average of 25 per cent in 2020.

Find out about the Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership to learn more.

Anti-Violence Champion

Illustration by Taylor McManus
Women and girls in all their diversity experience multiple and intersecting forms of gender-based violence in their lifetime. The anti-violence crusaders are those of us who say, “enough is enough”. They are tired of the patriarchal backlash against women’s rights and limited political will to bring justice to survivors of violence.

The champions don’t just seek to end impunity, but also work towards changing deeply rooted social and gender norms, attitudes and beliefs that allow gender-based violence to continue.

We’re inspired by leaders and activists like Millie Odhiambo, a Member of Parliament in Kenya, who has ushered legal protections for victims, particularly women and girls, to deliver equality and protection for survivors of gender-based violence.

Anti-violence champions are showing everyone that it’s possible to build a world where women and girls can walk home safely at night without fear of harassment or abuse. They want everybody to know that violence against women is not inevitable, if we act as one with coordinated, scaled-up global action that builds political will and accountability.

Many such crusaders will gather at the Generation Equality Forum, to make concrete commitments to stop violence against women and girls and to demand that women’s rights organizations are well-resourced and recognized for their expertise.

Find out about the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence to learn more.

Economic Justice Advocate

Illustration by Taylor McManus
Today, 740 million women globally work in the informal sector, working for lower pay, in harsh working conditions, and without job security or insurance.

Women also spend triple the amount of time as men performing unpaid care and domestic work, which have intensified because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic fallout of COVID-19 predicts that 47 million more women will fall into extreme poverty.

However, change is possible, and Economic Justice Advocates call for economic laws and policies that work for women as well as they do for men, seek sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics so that decisions are shaped by the reality that women experience.

Women like Maria Tuyuc, who is supporting indigenous women in Guatemala to build their own business, are working to destroy the systemic barriers that hold women back and promote nondiscriminatory labour markets, free of violence and harassment.


The Mayan School of Business teaches skills for indigenous women's participation in economic opportunities. María Tuyuc co-facilitates a session. Photo: Red Global de Empresarios Indígenas REI/Miguel Curruchiche.
These are also the women and men who share care work and household responsibilities equally, and encourage everyone to follow their example. They advocate for unified parental leave and equal work culture across all sectors. They demand a progressive work environment through equal representation of women in leadership and boardrooms and equal pay for work of equal value.

Find out about the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights to learn more.

Champion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Illustration by Taylor McManus
Being a champion means respecting women and girls, their decisions about their own bodies, sexual and reproductive health, such as decisions about contraception and sex. These champions understand the meaning of consent, and practise it. The champions of sexual and reproductive health and rights come in all gender expressions, colours and ethnicities, and they speak up for bodily autonomy – the power and agency to make choices about one’s own body and future without violence or coercion.

The champions, like Martha Clara Nakato from Uganda, believe that women and girls in all their diversity should be empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights and make autonomous decisions about their bodies free from coercion, violence, and discrimination.

You can often see these champions working to change gender norms, make comprehensive sexuality education accessible for all, and pushing for legal and policy change to protect and promote bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights. They want to improve the quality of and access to contraceptive services and remove restrictive policies and legal barriers that prevent girls and women from accessing safe and legal abortion.

Find out about the Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and SRHR to learn more.

Peacebuilder

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer. Photo: Joser C. Dumbrique for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
Some 2 billion people in the world are living in countries affected by conflict. And Peacebuilders are doing their part to keep peace, mediate conflicts and call for equal representation of women at the table when peace is being negotiated. We need the meaningful participation of women and girls in peace processes, and women’s leadership and agency across peace and humanitarian sectors to create a better, safer world for women and for all.

From working to improve women’s economic security in conflict and post-conflict setting to protecting women and delivering more investment in women’s role in conflict resolution, the peacebuilders are fierce and determined. Meet Miriam Coronel Ferrer, who made history as the first woman chief negotiator in the world to sign a final peace accord with a rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines, for a first-hand account.

The women peacebuilders are vital in preventing conflict, responding to crisis and recovering. They are demanding the implementation of the unfulfilled commitments to the women, peace and security agenda and humanitarian action.

Read about the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action Compact to learn more

The upcoming Generation Equality Forum in Paris, from 30 June – 2 July, is an inflection point to confront the gender equality crisis and spur major investments, policy, and programmes to advance gender equality and women’s rights. Convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society, the Forum will mark the beginning of a five-year action journey led by the six Action Coalitions and Compact on Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action.

 

Press release: Heads of State, leaders and activists take bold action to accelerate gender equality and address the consequences of COVID-19 for women and girls
Generation Equality Forum to drive major policy reforms and generate over USD 40 billion in new investments

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Media contacts: media.team[at]unwomen.org; clare.winterton[at]unwomen.org


Member of the Generation Equality Youth Task Force Shantel Marekera, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, President of France Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the European Council Charles Michel participate in the opening ceremony of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris. Photo: UN Women/Fabrice Gentile
Paris, 30 June 2021— Heads of State and Government, heads of international organizations, activists from civil society and youth-led organizations, philanthropists and CEOs of private sector companies gathered today for the opening of the Generation Equality Forum held from 30 June to 2 July in Paris. The Forum launched a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality, driven by six Action Coalitions, and launched a Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, with the aim to accelerate gender equality in the next five years and to face the growing risks to women’s rights caused by Covid-19. The Forum’s projected USD40 billion of new investments will represent the largest-ever collective infusion of resources into global gender equality.

The event marks the most significant international convening for gender equality since the 1995 Women’s Conference in Beijing. The Forum was opened by the co-hosts, President of France, Emmanuel Macron and Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as well as by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and convener of the Forum, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. Notable speakers at the opening event also included Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, Nobel laureate Nadia Murad, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Tunisian feminist Aya Chebbi. The ceremony was centred on the voice of civil society activists and women’s rights defenders and featured long-term advocate for gender equality and Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an intergenerational dialogue with climate activist Julieta Martinez.




The Forum showcases concrete commitments and has a sharp focus on implementation and financing for gender equality. During the opening event, major commitments were announced by the Heads of State and Government of France, the United States of America, Kenya, Argentina, Georgia, Finland, Canada, Germany, South Africa, the European Union and from international organizations and private sector. The commitments included:

USD 40 billion+ in new investments benefitting women and girls, with government commitments over the three days expected to total USD 17 billion. At the Opening Ceremony, a USD 2.1 billion commitment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance women’s leadership, reproductive health, and economic empowerment was announced, alongside a USD 420 million investment from the Ford Foundation to tackle threats to women’s rights caused by COVID-19. The World Bank committed to a major investment for programmes in 12 African States to tackle gender inequalities.
The implementation of major policy reforms and programmes to advance gender equality. The President of Kenya announced a national strategy and resources to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. The Prime Minister of Canada presented the country’s commitment to invest in a care system to benefit women and girls and the President of Georgia presented her commitment to lead legislative change on the legal definition of rape. The Vice President of the United States made policy and resource commitments on gender-based violence, women’s economic security, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The launch of new coordination mechanisms to advance key issues for gender equality, such as a new Global Alliance on Care and an Alliance to Fund Sustainable Feminist Movements.
President Macron, speaking live from Paris underscored his commitment to confronting the gender equality crisis, saying, “Through the Generation Equality Forum, France's objective is to state loud and clear that the rights of women and girls are universal, as are all human rights, everywhere, all the time. This model that France defends is not a negation of our differences. It is about reaffirming that no cultural or religious relativism, no regional or identity-based particularism, justifies that a woman cannot enjoy the same rights and the same opportunities as a man. Our method for achieving this result is concerted international action, what I have called multilateralism through action.” The French government committed USD100 million to improve access to contraceptives and family planning.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking live in Paris, welcomed the bold ambition of the Forum, saying that the Forum was a moment “to redress a global imbalance, with activists, policymakers, and leaders across all ages shaping our world into a more just and gender-equal society.”


Also speaking live in Paris, Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, noted: “This is a new chapter for gender equality. Those with a world view of radical impatience are converging to create big, well-resourced changes. Together we will revitalize the unfinished Beijing agenda, united by the conviction that we must take risks and do things differently.” 

Over the following two days of the Forum, more financial, policy and programme commitments are expected from over 1,000 diverse commitment-makers. Additional philanthropy commitments are expected from the Co-Impact Fund, CIFF, Fondation Chanel, Global Green Grants, the Women’s Funding Network, and the Open Societies Foundation. Major private sector contributors will include P&G, Unilever, PayPal and Estée Lauder. A significant number of civil society and youth led commitments will be made; for example: GirlsForClimate will commit to establish over 100 local climate hubs in Uganda; Cameroon Digital Rights Campaign will announce advocacy and policy work to end the digital divide; and the Egyptian Feminist Union will commit to work on equal rights to divorce and guardianship of children for divorced women. Additional Member States announcing commitments will include Armenia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Finland, North Macedonia, Malawi, the Maldives, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mexico, Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and Uruguay.

