Dear Youth Leaders,
As we approach the end of the year, I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your remarkable leadership, commitment and hard work to advance the gender equality agenda this year.
2021 has been a tough but memorable year. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, with the loss of lives and the suffering that so many people are still enduring. The pandemic has been a painful reminder of structural inequalities across the world, which affect women and girls disproportionately, and has threatened hard-won gains for women’s rights. We have seen youth at the forefront of the crisis response, advocating for vulnerable communities and bringing new ideas and solutions. UN Women will continue to work hand in hand with you in your efforts to build a resilient world with young women and girls at the centre of recovery.
On the other hand, 2021 will be remembered as the year when the world came together strongly for gender equality at the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico and Paris. With young people as co-leaders of the Forum, different sectors of society were mobilized to become a formidable force, ready to open a new chapter in the march towards gender equality. I would like to recognize the remarkable work done by the Generation Equality Youth Task Force, the National Gender Youth Activists and the adolescent girls, in the youth journey at the Generation Equality Forum. Everything that you did, contributed to the successful outcome, and the $40 Billion mobilized to accelerate gender equality. We are deeply grateful to all of you. Many of you will continue to play a central role in the 5-year action journey ahead, and in the implementation of commitments, to ensure accountability and progress over the next five years.
While we cannot deny the multiple uncertainties lying ahead of us, we have learned from your activism that such challenges can be overcome, with courage, boldness and creativity. Let´s navigate the uncertainties together, with the determination that a more equal world is not only possible, but on its way.