Reflections on UNGA79 and the Summit of the Future

Just under a week after the end of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) – this year also sees the Summit of the Future – it is a good time to reflect on what we have achieved, what we have learned and what the next step will be. are steps. We cannot wait three 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 norms.

The UNGA provides an important opportunity to speak directly to governments and other key stakeholders, and to engage 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 was almost thirty years ago that the Fourth World Conference on Women took place in Beijing. So where was the equality now, and what came of all the prospect?

A powerful mix: strategic collaboration, stakeholder advocacy and network building

In the run-up to our participation in the Summit of the Future, which took place during the middle days of the UNGA, we participated in several key events and strategy sessions with civil society partners and government stakeholders. These include a panel on “The Power of Storytelling in the Fight Against Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” and a strategic discussion space for civil society organized by the Alliance for Universal Digital Rights (AUDRi, of which Equality Now is a founding member) and other partners. In the discussion area, through facilitated group discussions, participants highlighted opportunities for collaboration and input into the ongoing monitoring of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) in action, and set out a set of benchmarks against which the implementation of the GDC can be measured. . This is a continuation of two years of work, working with civil society partners to influence GDC language around gender equality.

We were also proud to attend the UN Women’s event “Towards an 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 towards and commitment to achieving gender equality, and we also heard from youth leaders and UN officials. It was one important moment to build momentum for gender equality and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Beijing Platform for Action commitments ahead of Beijing’s 30th anniversary – and five years to go until the 2030 SDG deadline – next year.

During the first week of UNGA, Equality Now, together with Girls Not Brides and others, hosted an impactful session on “A Near Future Without Child Marriage” with compelling interventions from civil society leaders, government representatives and child marriage survivors. Strong speaker after strong speaker emphasized the negative consequences of child marriage, not only for girls and women, but for society as a wholeand Sally Ncube of Equality Now asked panelists about strengthening accountability mechanisms. The event concluded with Dr. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and former AU Goodwill Ambassador for Ending Child Marriage (2014-2022), who clearly stated that “child marriage is rape”, and spoke powerfully about her own family’s history at the area of ​​child marriage. and presented its AU Goodwill Ambassador Exit Report, which Equality Now helped produce.

The second week of the UNGA was also Climate Week, and Equality Now co-hosted an event Women’s leadership in tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. As part of a powerful lineup of women leaders speaking on a range of issues from the role of Indigenous women to sustainability in fashion, our partners Dorothy Andersen, Esq. from George Washington University Law School and Katia Avilés-Vazquez from the Instituto para la Investigación y Acción en Agroecología in Puerto Rico spoke on a panel entitled “Climate Change Leads to Violence: Women’s Resilience and Resistance.” Moderated by Equality Now’s Global Executive Director S. Mona Sinha, the panel explored the unique environmental and socio-economic challenges facing the Caribbean, how climate change is intensifying violence against women and girls, and what the specific responsibilities and due diligence obligations of governments. under international law to prevent and address violence against women during climate disasters.

Building and strengthening our network of partners and allies was also an important aspect of the UNGA. From informal chats over coffee to follow-up questions for particularly compelling speakers, from supporting existing and new allies by co-hosting events to speaking in entirely new spaces, we prioritized connection and collaboration throughout the two weeks. We were especially pleased that our Global Executive Director S. Mona Sinha was able to speak at the closing session of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting. Mona also spoke about the safety of women and girls in online spaces during a roundtable discussion on ‘Gender, Digital Technologies and the Role of Business’ organized by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit. And Equality Now Advisory Board member and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Cherie Blair, joined other women leaders from around the world in an evidence-based discussion about the importance and impact of women’s political representation at an event co-hosted by the World Bank, Women Political Leaders (WPL) and Oliver Wyman Forum.

What are the most important conclusions from UNGA79 and the Future Summit?

In addition to reaffirming that we are connected to and surrounded by an incredible number of amazing, smart, driven and powerful women, some of our key insights from the two weeks include:

• A lot of governments do care about gender equality. It can be daunting when you see statistics like the UN’s estimate that it will take the world 286 years to achieve gender equality, but we met so many committed government officials and representatives strategizing and advocating side by side with civil society organizations.
• While some expressed disappointment at what they said was a weakened final version of the Pact for the Future and the GDC, they also highlighted the hope, energy and strength shown by the global feminist movement – a hope we certainly share. While the GDC is not perfect, it is an important global framework that maps out key priorities so that the digital space can be inclusive, equitable and just.
• Formal spaces and engagements are important, but it’s the opportunities for connection these occasions provide that will make the real difference: collaboration with the full range of stakeholders and continued advocacy are necessary for buy-in and real action and accountability on the promise of the Beijing Platform for Action, the SDGs and other gender equality goals.

We will continue to work to change the rules

We cannot lower our standards for gender equality and for a gender perspective and the voices of women and girls and must be included in global agreements, frameworks and legal standards. In particular:

• As part of AUDRi, we will leverage the GDC as a supporting tool, while also leveraging other human rights laws and standards that are binding and have strong accountability mechanisms around them. We will continue to collaborate and strategize with partners at future AUDRi meetings, and bring our expertise to global spaces. We will now ensure that our responses to the GDC, as it evolves from design to implementation, include input from partners across multiple areas, from labor rights to climate change.
• Next year we will participate in all global and regional preparations for Beijing +30.

Ahead of CSW69 in March, we’ll be launching the 2025 edition of our Words & Deeds report, coupled with a strong campaign to advocate for legal equality and provide guidance to governments to help them overcome the barriers to changing and repealing gender-discriminatory laws.