The Forum includes over 110 events designed to propel action on gender equality, including a youth-led stage. Sessions aligned with the Action Coalitions – the six most catalytic actions required to accelerate gender equality, including economic justice, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, impact of the climate emergency on women and girls, need for digital and technology inclusion, and support to feminist movements and leadership – are also a key component of the event agenda, as is the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action.




The Paris Forum is expected to draw over 40,000 virtual participants. Confirmed speakers across the three-day virtual event include President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates, Brazilian Rapper MC Soffia and Actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Anne Hathaway.

The Forum in Paris marks the launch of a five-year journey designed to accelerate gender equality and a turning point in the international community’s commitment towards women’s rights.

Winners of the comic and cartoon competition, “Generation Equality: Picture It!”

Date: Monday, June 28, 2021

UN Women—together with the European Commission, Belgium, France, Mexico, as well as in partnership with Cartooning for Peace—organized a global comic and cartoon competition to mark the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

More than 1200 young artists between 18 and 28 years old, from more than 120 countries, participated in the contest and submitted their cartoons to share their vision of #GenerationEquality. Finalists were selected by a jury composed of professional comic artists, high-level representatives and gender equality experts, and a youth activist.

This competition was an opportunity for young people around the world to raise their voices using art as a powerful and universal means of expression. The “Generation Equality: Picture It” competition was also the chance to become part of the global movement for gender equality in the context of the Generation Equality Forum, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of France and Mexico.

The comics of the finalists and semi-finalists will be virtually exhibited during the Forum in Paris, and more exhibitions around the world are expected in the second half of 2021. Stay tuned for more!

The winners are:

First Prize: Brice Tadé Tangou (Cameroon)
Second Prize: Hiroshi Reyes (Philippines)
Third Prizes:
Vivien Derkics (Hungary)
Baraka Lurhakwa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Femi Ogunsanmi (Nigeria)
The semi-finalists are:

Esther Aghotor (Nigeria)
Rika Asakawa (Japan)
Shari Avendaño Rojas (Venezuela)
Andrea Cabrera (Honduras)
Shirin Fatollahi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Gabriela Leann Angeles (Philippines)
Noa Poljak (Croatia)
Mpho Tsuene (Lesotho)
First Prize
Brice Tadé Tangou, Cameroon

Tadé Tangou Brice, 22, is an architecture student at the École Nationale Supérieure des Travaux Publics in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Passionate about drawing since he was a child, he excelled in competitions since secondary school. While studying architecture, he continued to distinguish himself by winning silver (2018) and bronze (2019) medals in drawing at University. In January 2020, he designed the mascot for the CHAN Cameroon 2020 (African Nations Football Championship). In January 2021, he was one of the 5 designers selected for the Coca-Cola #Opentobetter illustration competition on the Talenthouse website.

About my cartoon: Perched above the world! Women and girls as actors and builders of an equal world over which they watch and deploy their full potential.

Why Generation Equality: #GenerationEquality reminds us of the important value of women’s and girls’ contribution to society when their rights are respected; it symbolizes a just, sharing world where everyone contributes to equality; it sets out the actions to be taken by all to achieve this. #GenerationEquality also represents the possibility for everyone to participate in different spheres of society without discriminatory barriers; #GenerationEquality is also the respect for gender equality in all areas. It means equal opportunities, the end of violence, harassment, and prejudice against women.

Contact:
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Instagram: @ted_ulty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrSnYBF5grp1uX6diyL2rsA

Second Prize
Hiroshi Reyes, Philippines

Hiroshi Reyes was born in 2002 in Manila, Philippines and graduated his senior high school year at University of Perpetual Help. He’s currently studying Multimedia Arts at St. Dominic College of Asia. Growing up, Hiroshi always had a passion for the arts. He recalls the days his parents would get mad at him for drawing on the walls of their house, or when he would get caught doodling on his books by his teachers. Hiroshi has never won an art competition before but that didn’t stop him from submitting his drawing.

About my cartoon: The “damsel in distress” is an overused sexist trope against women. Women are just as capable of doing anything than men. Stereotypes also impact men, with for instance toxic masculinity. Men are always expected to be “big, strong and save the day”, when, in reality, they can be the ones who need saving.

Why Generation Equality: It means that my mom and my sister don’t have to worry about being harassed. It means that I do not have to worry about being the subject of toxic masculinity and it means that everyone—no matter race, gender, ethnicity, or religion are given equal opportunities!

Contact: Instagram: Smileforsho

Third Prizes
Vivien Derkics, Hungary

Vivien Derkics was born in 2001 in Szombathely, Hungary. She studied graphic design at an art school for 5 years and will soon begin her graduate studies at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam where she will study advertising. Meanwhile, she does freelance work related to graphic design and illustration. So far, most of her projects focused on global issues and finding ways to communicate them via art. For this reason, the topic of gender equality was close to her heart and motivated her to participate in this competition.

About my cartoon: My cartoon illustrates women in power and decision-making. I believe that if we work together, we can create change and build a world in which we are proud to live.

Why #GenerationEquality: I believe Generation Equality should be the norm. However, unfortunately, today, we know that this is still not the case. I wish to live in a world where this question shouldn’t even need to arise. In my view, all humans are equal and deserve the same rights—this is how it should always have been.

Contact: Portfolio: https://www.vivienderkics.com/

Baraka Lurhakwa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Baraka Lurhakwa, alias Baraka Création, is a scriptwriter, illustrator, and graphic designer, born in 2000 in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. Passionate about drawing, he drew his first comic book in 6th grade. In 2016, he launched a comic strip called Makasi, which tells the story of a disabled child forced to survive despite the discrimination he faces. In 2017, he obtained his state diploma in biochemistry but decided to focus on his artistic career. In 2019, he won the first prize in a drawing competition organised by the Red Cross. He is currently studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in the Visual Communication faculty in Goma.

About my cartoon: My drawing expresses the importance of freedom of decision and more specifically the right of women and girls to live free of violence. In my country, many women and girls are forced to marry men at an early age and without their consent. This must stop with my generation.

Why #GenerationEquality: All humans are born equal. The world needs Generation Equality to become aware and understand that every person, regardless of gender, has the right to enjoy the same rights. Sometimes, people say that to be a leader, you have to be a man. But when you analyse this statement, you realise that there is no logic to it: it is only a stereotype that has been perpetuated since our childhood. It is time to break from these stereotypes; and this is possible with Generation Equality. To me, Generation Equality means that there should be no more barriers because of gender.

Contact:
Facebook: Baraka Creation

Femi Ogunsanmi, Nigeria

Femi Philemon Ogunsanmi is an illustrator with five years of experience in graphic design and illustration. He was born in 1995 in Abuja, Nigeria and later moved to Lagos. He studied Sculpture at Yaba College of Technology, in Lagos, with special enthusiasm for digital sculpting. With his creative ideas, he won a competition in school that was sponsored by a reputable brand. Femi is presently the lead illustrator at Teesas EduTech Company in Lagos.

About my cartoon: Like the battery needs both terminals to function, every sphere of life needs to harness its human resources regardless of their gender, in order to reach maximum productivity.

Why #GenerationEquality: Every individual is designed with special abilities, gifts, and talents. Everyone, regardless of their gender, has the right to equal opportunity to make use of such abilities. Generation Equality is needed to fully harness the potential in every human for a better and productive society. I see Generation Equality as valuing every individual and giving them equal opportunities to make the most of their lives and abilities, as this would enhance growth and productivity in every sector.

Contact:
Portfolio: https://femiphil7.wixsite.com/illustration
Instagram: @strangestfemi

Semi-finalists
Esther Aghotor, Nigeria

Esther Aghotor is a self-taught artist based in Abuja, Nigeria. She holds a bachelor degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Ibadan. In her work, she shows the potentiality of females through temporal perspectives and discerning. She won the first prize award at the Olusegun Obasanjo Library National Art competition in 2013 for her artwork, The Face of Unity, interpreting the beauty of collaboration for development. She won the Next Rated Star Art prize in 2016 for her artworks “A Chance of Survival” and “Sign of a Victory”, focused on a better life for domestic violence victims.

About my cartoon: It enunciates the blindness and limitation embedded in gender chauvinism, and the apparent clarity and potential of gender collaboration, attainable only through empowerment of the genders, for equal representation in decision making and vision setting towards the development of a people or nation. Away from the typical late onset and one-sided agitation for gender equality, it is a depiction of the necessity for the balanced collaboration of the genders as a guarantee of success and achievability towards any vision.

Why #GenerationEquality: #GenerationEquality means a new people and mindset with no gender-biased perspective when it comes to opportunities, empowerment and development. Complementary between genders ensures a better balance for society. To reach equality, parents will need to equip girls and boys with the same confidence, skills and mindset in facing the world and make efforts to ensure equity in giving equal opportunities and resources. In addition, legal frameworks are needed to enforce equality and they should be implemented and monitored by authorities.

