Girls’ and women’s rights are human rights, and advancing gender equality is fundamental to ensuring the health, freedom, dignity, and liberty of all people. And promoting gender equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do. Supporting the health and rights of all girls and all women creates a positive ripple effect for everyone — lifting up families, societies, and economies. In fact, evidence shows that a gender-equal world is healthier, wealthier, more equitable, more peaceful, and more productive.
Governments and the private sector have a critical role to play in achieving a gender-equal world. By leveraging data and evidence, making concrete commitments, turning words into action, and embracing accountability, together, we can drive real and meaningful change for gender equality within countries and organizations.
LEARN HOW GOVERNMENT & PRIVATE SECTOR LEADERS CAN SUPPORT GENDER EQUALITY HERE
In 1995, 189 countries committed to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action1, a forward-looking blueprint for advancing women’s rights.
To leverage the 25th anniversary of this historic commitment, UN Women, the Government of France, and the Government of Mexico launched the Generation Equality Forum, a multigenerational campaign and platform to unify all sectors and accelerate collective action for bigger and bolder commitments and actions for gender equality.
Why does
gender equality
matter?
In 1945, world leaders adopted the United Nations Charter, which included the fundamental principle of “equal rights of men and women” and established that protecting and promoting women’s rights is the responsibility of all nations.
But promoting gender equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
A GENDER-EQUAL WORLD WOULD BE:
REALITY CHECK
The status of
gender equality
While the world has made significant gains in increasing life expectancy and reducing poverty, when we apply a gender lens to the world’s programs, policies, and budgets, we see there is still much work to be done.
What is a “Gender Lens”?
A gender lens highlights the specific risks and challenges girls and women face because of deep-rooted inequalities and traditional gender roles. Using a gender lens can uncover new facts and perspectives that create stronger, more effective policies and programs. When we take that gender lens and apply it to our communities, health systems, governments, and workplaces, the data show:
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In addition, emerging threats, including the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, exacerbate inequalities and threaten to stall progress for girls and women.
how is the world Making
progress?
Progress for all requires that we put all girls and all women at the center of development efforts. Positive change is possible because, over the last 25 years, the world has seen:
274 legal reforms supporting the rights of girls and women advanced in 131 countries between 2008 and 2017. South Asia saw the greatest gains in legal reforms, followed by East Asia and the Pacific.22
Women’s representation in national parliaments doubled from 12% to 24% globally, with the most substantial progress made in North Africa and Western Asia where women’s representation increased from 5.3% to 18.7%.23
In the private sector, women’s representation in senior management roles rose from 19% in 2004 to 29% in 2019. Africa led this progress with 38% growth, with Eastern Europe and The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) close behind at 35% growth.24
Globally, close to 68% of girls and women have access to family planning — up from almost 56% in 2000.25
More work is needed
For a gender-equal world
However, the work to achieve gender equality is not finished.
New research shows that more than half of the world’s girls and women — as many as 2.1 billion — live in countries that will not reach key internationally agreed upon gender equality targets for the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 unless significant changes are made. Analysis also shows that in the past two decades, many countries are experiencing a slowing or regressing of gender equality progress:26
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THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Evidence shows that diseases outbreak affects women and men differently and that pandemics exacerbate inequalities for girls and women. Women, in all their diversity, play an outsized role responding to crises, including as frontline healthcare and social workers, caregivers at home, and mobilizers in their communities.
Moving forward, it is essential that the world put a gender lens on the response to COVID-19 to ensure the unique needs of girls and women are addressed. In addition, we must safeguard the progress made under the Sustainable Development Agenda, including hard-won gains for maternal and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
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And while global and national reporting on gender equality is useful for high-level analysis, it can also mask significant differences and inequalities of girls and women who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. Girls and women living in rural areas; those from religious and ethnic minorities; girls and women living with disabilities; refugee, migrant, and internally displaced girls and women; and those who identify as LGBTQIA+ or gender nonconforming face significantly higher rates of inequality.
