Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future

Scene from the event, “Gender equality: From the Biarritz Partnership to the Beijing+25 Generation Equality Forum”, hosted by France and Mexico ahead of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, 2019. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.

Imagine a world where all people have equal rights and opportunities. Women and girls are not afraid of walking home late at night, and men and boys are not trapped in oppressive masculinities. In this world, gender equality is the norm. Men and women get paid equally for work of equal value and share the care work at home.

Imagine equality in political leadership and corporate boardrooms and factory floors. Women have equal say in decisions that affect their lives, their bodies, their policies, and their environment, from villages to cities.

Let’s make this a reality. Join UN Women’s Generation Equality campaign to accelerate gender equality actions and mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most visionary agenda for women’s rights and empowerment everywhere.

Generation Equality Forum

The Generation Equality Forum is a civil society–centred, global gathering for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the governments of Mexico and France. The Forum kicked off in Mexico City, Mexico, on 29–31 March 2021, and will culminate in Paris, France, on 30 June – 2 July 2021, with the aim of securing a set of concrete, ambitious, and transformative commitments to achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality. The landmark effort will bring together governments, corporations and change to define and announce ambitious investments and policies.

The next phase of the Generation Equality Forum journey focuses on driving concrete commitments for gender equality which will be showcased in Paris. Meet Action Coalition leaders from Europe and Central Asia (see the full list as of June 2021). UN Women looks forward to expanding this transformational partnership on Generation Equality and invites all interested stakeholders to join this critical moment for gender equality as an Action Coalition Commitment Maker (apply here). Check out the Action Coalitions commitments handbook and the global acceleration plan for gender equality.

Mark your calendars for the Generation Equality Forum in Paris from 30 June -2 July. This is your chance to virtually join us for one of the largest global feminist gathering since 1995! Register for the Forum until 2 July 2021!

News and multimedia

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Arts and Culture for Generation Equality 

From young gender equality advocates to high-ranking government officials, more than 700 key stakeholders gathered together in Geneva on 29-30 October 2019 to review the progress made on gender equality at Beijing+25 regional review meeting. Photo: UN Women/Antoine Tardy

Youth Voices

UN Women is determined to make sure that young people are in the driving seat of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and that their voices are heard at all stages of the regional and global review processes and the Generation Equality campaign. In this scope, we’re sharing the voices of young leaders, with diverse areas of expertise from across the Europe and Central Asia region.

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Civil Society Engagement: #FeministsWantSystemChange

In 2020, #FeministsWantSystemChange civil society led consultations, hosted by Women Engage for Common Future and the UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, brought together hundreds of gender equality advocates from the region to demand systemic change to realize women’s rights for an equal future.

A diverse group of 450 women’s rights activists from Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia came together at the Beijing+25 regional civil society forum, in Geneva, to call for urgent action on gender equality. Photo: Antoine Tardy/UN Women

1. Policy briefs on key findings of the Beijing+25 sub-regional consultations in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Russia, Western Balkans, Turkey, and Central Asia.
2. Women’s rights advocates from Central Asia discuss challenges and seek new pathways to systemic change for gender equality
3. Hundreds of women’s rights advocates from Eastern Europe and the Caucasus demand systemic change to realize women’s rights for an equal future
4. Women’s rights advocates from the Western Balkans and Turkey gather to discuss new pathways to gender equality and call for urgent action

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Share #FeministsWantSystemChange on social media! Visit our Trello board for the Feminists Want System Change campaign in the Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Western Balkans & Turkey! We have collected some key messages that you are free to use and play around with on social media.

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