Contact:
Instagram: @kowho_

Rika Asakawa, Japan

Rika Asakawa is an illustrator and animator based in Tokyo, Japan. Using a set of skills ranging from comical to more serious styles, Rika has worked on projects for large audiences including children. Her work includes animations, card games, comics, book illustrations, wall paintings, and more. She has won multiple awards for cartoons from Japanese publishers and in the animation field. Rika’s recent caricature work on feminism in Japan was published in 2019 by the Courrier International. She was selected as an Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund member in 2021.

About my cartoon: Women’s participation in the world of work is challenging because of family duties and also because sometimes, older men do not leave their leadership positions and hold on tight. I wish they could take a look down to have a glimpse of reality.

Why #GenerationEquality: Japan’s social balance is highly biased in terms of gender and age. This inequality is greatly due to care responsibilities which burden women, such as housework, childcare, and childbirth. My mother was busy raising children and housework and therefore could not work. My father never helped with housework and childcare. I always thought that our environment and task distribution was natural. But as an adult, after seeing how women can manage their lives, I think my family’s example was probably not the best. For me, Generation Equality is to ensure women are able to work and have equal opportunities as men, regardless of their life paths and family-related decisions.

Contact:
Website: https://rika-asakawa.art/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rikarikari_a
Instagram: @rikaasakawa
Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/rikaasakawa

Shari Avendaño Rojas, Venezuela

Shari Avendaño (1995) is a Venezuelan journalist and illustrator. She graduated with honors from the School of Social Communication of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. She works as a reporter and fact-checker for the news portal Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela) and has participated in the coverage of the economic crisis and human rights violations. She is a member of the Latin American Network of Young Journalists. As an illustrator, she has collaborated with news platforms and NGOs in Venezuela and Latin America.

About my cartoon: My cartoon is inspired by the people who helped me believe in myself and grow: my parents, teachers and trainers. However, the presence of parents and teachers in the girls’ lives is not enough, it also takes a lot of passion to inspire them to fly.

Why #GenerationEquality: In my view, Generation Equality symbolizes a future in which no family member, friend or colleague has been a victim of sexism. In particular, it is a future in which I feel respected when I go out on the street alone. We need Generation Equality so that justice prevails over nepotism in institutions, so that no girl or woman feels limited in their abilities and so that the voice of women is heard more and more in decision-making bodies.

Contact:
Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/shariavend8d69
Twitter: @shariavendano
Instagram: @shariavendano

Andrea Cabrera, Honduras

Andrea Cabrera is a designer and visual artist from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Since she was a child, she showed great interest and aptitude for art and always wanted to pursue a creative career. She obtained her bachelor in Fashion Design with a specialization in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, USA. She now does freelance artwork in her hometown and plans to continue her higher education.

About my cartoon: Equality is a job that must be done in unity.

Why #GenerationEquality: Often, when we speak about gender equality, there are negative reactions because people do not know what gender equality really is. Generation Equality is not about giving more benefits to one gender over the other. It is about equal opportunities we should have as capable human beings regardless of our gender. Gender inequality is a long-standing problem in which we have all participated, whether it is through sexist or stereotypical remarks or deliberately taking away opportunities from someone because of their gender. It is a problem that can be eradicated with time, education and by working together. We all deserve respect and equal opportunities, taking into account our strengths and abilities.

Contact:
Portfolio: https://www.behance.net/acartstudio, https://acabreraart.wixsite.com/home
Instagram: @acc.artstudio

Shirin Fatollahi, Islamic Republic of Iran

Shirin Fatollahi was born in 1994, in Qazvin, Iran. She considers herself as a hardworking, conscientious illustrator with an eye for detail. She first became interested in illustration after seeing her grandmother’s painting and since then, illustration has become her biggest passion. She has taken courses with the Iran Illustrator Society and continues to learn new skills. She works with pencil, gouache, acrylic and watercolor, as well as with Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Currently, she is working with child magazines and publications.

About my cartoon: We are all different but from the same palette.

Why #GenerationEquality: I strongly believe that women should benefit from the same opportunities than their male counterparts. Women have repeatedly proven that they are equal to men. They can multi-task and have taken up highly crucial tasks in the world. For instance, many women entrepreneurs have changed the world through their efforts and imagination. Women are strong - and not just meant to change babies’ nappies! Imagine a world with gender equality: there is no longer violence against women and sexual harassment, women can safely walk even in the darkest places. Men and women would enjoy equal opportunities and equal rights.

Contact:
Instagram: @Shirinfatollahii
Email: Shirinfatollahi[at]yahoo.com

Gabriela Leann Angeles, Philippines

Gabriela Leann Angeles, 19 years old, was born and raised in the Philippines. She lives with her family in the city of Bacoor, Cavite. Gabriela is currently in her second year of Bachelor in Multimedia Arts (BMMA), following her love, passion, and interest for arts, photography, editing, and media. The global pandemic brought new challenges to her studies as the skill-based multimedia arts program had to go virtual. Gabriela has won several awards in the field of photography and hopes to become a professional photographer, for fashion or product photography. She loves arts and creations and wants to continue developing different skills, including digital drawing and cartoon making.

About my cartoon: Grandma did not take martial art classes for nothing.

Why #GenerationEquality: Despite great progress for gender equality in our generation, there is still opposition, leading to injustice and discrimination. There are barriers holding women back and we should continue to push for generation equality, for a fair and humane system and society. Gender roles and norms are unfortunately still very present. But today, men, women, whatever gender or sexual orientation, are now standing strong, empowered, confident and bold, using their voices and platforms to speak up, fight for our rights and spread awareness. We all deserve to live in a generation where we have equality and justice. Let’s push to bring change in our society and system with legal reforms and let’s support organizations working for a generation equality.

Noa Poljak, Croatia

Noa Poljak, 22 years old, was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia. After obtaining a diploma from a foundation program in design in Malta, her passion for design and art became clear. She is now enrolled in the bachelor programme in Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb, Croatia. Living in different parts of Europe, she came to realize that even in the most developed regions of Europe, some movements are strongly lobbying for very conservative values, which are enabling oppression, injustice and discrimination against women. She wishes to actively take part into changing society and wants to push young people to speak up about gender equality.

About my cartoon: My illustration is focused on obstacles and pushbacks that women face when trying to advance their careers, show their achievements, and be equal to men. To equally succeed, women are expected to thrive more, be more persistent, have more knowledge, more skills and more patience than men. Their career paths and family lives are full of challenges and obstacles; therefore, I want to shine light on a problem that I have witnessed first-hand.

Why #GenerationEquality: Women are being discriminated in all aspects of public and private life, as a result of centuries dominated by men. It is urgent to improve women’s participation, redefine their roles in our societies, because the world is losing out on their potential, their power, their strengths. Progress can only be achieved if women are included in all their diversity. This is especially important for the young generation who has a unique chance to live in a world free of stereotypes, gender-based violence, prejudice, and discrimination. We, the young generation need to understand the causes of this injustice and join forces to make a change for a more equal world.

Contact:
Instagram: @noapoljak

Mpho Tsuene, Lesotho

Mpho Tsuene is a visual artist and fashion enthusiast, self-described as Afri-Artivist. Mpho wishes to stand up against gender inequality and African stereotypes through her art. She was born and raised in Lesotho, where she studied art in high school. She considers herself as a jack of all trades, obsessed with self-improvement but also enjoying new experiments and dabbling in different things.

About my cartoon: My cartoon promotes the harmonisation of home responsibilities for women and men. The young girl chases her future, and her father passes her the baton, a blessing to encourage her to go after her dreams.

Why #GenerationEquality: As an African woman who believes in gender equality, I think the next generation of women and girls deserve a better future. They deserve equal pay and an end to sexual harassment among many other things. The #GenerationEquality campaign gathers feminists to challenge societal norms that harm and limit women. The aim is for young girls to grow up in a future where they do not feel inferior, incapable and where they no longer have to fight to be heard or to be in decision-making rooms.

Contact:
Instagram: @afriartivist

The copyright for any drawing remains the property of the entrant. However, by submitting to the competition, entrants have granted permission to the organizing entities to use, distribute, reproduce, or otherwise utilize the drawing and the entrant’s name and city and state.

Generation Equality Forum: Feminist inspiration
Feminists and activists look ahead to the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, 30 June – 2 July

Date: Thursday, June 24, 2021


The Generation Equality Forum in Paris, from 30 June – 2 July, will bring together governments, feminist leaders, youth and change makers from around the world and every sector. This landmark moment will catalyze change, fuel investment and action for gender equality and strengthen global movements for women’s rights.

The Forum represents a critical moment to reverse rising inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19 and drive rapid acceleration in gender equality, leadership and opportunities for women and girls around the world. Inspired by the feminist movements that shaped the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 26 years ago, the Forum aims to fulfil and re-energize that agenda.

Convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society, the Forum will also mark the beginning of a five-year action journey led by six Action Coalitions and a Compact on Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action.

Ahead of this pivotal moment for women’s rights, UN Women checked in with leading activists from around the world on what we can expect from the Generation Equality Forum, why they’re participating and what happens next.

