little under a week since the end of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – this year with the Summit of the Future taking place as well – it’s a good time to reflect on what we accomplished, what we learned, and what the next steps are. We cannot wait for 3 centuries to achieve gender equality. Women’s voices must be represented at leadership levels (including the next Secretary General of the United Nations) to bring our perspective to global agreements, critical frameworks and legal standards.
UNGA presents an important opportunity to speak with governments and other key stakeholders directly, and to connect and strategize with partners and allies. This year, there was a lot of anticipation in the air for the Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact (GDC), as well as the fact that it is almost the 30 year anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. So where was Equality Now, and what came of all the anticipation?
A powerful mix: strategy collaboration, stakeholder advocacy, and network building
In the lead-up to our participation in the Summit of the Future, which took place during the middle days of UNGA, we took part in several key events and strategy sessions with civil society partners and government stakeholders. These included a panel on “The power of storytelling in the fight against technology-facilitated gender-based violence” and a civil society strategic discussion space hosted by the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi, of which Equality Now is a founding member) and other partners. In the discussion space, through facilitated group discussions, participants highlighted opportunities for collaboration and input into the ongoing monitoring of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) in action, as well as formulating a set of benchmarks against which the implementation of the GDC can be measured. This is a continuation of two years of work, collaborating with civil society partners to influence the language of the GDC around gender equality.
We were also proud to attend UN Women’s event “Towards and equal, just and secure world – Countdown to Beijing +30” where UN member states as diverse as Albania, Canada, China, Kenya, and Mexico spoke about their progress toward and commitment to achieving gender equality, and we also heard from youth leaders and UN officials. It was an important moment to build momentum for gender equality and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the commitments of the Beijing Platform for Action ahead of the 30th anniversary of Beijing – and 5 years to go until the SDG deadline of 2030 – next year.