Generation Equality Forum Paris next week
The second Generation Equality Forum will start next week. After the first Forum in Mexico at the end of March, the second Generation Equality Forum will take place in Paris next week: from 30 June to 2 July. The Generation Equality Forums (GEFs) are international multi-stakeholder Forums for gender equality. UN Women, the UN body for women’s rights and gender equality, took the initiative for the Forums. Because 26 years after the ground breaking Beijing Platform for Action, we are still a long way from being there: gender equality is under pressure. Current crises, from COVID-19 to the climate and biodiversity crisis, show that inequality is interconnected everywhere. We need to tackle these crisis with intersectionality at the core.
Partnerships to bring gender equality closer
The GEFs provide new momentum for this much needed intersectional action. In six so-called “Action Coalitions” and a “Compact”, UN Women, civil society organisations, governments and other stakeholders are working on ambitious, innovative actions, measures and partnerships to bring gender equality closer. In Paris, these Action Coalitions will be officially launched. Its leaders will present their “blueprints” with proposed actions and commitments. Then there is five years to make them a reality.
Participation of diverse voices
As WECF, we are actively involved in the GEF process. Together with other organizations and activists, we ensure that there is enough space for participation of diverse voices: from indigenous environmental activists to young feminists. We also ensure that women’s rights organizations and activists from countries in Central Asia, the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans (an under-represented region in the process) are heard. For example with our event this Thursday. We also take a critical look at the influence of governments and other stakeholders to ensure that they will actively engage in transformative change rather than continue business as usual. We did this recently through the Civil Society Advisory Group, an advisory group set up by UN Women to involve civil society organizations in the design of the process. Over the next five years, we will also work hard for our commitments in the Action Coalition for Feminist Action for Climate Justice, where we will work together with our partners for a fund for Gender Just Climate Solutions.