Building upon the Beijing Platform for Action
Eugenia Lopez Uribe, Mexico
Champion of sexual and reproductive rights of women and youth in rural and urban marginalized areas


Eugenia Lopez Uribe. Photo: Jessica Salas Martínez
“The power of collective organizing from an intersectional and intergenerational approach is that it recognizes that, like a circle, we all have our place and our space in the construction of another world in which gender equality is a reality and patriarchy is left behind.

The Generation Equality Forum has to be an opportunity to dismantle the patriarchal system that has prevented advancement in the Beijing Platform of Action. We need to stop talking and start funding. We need to bring women in all their diversities and their lived experiences to the centre of the conversation, not as a symbol of individual struggles but as a commitment to fulfil the international human rights framework.

We cannot wait another 25 years to change the system that is ending the planet and that does not have the lives of women at the centre of our societies’ priorities.”

Charlotte Bunch, United States
Activist, writer, teacher and organizer in feminist social justice and human rights movements


Charlotte Bunch. Photo: Maker
“The Beijing Conference was the culmination of multiple efforts to establish women’s rights as critical to progress on development and peace, and to put issues as seen through women’s eyes on the global agenda. The Beijing Platform for Action was a high point in government commitment to women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment; it also points us to why these issues are still critical to recovering from COVID-19 today. 

Progress has been made in some areas, such as attention to gender-based violence. Diverse constituencies, such as indigenous, grass-roots, and Black women, lesbians and disability rights activists have become more vocal and visible in global debates. Yet, while many women’s lives have improved since Beijing, the gap between those who have benefited and those left behind has grown.

The last 26 years since Beijing have revealed the depth and complexity of the problems outlined there. Success at the Generation Equality Forum for me would be to see a significant acceleration of commitment by all sectors to equality through the Action Coalitions and other initiatives launched as part of this process.”

Urgent action for global equality
Laxman Belbase (Nepal) and Joni van de Sand (the Netherlands),
Co-Directors, MenEngage Global Alliance


Laxman Belbase. Photo: MenEngage Alliance

Joni van de Sand. MenEngage Alliance
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the gaping fault lines in our societies and institutions and even before and beyond this, we are witnessing a global surge in repressive, authoritarian governments and reactionary movements have increased their attacks on gender equality, women’s rights, and the rights of LGBTQI people, particularly those most marginalized.

Naming of the structural obstacles to realizing gender justice and women’s human rights is a necessary step in seizing the political opportunity presented by the Generation Equality Forum.

[The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the] rise in xenophobic nationalism, repression of political dissent and undermining of multilateral institutions. There’s ever-greater concentration of power in the hands of wealthy elites and the world’s richest corporations. At homes, the pandemic has exposed and exacerbated patriarchal dynamics, with a recorded surge in cases of men’s violence against women and children, and increased burden of care work borne by women and girls.”

Jhesmin L. Solis Peña, Bolivia
Activist for sexual and reproductive rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, women’s rights, and the rights of nature*


Jhesmin L. Solis Peña. Photo: Alvaro Jhonny Herrera Condori
“As a young, black and bisexual woman, I fight for a series of rights. One of the main elements that has kept me on this path has been believing in a better today, believing in a better tomorrow, and knowing that change is not only possible but inevitable.

In the run-up to the Forum, from my trenches, I have joined regional and global efforts to connect young activists and provide tools for political and social advocacy. Action has been urgent for a long time, but following COVID-19, the Forum is even more important ­– not only for humans, but for all beings that make up the world and on whom our existence depends.

We are aware that we cannot go back to living as before; we have to take that awareness to generate new [ways of living] that do not only concern the structural equality of opportunities, duties and work obligations, but also generate deeper changes… the way of working, the way of consuming, the way of generating.”

Chamathya Fernando, Sri Lanka
Youth activist and advocate against gender-based violence


Chamathya Fernando. Photo: Meghana Belavadi
“We are sure that we are the generation that will put a stop to this inequality. We want the change to happen today, not tomorrow, and definitely not in another 100 years.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and we are on the verge of losing years of progress made on achieving gender equality. Therefore, the Generation Equality Forum is happening at a time that is crucial for all of us. We must all come together and make decision-makers address our concerns and provide action-oriented solutions. The Forum is our chance to push for the gender equality agenda and accelerate the progress we wish to see in the next five years.

We must all hold each other accountable to deliver and monitor and evaluate to see how much progress we have made. Together we rise.”

Youth at the centre of change
Hawa Yoke, Sierra Leone
Environmental conservation, climate change and STEM activist


Hawa Yoke. Photo courtesy of Hawa Yoke
“To prepare Sierra Leonean youth to compete with their counterparts around the world, we need to shed light on issues that aren’t discussed in the Sierra Leonean context. The gender gap is significant here and not being talked about. Almost two-thirds of those working in STEM fields are men, and the country lags behind in technology. Meanwhile, the climate crisis is having a profound impact on the population, the majority of whom are dependent on agriculture for their survival.

The Generation Equality Forum is very important, especially for Sierra Leone and the wider Africa region, given the magnitude of inequality that pervades. My expectation for the Generation Equality Forum is that it will allow youth to take the lead in decision-making on issues that are affecting them. We must not only highlight challenges, but offer solutions, and our leaders need to be accountable to us.”

Satoko Yamaguchi
Champion for young women-led feminist movements


Satoko Yamaguchi. Photo courtesy of Satoko Yamaguchi
“The privileged and marginalized are experiencing the pandemic differently, and the gender gap is real – so many women have lost their jobs, students have been unable to continue their education or socialize with friends, and sex workers have been unable to access social security benefits. While Japan had a high suicidal rate even before the pandemic, since the outbreak, the rate has increased, with women and youth most affected. We cannot continue to rely on the conventional neo-liberalistic, neo-colonialistic and sexist systems; the Generation Equality Forum could potentially create momentum to transform the system, which is why it’s so important.

Intergenerational co-leadership is the only way to accelerate the momentum toward gender equality. Whether it’s feminist or women’s movements or policy making bodies, if you leave the youth and adolescents behind, the process and outcome is no longer inclusive and will fail to achieve gender equality for all.”

Ishanvi Malayanil, India and United States
Advocate for women’s participation in politics and leadership and gender-responsive legislation


Ishanvi Malayanil. Photo courtesy of Ishanvi Malayanil
“Action Coalitions are uniquely positioned in that they already have ample support and resources to create and lobby for true progress. Partnerships and collective action are the best ways to curate power in numbers and make progress towards women’s rights.

Many older stakeholders and legislators do not think our voice to be as important as theirs because of our age. [To other leaders and activists, I say], use your voice. Your voice is the most powerful thing you have. The Generation Equality Forum is open to the public for a reason, but unless you optimize your voice towards achieving your goals, the space will not be effective.

But do not occlude the space with simply your demands – listen. Listen to others’ needs, goals, and passions. At the Paris Forum, empathize and learn about other causes. Using your voice is meaningless if you do not take the time to listen to those around you and learn from them.” 

Collective action for global good
Houry Geudelekian, Lebanon and the United States
Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women and activist to end early and forced marriage


Houry Geudelekian. Photo: Russ Rowland
“It is important we work in a collaborative, transparent and shared leadership model, and to me collective action is exactly that, and anti-patriarchal too! It is time we crush patriarchy and rethink power dynamics in this world within its capitalistic and colonialist ways.

Intergenerational and intersectional dialogue is how we make sure that all parts of society are advancing together. We cannot claim victory or advancement in society if we are not bringing everyone along with us. As Fannie Lou Hammer said: “Nobody is free until everybody is free.”

Action Coalitions give us an opportunity to think, implement and hold each other accountable in new and exciting ways. The Forum and Generation Equality campaign will fast track achievements to address the issue of promises made and not implemented since the Beijing Platform for Action.

What the Generation Equality Forum and campaign, and consequently Action Coalitions can deliver is unique in format and ambition.”

Selin Ozunaldim, Turkey
Youth activist for gender equality and HeForShe Champion


Selin Ozunaldim. Photo courtesy of Selin Ozunaldim
“Partnerships and collective action can make a difference by being the key drivers and accelerators for the achievement of gender equality and intersectional justice worldwide. They serve an inspiration for future multilateral, multi-stakeholder and multi-generational processes by setting an example for providing a bold and transformative space that centers co-leadership, co-ownership and co-creation; they show us how to tap into the transformative power of youth by letting us co-lead and shape every part of the process.

Intergenerational dialogues explore pathways to gender equality. Unfortunately, many topics that were being discussed over a decade ago remain urgent issues today. Furthermore, because we are from different generations, we get to explore different ways of thinking, different expertise, and different lived-truths and experiences, which is refreshing and productive.”

* Bolivia is the only country in the world which grants all nature equal rights to humans through The Law of the Rights of Mother Earth.

