The
Generation Equality Forum—a global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of
Mexico and France in partnership with civil society—today announced the leaders of the Generation Equality Action Coalitions, to achieve gender
equality and all women’s and girls’ human rights. WHO, together with The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) have been invited to co-lead the Action Coalition
focusing on ending gender-based violence.
The Action Coalitions will deliver concrete and transformative change for women and girls around the world in the coming five years. They will focus on six themes that are critical for achieving gender equality. In addition to the coalition on gender-based violence there are five other coalitions on economic
justice and rights, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights, feminist action for climate justice, technology and innovation for gender equality, and feminist movements and leadership. Adolescent girls and young women will
be at the heart of each Action Coalition’s work.
The 65 initial leaders of the Action Coalitions represent Member States, diverse feminist and women’s rights organizations, youth-led organizations, philanthropic entities, UN agencies and other international organizations
(
full list here). The Action Coalitions’ leaders bring
deep commitment to and experience in advancing gender equality and women’s human rights and reflect the different experiences and identities of women and girls from around the world.
Further appointments of the Action Coalitions’ leaders will be made in the next few months, including private sector companies and youth-led organizations, to ensure intersectional and intergenerational leadership.
The Action Coalitions’ leaders were selected by the Generation Equality Forum Core Group,
which includes France, Mexico, Civil Society and UN Women.
Five criteria were followed to select the leaders, including evidence of leaders’ commitment and past record of achievement in the respective Action Coalitions’ themes.
The Action Coalitions are one of the key outcomes of the Generation Equality Forum that will kick off in Mexico City, Mexico, and culminate in Paris, France, in the first half of 2021. The Generation
Equality Forum, accelerated by the Action Coalitions, will mobilize urgent action to make irreversible progress towards gender equality and women’s and girls’ human rights globally.
This announcement comes as the world responds to the impacts of COVID-19, which is exacerbating gender and other inequalities and disproportionally affecting women and girls in all countries. In this context of the pandemic, the Generation
Equality Forum and Action Coalitions are important and urgently needed to get through this pandemic, to recover faster, and build a more just, inclusive, and equitable future for everyone.
Next steps
The Action Coalitions’ leaders will come together in the coming months to co-design concrete, game-changing Blueprints for action to be implemented over the next five years.
Beginning in September 2020, a set of virtual public conversations will mobilize and capture women’s and young people’s voices to inform the Action Coalitions.
The Action Coalition Blueprints will then be refined at the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City, during the first part of 2021, and officially launched at the Generation Equality Forum in
Paris, later in 2021.
The Action Coalitions aim to mobilize a broad support in addition to the leadership structure. A broad set of stakeholders will be involved in the design of the Action Coalitions during the next months and will be provided with
opportunities to commit to transformative actions to advance gender equality and women’s rights.
Violence against women is a major threat to global public health and human rights, cutting across boundaries of age, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, geography, culture and wealth. WHO is committed to working towards a world in which all women live
their lives free of violence and discrimination. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
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