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This is why funding and collecting data disaggregated by gender, age, sex, ethnicity, migrant status, geographical location, income level, and other stratifiers are critical to advancing gender equality for all girls and women everywhere.
Finally, accountability is also an essential ingredient to lasting change. Too often, promises and rhetoric do not translate to real impact. We have a collective responsibility to ensure we honor commitments and match words with action. This includes applying gender metrics and frameworks in policies and programs to ensure that we measure progress, learn, and adapt strategies as needed.
It’s time for a
gender-equal future
Governments and the private sector are key partners in realizing a gender-equal future. Together and independently, they can drive bigger and bolder commitments for gender equality. It's time to act —through new and existing networks and platforms — to build a healthier, wealthier, more equitable, more peaceful, and more productive society.
Here are seven ways governments and the private sector can make bigger, bolder contributions to a gender-equal world:
1
Ensure that investments, policies, and programs meet the needs and equally benefit all girls and all women.
Mandate that investments, programs, and policies apply an intersectional gender lens and are systematically and regularly evaluated to ensure they reflect the lived realities of girls and women in all their diversity and do not create or reinforce inequalities and marginalization.
2
Match gender equality commitments with action and financing.
Back commitments with timely actions that meaningfully move the needle on gender equality. Follow through with dedicated resources required to make new commitments actionable and accountable, including funding for women’s movements and civil society organizations that keep gender equality at the forefront of public debate.
3
Eliminate discriminatory laws, and enact policies that respect and protect the health and rights of girls and women.
Identify, review, and eliminate discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that directly or indirectly limit progress toward gender equality. Replace discriminatory policies with ones that address core gaps and needs in realizing girls’ and women’s health and rights, with a particular focus on groups of girls and women most likely to be left behind.
4
Prioritize and invest in gender-responsive data collection and analysis.
Mandate and finance the collection, analysis, and use of data disaggregated by gender, age, income, race, ethnicity, disability, and immigration status to understand the impacts of policies and decision making on diverse populations and to leave no one behind.
5
Uphold and advance sexual and reproductive health and rights as the bedrock of gender equality.
Protect and further girls’ and women’s rights to make informed decisions about their own lives and bodies. Support strong, women-centered health systems that provide universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services and resources for girls and women in all their diversity.
6
Remove barriers to women’s leadership, meaningful participation, and decision making.
Ensure women and young people in all settings are meaningfully and authentically engaged in decision making about their own lives and the communities where they live and work.
7
Drive coordinated action and change — across sectors — through the Generation Equality Forum.
Leverage the Generation Equality Forum as a moment to accelerate gender equality by 2025. Make commitments to advance gender equality publicly, finance them, and prioritize accountability. Align with diverse partners and cooperate on concrete, data-driven actions. Contribute to and help lead the Generation Equality Action Coalitions to ensure alignment and coordination across sectors as the world works together to make gender equality a reality for all.
Get connected
and act now
To promote aligned, measurable action, UN Women, the Government of France, and the Government of Mexico created the Generation Equality Forum Action Coalitions.
The Generation Equality Action Coalitions37 are the vehicles to establish global, innovative, multi-stakeholder partnerships to mobilize governments, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector to:
CATALYZE collective action,
SPARK global and local conversations among generations,
DRIVE increased public and private action and investment, and
DELIVER concrete results across generations for girls and women
To respond to the most pressing needs and deliver measurable change, the six Action Coalitions are focused on the following thematic areas:
WE URGE ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO GET INVOLVED
Connect with the Generation Equality campaign and the Action Coalitions to commit to the efforts in the coming years through this mechanism. And, invest time and funds in the campaign, the Action Coalitions, and in the many organizations and initiatives that are key to advancing gender equality.
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Learn how organizations can invest time, funds, and political capital in the Action Coalitions and the many organizations and initiatives that are key to advancing gender equality.
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