Take five: “What is so exciting about the Generation Equality Forum is that it’s not just a three-day conference, it’s a five-year agenda”

Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021


Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, Canada. Photo: Global Affairs Canada
Karina Gould is Minister of International Development at the Government of Canada, Member of Parliament for Burlington city in Ontario, and Co-Chair of the COVAX Advance Market Commitment Engagement Group. She also represents the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership, working to develop catalytic actions and commitments to advance gender equality. Gould’s action priority is ensuring that feminist leaders, movements and organizations are supported to carry out their work without fear of reprisal.

Why did the Government of Canada sign-up to play a leadership role in the Generation Equality Action Coalitions?



“What is so exciting about the Generation Equality Forum is that it’s not just a three-day conference, it’s a five-year agenda that asks us to actually commit and take action to achieve gender equality.”



Firstly, because we recognize how key the voices of feminist movements and feminist leaders are to advancing gender equality. Feminist organizations are on the frontlines in their communities as we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been supporting the poorest and most vulnerable, fighting and advocating to ensure that those dependent on services, such as women’s shelters, continue to have access. These are the people on the ground who are making change happen on a day-to-day basis, and we must support them.

Secondly, we see challenges and barriers to feminist movements and leadership that we want to help mitigate through our leadership role. A big challenge is funding. Less than 1 per cent of all gender-focused aid goes towards feminist organizations – we simply need more. Another serious challenge is the pushback against gender equality around the world. This makes supporting civil society and developing allyship and solidarity across countries even more important. The Action Coalition agenda is critical to ensure that we tackle these barriers and see real gains and progress.

What actions are you most excited to stand behind to advance and grow feminist movements?

Canada has invested CAD 300 million in the Equality Fund, which is a unique partnership between civil society, philanthropy and the private sector, providing long-term sustainable funding to women’s rights and feminist organizations around the world. We were really excited to see the Ford Foundation’s commitment to the Equality Fund at the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico and we hope that other donors will step up to support this important work. 

At the Forum in Mexico, we also pledged CAD 10 million to the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. This is another great way we can support grassroots initiatives that are having a tangible impact in their communities. These actions change realities for people on the ground in a way that is led and guided by the individuals who are living there. I’m excited to see what other countries are going to be putting forward!

I understand you assumed this ministerial role in 2019 – what inspired you to take on leadership roles?

I was fortunate to be appointed parliamentary secretary to the then Minister of International Development, Marie-Claude Bibeau, in 2015. Minister Bibeau was a huge champion of gender equality. She put forward the Feminist International Assistance Policy, as well as created the Equality Fund and the Women’s Voices and Leadership Program, and I was able to support her in pushing this agenda forward. In November 2019, when the Prime Minister asked me to take on this position, I was obviously delighted to be able to carry on implementing our work. I was excited not just because I believe in equality as a proud feminist myself, but also because I know that when we advance gender equality, we advance everyone. Having women in leadership positions and having women with access to their full suite of rights has transformative possibilities, including addressing global inequalities and benefiting families, communities and societies.



“My #ActforEqual is ensuring that feminist leaders, movements and organizations are supported to carry out their work without fear of reprisal.”



My advice for women aspiring to lead in politics would be: know that you can do it. There are many very real barriers to getting involved in politics, be it financial or discriminatory. However, in many ways women have been conditioned to think that leadership roles are not for them, and that is not true. Women’s voices and young women’s voices are important. We need to put ourselves forward because it matters.

What solutions must we back to close the gender gap in leadership?

Women in all of their diversity need to see themselves represented in leadership positions. Those of us who are already holding leadership positions need to think about how we can open the door and hold it open to bring other women in. As well as increasing representation, we need to create environments that are enabling for women. I am the first woman in Canadian history to have a baby while holding a cabinet position. When I told the Prime Minister I was pregnant, he replied that we would make it work and demonstrate to other women that it is possible. That kind of leadership from our male allies creates the space and conditions for women to be successful.

What, for you, is an ideal outcome of the Generation Equality Forum?

Recognition that gender equality is a cross-cutting issue that has to be tackled in all aspects of our lives, economies, and political spheres. This goes hand in hand with recognizing that the work of each of the six thematic Action Coalitions is mutually reinforcing. The commitments made in each Action Coalition support the objectives of the others and this integrated approach is essential for progress.

My message to leaders convening at the Forum would be that we have to back words and commitments up with actions. It is one thing to say we are committed to gender equality, but it is another thing to demonstrate how we are going to achieve that. What is so exciting about the Generation Equality Forum is that it’s not just a three-day conference, it’s a five-year agenda that asks us to actually commit and take action to achieve gender equality. It is a really important opportunity – half the world is counting on us, so we need to get results!

Read more about the Action Coalitions here.

Statement on International Widows' Day 2021 by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women

Date: Wednesday, June 23, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained health systems, widened socio-economic gaps, and shifted strategic, political, and funding priorities, all of which disproportionately affect women and girls, particularly those who are most marginalized. The doubled risk of death for men from COVID-19 has not only created more widows; the pandemic has in many cases magnified the impact of the challenges they face, for example when confronted by extreme poverty from being disinherited from land and property with no alternative source of support.

Even before the pandemic, women struggled to find a livelihood after the death of husbands. In 40 per cent of countries, unequal legal inheritance rights and authority over assets persist. Without secure access to land and resources to support their independence and autonomy, widows are hard-pressed to provide for their day-to-day needs and those of their families, with implications for the realization of other rights, such as to food, health, housing, water, work and education. The challenges widows face present a focused lens through which to understand the broader picture of the issues that must be definitively addressed for women of all ages and conditions to thrive.

Often left without savings or any other income support, widows have been especially exposed to the sudden loss of employment during the pandemic, creating immediate and acute financial vulnerability, with serious consequences that range from food insecurity to increased susceptibility to human trafficking. In this context, the absence of any form of government social protection for widows in most developing countries is a particularly urgent issue. Alternatively, securing widows’ inheritance, land, and ownership rights, offering widows protections, such as unemployment insurance, cash transfers, food rations, and school bursaries, could have multigenerational benefits for their families. Protective measures such as these are especially important for those working in high risk, low paying or other precarious jobs in the informal economy in which widows often find themselves, as day labourers, temporary workers, and migrant domestic workers.

As grandparents, widows make substantial contributions to multigenerational households, providing care and sustenance to family members, particular grandchildren who may have lost a parent, often without recognition of this crucial but invisible and unpaid caregiving labour. During COVID-19, such care arrangements have been both intensified and disrupted during lockdowns, in the latter case leaving older widows living alone to suffer the loneliness pandemic amidst hardship. For COVID recovery and building forward, our societies and economies need to recognize the assets that they already have, and protect and enhance them through, for example, quality public social protection floors and care systems.

The upcoming Generation Equality Forum this month aims to address many of the barriers to gender equality and realization of women’s rights that have significant impact on the world’s widows, from rising poverty and violence, to accelerating climate change, and health, social, and economic systems that leave women and girls behind. It is a key moment for gender equality advocates from every sector of society – governments, civil society, private sector, entrepreneurs, trade unions, artists, academia and social influencers – to drive urgent action and accountability for gender equality and to bring about change that would be experienced by widows the world over. 

Seven ways to change the world
Convened by UN Women, co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, together with civil society and youth, the Generation Equality Forum is taking place in Paris, from 30 June to 2 July. Here’s how it’s set to be catalytic and action-oriented, unveiling major investments, programmes, and policies that accelerate progress on women’s rights.

Date: Monday, June 21, 2021


Equal rights and opportunities for all people, of all genders, everywhere. It’s not a new vision, but still a bold one, as no country in the world has achieved gender equality in all aspects of life.

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed more than 3.7 million lives globally and created and exacerbated a gender equality crisis. Even before COVID-19, almost one in three women worldwide experienced abuse; during the pandemic, calls to helplines increased five-fold in some countries. The World Economic Forum estimates that at the current rate of progress, women will not achieve pay or leadership equity with men for at least another 135.6 years.

The upcoming Generation Equality Forum in Paris, from 30 June – 2 July, is an inflection point to confront the gender equality crisis and spur major investments, policy, and programmes to advance gender equality and women’s rights.

Convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France, in partnership with youth and civil society, the Forum will bring together governments, feminist leaders, youth, and change makers from every sector, to announce trailblazing gender equality investments, programmes, and policies. It will mark the beginning of a five-year action journey led by six Action Coalitions and a Compact on Women, Peace and Security, and Humanitarian Action.

Together, the Action Coalitions and the Compact have identified the most catalytic actions and targets needed to make irreversible progress by 2026. For instance, policies that recognize, reduce, and redistribute care work and create an additional 80 million decent care jobs; laws that protect 550 million more women and girls from gender-based violence; and doubling the proportion of women working in technology and innovation, while increasing investment in gender-responsive climate solutions.

As we head towards the Paris Forum, here are seven ways to change the world, and find out how you can #ActForEqual.

1. End gender-based violence

Putting an end to gender-based violence is essential for fulfilling the vision of a gender-equal world. An estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life.

