New York, 17 February 2021 - Eighteen new organizations have stepped up to steer Generation Equality ‘Action Coalitions’ – innovative partnerships of member states, corporations, youth-led, civil society and international organizations and philanthropies, designed to propel a dramatic acceleration in gender equality. These leading organizations are part of a major drive towards action and commitments on women and girls’ rights in the run up to 2021’s Generation Equality Forum. The Generation Equality Forum is convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the Governments of Mexico and France in partnership with youth and civil society. It will take place in Mexico City 29-31 March and in Paris in June.
The youth-led organizations announced are:
- Las Niñas Lideran (Guatemala) and YES Trust (Zimbabwe), leaders in the Gender-based Violence Action Coalition;
- Manki Maroua (Cameroon) and Anmar Anyar Ular (Panama), leaders in the Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition;
- Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (global, based in Canada) and La Comision de Ninez y Juventud Indigena (Latin America), leaders in the Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Action Coalition;
- Girls for Climate Action (Uganda), Green Hope Foundation (global, based in Canada), and Tejiendo Pensamiento (Colombia), leaders in the Feminist Action for Climate Justice Action Coalition;
- Digital Grassroots (Nigeria), the youth-led organization leader in the Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality Action Coalition;
- MARIJÀN Feminist Organization (Haiti) and Young Feminist Europe (a regional organization based in Belgium), leaders in the Feminist Movements and Leadership Action Coalition.
The private sector leaders announced today are:
- Kering, as a co-founder of the OneinThreeWomen network, and Accor, leaders in the Gender-based Violence Action Coalition;
- Clue, the private sector leader in the Bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) coalition;
- Gucci, the private sector leader in the Feminist Movements and Leadership Coalition;
- PayPal, the private-sector leader in the Economic Justice and Rights Coalition;
- Microsoft and Koç Holding, leaders in the Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality.
Additional Action Coalition leaders will be announced at a later date.
A complete list of all Action Coalitions and leaders may be found here. The leadership group currently numbers 92 leaders from 24 countries. Each leader is making a 5-year commitment to catalytic action and implementation for gender equality.
Welcoming the announcement, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said, “This broad spread of diverse partners in the Action Coalitions brings new strength and energy. In combination across ages and sectors, these are forces that can crack open the age-old limitations women have struggled against for far too long.”
As part of the Generation Equality initiative, Action Coalitions will define and drive catalytic commitments to accelerate implementation of gender equality. Their effort recognizes that 25 years after the landmark World Conference on Women in Beijing, no country has yet achieved full gender equality. COVID-19 has exacerbated this lack of progress, deepening women’s poverty and increasing rates of domestic and other forms of violence. Together the Action Coalitions are working to ensure COVID-19 does not result in a roll back of women’s hard-won gains and to ensure gender equality is at the center now and in the post COVID agenda. Action Coalition members will collaborate to announce ‘blue-prints’ for action at the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico 29-31 March and to launch bold commitments at the Forum in France in June.
The Action Coalition leaders are together calling on other organizations to join them as “commitment-makers” in this landmark effort. Organizations interested in joining Action Coalitions can learn more about this opportunity here.
Notes to Editors
1. For further information please contact Nancy McCarthy at Ogilvy Public Relations, +1 212.880.5366/mobile (917) 549-0233.
2. For additional information about the participation of the leaders please contact representatives as follows: Accor, Line Crieloue, Group External Communications - Corporate Executive Director, Line.CRIELOUE@accor.com, T. +33(0) 1 45 38 18 11 - M. +33(0) 7 61 44 10 05; Gucci, Claudio Monteverde, Global Head of Corporate Communication, corporate@gucci.com; Kering, Marie de Montreynaud +33 (0)1 45 64 62 53 / marie.demontreynaud@kering.com; Koç Holding, Yeliz Öz Kara, Koç Holding Senior Media Relations Manager, yelizo@koc.com.tr; PayPal, Tiffany Peng at tipeng@paypal.com, 669-287-6845; Young Feminist Europe, contact@youngfeminist.eu; Green Hope Foundation, contact@greenhopefoundation.com.
3. The Action Coalition themes are: Gender-based violence; Economic justice and rights; Bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); Feminist action for climate justice; Technology and innovation for gender equality; and Feminist movements and leadership. Each Action Coalition will launch a targeted set of concrete, ambitious and immediate actions within the period of 2021-2026 to deliver a tangible impact on gender equality.