What needs to change? More governments must ratify international and regional conventions that prohibit all forms of gender-based violence, and strengthen, implement, and finance evidence-driven laws, policies, and action plans.

“Everyone agrees that women’s rights organizations need to receive better funding,” says Céline Bonnaire, Executive Director of the Kering Foundation and a member of the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence. “But when you have a look at where the money goes, women and girl-lead organizations are receiving just seven per cent of the global philanthropic funding.” That’s why the Action Coalition on ending gender-based violence is focused on increasing the amount of quality, flexible funding from governments, private sector, and other donors to girl-led and women’s organizations, as well as the broader need to scale-up and improve survivor-centred services.


“Everyone has a role to play in putting an end to violence against women,” says Bonnaire. “I want a future where there are no more women that have to be survivors of violence.”

2. Guarantee economic justice and rights

Women and girls are particularly disadvantaged in social protection systems. The gender gap in labour force participation has not shifted in 30 years, stagnating at 31 per cent. Young women, aged 15-29, are three times more likely to be outside the labour force and schools than young men.

Transforming the care economy is one key component of guaranteeing economic justice and rights for women and girls everywhere. Women spend, on average, triple the amount of time performing unpaid care and domestic work that men do, so it is essential that labour rights reward and represent care workers. Pay equity and decent work must become the norm.

Diane Ndarbawa, President of Manki Maroua, an association of girl-child mothers in Cameroon, and a member of the Action Coalition on Economic Justice and Rights, says, “Legal change is needed urgently because it will significantly speed up progress on gender equality and contribute to economic justice, as well as safeguard this progress in the long term.”

Supporting organizations that work with local communities, such as those offering expertise and financial backing to girls and women entrepreneurs, is another key action to drive progress, says Ndarbawa.


“We want to make our voices heard… so that [women] have access to decent work, a professional career, a business—and so they are not left behind,” she stresses.

3. Ensure bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights

Empowering women and girls to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights and make autonomous decisions about their own bodies free from coercion, violence, and discrimination is an urgent need and critical to achieving a gender-equal world.

Worldwide, 45 per cent of girls and women, aged 15-49, who are married or in unions cannot make decisions about their own bodies, such as deciding about contraception or saying no to sex. Further, women and girls in humanitarian emergencies face specific and exacerbated challenges—60 per cent of maternal deaths happen in countries affected by humanitarian crisis or fragile conditions.

The upcoming Generation Equality Forum in Paris is discussing key solutions, such as expanding comprehensive sexuality education and increasing the quality of and access to contraceptive services for millions more adolescent girls and women by 2026. The Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is also focused on ensuring that, in five years’ time, 50 million more adolescent girls and women live in jurisdictions where they can access safe and legal abortion.


“For us, bodily autonomy is not just about removing individual friction in securing services, but also about shifting the broader market systems within which decisions are taken about what services to provide for whom and where,” says Kate Hampton, CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and Action Coalition member. Central to this effort is placing the perspectives and needs of women and girls at the centre of decision-making, rather than treating them as an afterthought, says Hampton.

4. Feminist action for climate justice

A changing climate affects everyone, but it’s the world’s poorest and those in vulnerable situations, especially women and girls, who bear the brunt of environmental, economic, and social shocks and face greater health and safety risks.

Yet, women and girls are underrepresented in advancing climate justice across all levels and sectors, and climate interventions fail to adequately account for women’s and girls’ realities in climate crises, such as violence, healthcare needs, fraught economic resilience, and unpaid care and domestic work.

Joanita Babirye, from Uganda, is the Co-founder of Girls for Climate Action and member of the Action Coalition on Feminist Action for Climate Justice, and she knows this reality firsthand. “I grew up in a community where women and girls interact with the environment every day for food, income, and to take care of their households,” she shares. “We started having to travel longer distances to look for water. We noticed that changes to the seasons were having a negative impact on agriculture, which made us increasingly concerned.”

Babirye felt that something had to be done to further feminist action for climate justice, so she joined forces with other Action Coalition members from around the world to increase direct access to financing for gender-just climate solutions, enable women and girls to lead a just transition to a green economy, and increase the collection and use of data on gender and the environment.


“Women and girls should be able to demand climate justice, but this is only possible when they are equipped with the tools and knowledge to hold everyone accountable,” says Babirye. “The transformation needed is to make women and girls fully aware of the issues and leaders of the solutions.”

5. Foster technology and innovation for gender equality

What would the world look like if women and girls had equal opportunities to access, use, lead, and design technology and innovation? This question is central to the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality, which is set to bridge the gender digital divide across generations, double the proportion of women working in technology and innovation, and eliminate online gender-based violence.

Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova, a champion for women and girls in STEM and leader of Kyrgyzstan’s first Space Programme, believes that investing in feminist technology and innovation is a key part of building an inclusive and accountable future. “We encounter many negative comments that this programme will fail because girls and women are engaged in it. People do not even consider any other factors such as lack of funding and infrastructure,” she says.

To level the playing field for women and girls, the diverse partners that make up the Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation are proposing concrete steps to widen innovation ecosystems, embed transparency and accountability in digital technology, and expand inclusive digital economies.

“We need…to break the glass ceiling and expand opportunities for women and girls in science,” says Batyrkanova, who works to promote STEM education for young women and girls, including courses on soldering, 3D-modeling, and 3D-printing. “We want to show by our own example that girls are capable of anything, even reaching for the stars,” she shares.

6. Invest in feminist movements and leadership

Without increased action to advance feminist movements and leadership, we are far from achieving gender parity in political life. At the current rate of progress, equal gender representation will not be achieved in national legislative bodies until 2063. Feminist leaders, including trans, intersex and nonbinary people, indigenous women, young feminists, and other historically excluded people, have vital contributions to make today.

“I find it problematic that, even in 2021, we still need to justify why women can and should be leaders,” says Bogolo Joy Kenewendo, an economist from Botswana, leader, and member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, as well as the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation. “A lot of work has been done since the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Why should I now, 26 years later, still have to justify my position in leadership?” she asks.

“Feminist organizations are on the front lines in their communities as we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been supporting the poorest and most vulnerable, fighting and advocating to ensure that those dependent upon on services, such as women’s shelters, can continue to have access. These are the people on the ground who are making change happen on a day-to-day basis, and we must support them,” says Karina Gould, Minister of International Development at the Government of Canada, and member of the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Feminist Movements and Leadership.

“Canada signed up to co-lead the Action Coalition because it recognizes that investing in feminist movements and feminist leaders is critical for advancing gender equality”, says Minister Gould. “We see challenges and barriers to feminist movements and leadership that we want to help mitigate,” she adds. “A big challenge is funding. Less than one per cent of development assistance goes towards feminist organizations. We simply need more.”

Motivated by the same sentiments as Minister Gould, the Action Coalition on Advancing Feminist Movements and Leadership are putting forth actions to fund and support diverse feminist activists, organizations, and civic space for feminist action. By 2026, the Coalition aims to advance the leadership and decision-making power of women, girls, and nonbinary people around the world.

7. Put women in the heart and at the helm of peace, security, and humanitarian action

Two decades have passed since the landmark UN Security Council resolution 1325 was adopted, enshrining the role of women in securing and maintaining peace. Peace and equitable crisis response and disaster prevention are prerequisites for health, human security, and sustainable development.

As we convene for the Paris Forum, some two billion people are living in countries affected by conflict, another billion are caught up in protracted crises, and millions more face the ever growing threat of climate change. Even in the midst of COVID-19, guns were not silenced, and women continued their efforts to keep peace or act as first responders, often without much recognition or resources.

In conflict-affected countries, women’s representation in COVID-19 taskforces stands at a low 18 per cent. Although evidence shows that when women are at the negotiating table, peace agreements are more likely to last 15 years or longer, on average, women made up only 13 per cent of negotiators, six per cent of mediators, and six per cent of signatories in major peace processes between 1992 and 2019.

The policies and measures to change this are already in place, but implementation and investment is lacking, in women as peacebuilders, front-line humanitarian workers, and human rights defenders. At the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, a diverse coalition will announce how they plan to accelerate implementation of the agenda.

“Women and young people have a profound understanding of their countries’ peace and security situation, gender and power relations, and humanitarian needs, because they live this reality every single day,” says Mavic Cabrera Balleza, Founder and CEO of the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, which is part of the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action.

Balleza and the many diverse partners engaged in developing the Compact will leverage existing peace and security and humanitarian frameworks to dismantle discriminatory barriers and promote the protection of women's rights and the work of women peacebuilders, front-line responders, and women human rights defenders.


After more than 30 governments, United Nations entities, and global civil society organizations sign the Compat at the Forum, signatories are expected to implement these actions and report on progress over the next five years.

“When local populations are able to shape the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security and humanitarian agendas, it becomes inclusive, participatory, intersectional, and it fosters strong ownership,” says Balleza. “This is what we need to prioritize to effectively respond to the violent conflicts, the pandemic, and other humanitarian crises.”

You can #ActforEqual
2021 can be a landmark year for gender equality if we #ActForEqual and step up for gender equality. Register for the Generation Equality Forum by 27 June 2021 to join the multi-actor and inter-generational gathering and follow UN Women on social media to stay up to date with Forum news.

To learn more about each Action Coalition’s commitments, see the Forum’s microsite for commitment making

What does gender equality look like? Artists around the world share their vision

Date: Monday, June 21, 2021

Originally published on un-women.medium.com


We all have the potential to create meaningful change in the world around us. Whether by educating family and friends, speaking up on social media, challenging stereotypes through creative expression or otherwise, we can each promote gender equality and #ActForEqual every single day.

In the run up to the 2021 Generation Equality Forum — a landmark gathering for gender equality convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France in partnership with civil society and youth — we asked artists globally to visualize what gender equality means to them. We received more than 1000 inspirational submissions from creative advocates all over the world, each with its own vision of a gender equal future. Below, get inspired by some of our top picks and learn why these artists joined us to #ActForEqual.

Leaders of today

Acting for equal means … encouraging women to participate in politics.

 “Women from all places should be able to participate in decision-making forums and be part of the change. In politics, there’s a lack of support towards female leadership; in academia, I’ve witnessed very little presence of women in professorship in STEM fields. Young girls need more of these role models to look up to, so they can aspire to also reach leadership positions and serve as inspiration for the next generations.”

–Jessica Quispe, Illustrator, Peru


Equal pay for equal work

Acting for Equal means … equal pay for all in COVID-19 recovery. 

“As the majority of the global healthcare workforce, women play a key role in serving the most at-risk and remote populations. Still, they have to take care of their own health and safety even in undervalued or underpaid conditions. With most of them working directly with patients, they need to be empowered and respected for their opinions. Respecting equality and leadership for women health workers is crucial to COVID-19 recovery.”

–Andini Wijendaru, Fashion maker, Indonesia


Sisterhood

Acting for Equal means … standing up for our rights.

“I think everybody should feel concerned about the fight for gender equality. [The movement] gathers everyone who deeply wants to change mentalities and stereotypes we have to face every day. It’s up to all of us to help people find the place they desire and deserve in society, no matter their gender.”

–Mélissa Massol, Graphic designer, France


Safe and free everywhere

Acting for Equal means … recognizing our worth no matter what.

“‘Call me when you get home’, ‘Don’t go out alone’, ‘That area is very dangerous’, ‘Don’t go out in those clothes’ … These are phrases women hear all the time. I want the reality for women in my country, in Latin America and around the world to be different, that we can be seen as human beings and not as objects. My greatest wish is that women live free of violence in the streets and in their homes. Women have been underestimated or undervalued for a long time. We must remember that we are as valuable as any other human being.”

–Stephanie Lagunas, Landscape architect and illustrator, Mexico


Empower women

Acting for Equal means … sticking together to make sure everyone is treated the same.

“In almost every country and nation, women and girls are still denied basic rights simply because of their gender. Having said that, we are strong and powerful, we never let this keep us down. We keep fighting for what is rightfully ours and as past generations of women fought hard to get us to where we are now, we will keep fighting and it will get better. […] We can fight discrimination and harmful stereotypes, but we have to stick together and support each other!”

–Nikita Abuya, Digital illustrator and graphic designer, Kenya


Our bodies, our rules

Acting for Equal means … giving everyone control of their health.

“Countries all over the world are still fighting for access to women’s healthcare […] and this fight will continue for the foreseeable future. It’s an unfortunate truth that the rules around women’s health are often dictated by men in power, leading to policy that is often oppressive and sexist. I think it’s critically important for women worldwide to maintain autonomy of their bodies.”

–Ronan Lynam, Illustrator, United States


A healthy planet for all

Acting for Equal means … using my art to call for change.

“I believe that gender equality is important to create a safe and healthy environment for all humans. Women should be part of the decision-making at national and local levels regarding the allocation of resources for climate change initiatives. I believe that women can lead that change.”

–Sandra Maher Mohamed, Interior designer and visual artist, Egypt


Equal opportunities

Acting for Equal means … giving women the opportunity to grow.

“We’ve been underrepresented, belittled and ignored for far too long. And it is time we not only break the glass ceiling, but also soar further, in every sector and industry possible. Acting for gender equality is important because it signals continuous growth and as much representation as possible. The goal is to be so present that no girl ever has to doubt if being a woman will make it harder for them to achieve their dreams and aspirations.”

–Lucía Sancho Hernández, Content producer and illustrator, Costa Rica


Social protection for families

Acting for Equal means … removing gender obstacles to create a better world.

“Gender equality is important to build a sustainable society. It is very unfair when the society doesn’t sufficiently protect the economic rights of women after having children. Many women lose their jobs after being pregnant. This situation needs to be highlighted to bring economic equality for all!”

–Yuran Choi, Graphic designer and illustrator, Republic of Korea


Celebrate diversity, all voices

Acting for Equal means … uplifting all narratives.

“Acting for inclusion, diversity and LGBTQI+ rights means […] advocating for inclusive, supportive and brave spaces that allow for individuals to be seen, affirmed and celebrated. All of our voices, experiences and wisdom are needed to create the world we ALL want to live in […] Black women and Black marginalized genders are deserving of love, care, and support in ALL its forms!”

–Naimah Thomas, Art therapist and licensed professional counselor, United States


Let’s thrive together

Acting for Equal means … giving every person the chance to thrive.

“Acting for gender equality is important, because when it comes to politics, entrepreneurship or new initiatives, limiting talent to that of men is just that: limited talent. The world can witness so many more good ideas, progress and innovation by unleashing women’s talent and creativity. When every man and woman has equal opportunities to thrive, society gets to thrive as a whole, and this is what we should aim for.”

–Valeria Ciolac, Young politician and activist, Republic of Moldova

The future is female

Acting for Equal means … recognising your social responsibility.

“The future is female, females are the future. Our participation, care and education is essential to building a more equal and tolerable future […] I now work for an all-female studio […] that creates job opportunities and specifically outsources them to female creatives. My future truly is female.”

–Lené van Heerden, Associate Creative Director, South Africa

Stand up for our rights

Acting For Equal means … promoting actions that extend the freedom to practice basic human rights to everyone.

“Feminist activism is a reaction to the inequity of gender inequality. It seeks to redress an imbalance, to right a wrong. We are all human. As members of society, we should all contribute to making the world a better place for everyone.”

–Anna Markevich, Artist, Russian Federation


Women can do anything

Acting for Equal means … equal participation without discrimination.

“Gender Equality should be inclusive and yet we see the widest gap even in today’s time. A society prospers even better when we have women leaders. There are some people who still foolishly believe the idea that some sectors are male oriented. This belief needs to be addressed because there is nothing a woman cannot do! Thus, women should have access to every participation and opportunity as it is for men.”

–Sumedh Narnaware, Master’s design student, India


Respect one another

Acting for Equal means … treating everybody with kindness and respect.

“I see great activists of our times in all women who choose to love, support and stand up for another. I see bravery in the act of proudness of being a woman. I see us reclaiming our power in this gentle, yet so powerful web of mutual adoration. I hope that wounds from the past will heal, giving place for next generations to live in equality freely and proudly.”

–Agata Sobiepanna, Artist, Poland


Like what you see? Check out all of the submissions here. Share this on social media and let us know why you stand for gender equality using #ActForEqual and #GenerationEquality.

UN Women statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

Date: Friday, June 18, 2021

UN Women expresses its grave concern at the continued use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, terrorism and political repression and calls on all parties to conflicts to commit to ceasing such acts.

Sexual violence in conflict disproportionately impacts women and girls and causes grave and lasting harm to survivors, their families and their communities, posing major barriers to peace and development. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed women and girls in conflict and crisis settings to sexual violence and has exacerbated existing barriers to survivors’ access to multisectoral services and justice. This makes our efforts to promote gender equality and achieve peace, as well as just and inclusive societies, all the more urgent and relevant.

The best way to address any type of human rights violation, including sexual violence in conflict, is to prevent it from happening in the first place, which is why it is crucial to address gender inequality as a root cause of this scourge. As the world plans its recovery from the pandemic, we need to take an inclusive, intersectional and informed approach, one that recognizes that achieving durable peace and prosperous societies is not possible without women’s expertise, meaningful participation and leadership.

For the past year, UN Women has been working in close partnership with civil society, Member States, UN Entities, regional organizations, young people and other stakeholders within the framework of the Generation Equality Forum to build a global Compact on Women, Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action and to draft a blueprint for accelerated action through the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence and others. Together these provide a once in a generation opportunity over the next five years to commit to actions to ensure more effective sexual violence prevention and response, to protect and promote the work of women peacebuilders, humanitarian service providers and human rights defenders, and to ensure women’s leadership in all peace and humanitarian decision-making processes.

Today, as we observe the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Women looks ahead to the Generation Equality Forum in Paris and the opportunities that it brings for collective actions that avert repeated cycles of violence and build inclusive and durable peace.

I am Generation Equality: Souhaila Nassar, changing the image of refugees
Billions of people across the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.

Date: Thursday, June 17, 2021



Souhaila Nassar, 33, works to support other women and girl refugees in Lebanon. Photo Courtesy of Souhaila Nassar
I am Generation Equality because…

Three ways to support refugee women and girls:
Promote access to education and extracurriculars
Encourage the dreams and aspirations of refugee girls

Ensure equity and diversity in classrooms
I want people to know that refugee women are just like other women.

I'm a Palestinian refugee but I was born in the United Arab Emirates. After the war broke out in Kuwait, my parents were afraid that something might happen to us. When I was three years old, we came to Burj Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon.

I was always a distinguished student in school, and I dreamed of going to the American University of Beirut (AUB). But it was just a dream. I had no money. I remember how hard it was to see all my friends go to that university. Instead, I enrolled at a local Lebanese university and studied biochemistry.

When I graduated, I wanted to get a Master’s degree, so I started saving; however, I live in a very conservative community where some people think after a girl graduates there is nothing else for her to do besides get married and have children. But that was never really on my list. Even so, I followed their direction and got engaged. Shortly after, we decided to break up and he asked my family to pay him back for [money he spent during our] engagement." .

We were a poor family, so there was no way for us to get this money. I gave him all my savings for my Master’s degree.

This made me even more persistent, and again I started saving. After five years, I registered at AUB and again I became a distinguished student and I got the honor to assist a professor with research. Currently I’m working on my thesis.

Contrary to what people think, being a refugee gives you a bigger drive to pursue education because I knew it would change my life and my future. It’s offered me a better job, more self-confidence, more connections. As a society we need to reconceptualize our view of refugees.

Humanitarian response should consider the needs of women and girls

As a young girl, my school did not have extracurricular activities like sports or music and there were no places in the camp where girls could play or express themselves.

The Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA Compact) is an inter-generational, inclusive movement which calls for the redesign of peace and security and humanitarian processes to systematically and meaningfully include women and girls – including peacebuilders, refugees, other forcibly displaced and stateless women and girls – in the decisions that impact their lives. To find out more, visit www.wpshacompact.org.

The boys would play football in the alleyways, but the girls were told it was inappropriate.

I heard there were organizations in our camp that offered spaces to meet other children and do something other than put my head in my books.

When I was 11 years old, I found the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organization, which supports refugee women in Lebanon, providing equal opportunities for them to work and study and help children realize their full potential. I also learned to play several musical instruments.

As a refugee, I really want children, and particularly young girls, to have these interactive experiences outside of traditional learning and to have room to express themselves in their education.
Women deserve equal rights and opportunities

A woman is a human being. Just like a man has the right to decide to get married whenever he wants and to choose what he wants to do in his life, a woman should also be able to make the same choices. Men work to get money for their families, but I’m doing that right now too. I can do all the same things a man can.

However, men need to be part of the solution. I’m living in a community where many girls want to pursue education, but their fathers say, “no, you are 22 years old and you need to get married.” If men can recognize [women’s] rights and regard them as equals, then they will be part of the solution.

My dream is to get a PhD in education, probably with a focus on translanguaging, because children have the right to quality education. Many children, particularly refugees and immigrants, are learning science, language and math in a language other than their own, but they should be able to understand what they are learning. I’m interested in ensuring equality and diversity in the classroom.


Souhaila Nassar, 33 came to Burj Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon as a young child. After learning and growing from the services of the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organization, Nassar now works to support other young refugees.

Take five: “Everyone should understand how they can become an agent of change”

Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2021


Céline Bonnaire. Photo: Jean Luc Perreard
Céline Bonnaire is the Executive Director of the Kering Foundation. She also represents the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence, working to develop catalytic actions and commitments to advance gender equality. Bonnaire prioritizes scaling up comprehensive, accessible and quality services for survivors of gender-based violence against women and girls in all their diversity.

What is the state of gender-based violence around the world and what impact has COVID-19 had on this?

Although awareness of violence against women has increased significantly over the past few years, one in three women worldwide continues to experience physical or sexual violence during her lifetime, mostly perpetrated by an intimate partner. Since the beginning of the pandemic and the strict lockdown measures, data shows an alarming increase in calls to domestic violence helplines and specialist organizations.

Our partner specialist organizations faced increased demand, yet were forced to reduce and/or cancel services, reorganize shelters and helpline staff to ensure safety, find ways to develop new resources and mechanisms to address domestic violence and more. This, of course, had a direct impact on survivors: access to counselling, emergency housing, legal support, and medical appointments became much more difficult.



“After this Forum, everyone should understand how they can become an agent of change and promote gender equality and the elimination of gender-based violence at all levels.”



We also see that survivors of domestic violence are struggling to remain financially independent and (re)build their autonomy. Women working low-paid and informal jobs are more likely to lose their income during this time: approximately 47 more million women and girls will be pushed to extreme poverty because of COVID-19. This, of course, has a direct impact on women survivors, who may become increasingly dependent on their abuser, making it even more difficult to leave their household. The lack of economic agency also increases women and girls’ vulnerability to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

As we look forward, we must ensure that the specialist organizations supporting survivors have the means and resources necessary to continue providing comprehensive and live-saving services to women.

Why did your organization sign up to play a leadership role in the Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence?

In 2008, Chairman and CEO of Kering, François-Henri Pinault, founded the Kering Foundation to end violence against women. He wanted the Group to focus on a cause where it could make a real difference and we have been focused on this for the past 13 years, with key feminist partnerships at the centre of our strategy.

Our ambition is to share our experience, our network, scale-up our work and mobilize a broader group of companies to join us in combatting gender-based violence. We firmly believe that everyone has a role to play in putting an end to violence against women, and that is why one of the key streams of work that we focus on at the Kering Foundation is around bringing other actors on board to take collective action. This is the same multi-stakeholder cooperation approach that the Action Coalitions are based on, meaning that becoming a leader was a natural step.

The regular and inclusive conversations we have among the leaders of our Action Coalition are about breaking silos, listening to each other’s views and taking a long-term perspective. From these discussions, it has become clear that organizations combatting violence against women are all facing the same challenges, including backlash, a lack of funding and capacity. This recognition has led us to some very concrete ambitions. We have defined clear objectives, targets and indicators, and will make actionable commitments to tackle these barriers – I am confident that we will make effective and transformative change, using an intersectional lens, for women and girls in all their diversity.

What change is most urgently needed in the sphere of gender-based violence, and what action(s) will make a catalytic difference in realizing this?

I think the most urgent needs are highlighted through the four main actions that we have designed in our Action Coalition, which consider the need to have more states ratifying international and regional conventions, as well as more actors in the public and private sector adopting action plans to end gender-based violence.

We also prioritize implementing and financing evidence-driven prevention strategies, particularly those that work with the younger generation to put an end to intergenerational cycles of violence and engage men and boys in the conversation.

Transforming funding is another urgent priority that we highlight. While everyone agrees that women’s rights organizations need to receive better funding, when you look at where the money goes, women- and girls-led organizations are receiving just 7 per cent of global philanthropic funding. That’s why we are focusing on increasing the amount of quality, flexible funding from states, private sector and other donors to girl-led and women’s organizations, as well as the broader need to scale-up and improve financing of coordinated survivor centred services.

What do you expect from the Generation Equality Forum taking place in Paris, from 30 June to 2 July?

An important outcome would be to succeed in securing sets of concrete commitments for gender equality from diverse participants. We have this great leadership group for each Action Coalition, but it is time for new commitment makers to join the initiative and help make change happen. It is especially vital that we get more companies involved and signing up to take steps to put an end to gender-based violence.



“My #ActForEqual is to continue combating violence against women, by supporting survivors and implementing effective prevention programmes.”



After this Forum, everyone should understand how they can become an agent of change and promote gender equality and the elimination of gender-based violence at all levels. I hope to see increased attention and support for needs-driven, survivor-led organizations that ensure women survivors receive holistic and comprehensive care and access to services. At a personal and societal level, we can act by volunteering and donating to women’s rights organizations, as well as by raising awareness of the vital work they do and the resources they provide.

At the institutional level, in line with the International Labour Organisation Convention 190, I would like to see the implementation of internal systems to support survivors of domestic violence – from trainings to understanding the complexities of this violence and the impact on the workplace, to dedicated internal policies that outline concrete measures in place.

What motivates you personally to keep driving for change?

From a professional standpoint, since day one, I have been constantly amazed by the resilience and the strength of women survivors. I keep doing this work because I think that supporting these women moves us in the right direction and because I want a future where there are no more women that have to be survivors of violence.

In my personal life, I have two children: a boy and a girl. I am raising them as feminists, but can clearly see how harmful stereotypes start early and how difficult it is when the gender equitable messages they receive at home are countered by the messages that they receive at school, on television programmes, video games and so on. It’s very challenging to try and keep the balance and I want to see these gender norms shifted.

Read more about the Action Coalitions here.