Announcing a milestone event for gender equality: The countdown to the 2021 Generation Equality Forum begins

Originally published on forum.generationequality.org

(Mexico City, 3 March) – Today the Government of Mexico along with UN Women and the Government of France, in a partnership with civil society and youth organizations, announced the forthcoming Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City. This landmark event, hosted by the Government of Mexico, is intended to catalyze urgent action for the achievement of gender equality and to promote the human rights of women and girls.

Martha Delgado, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Nadine Gasman, President of the National Institute of Women (INMUJERES) and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, announced the details of the event, which aims to provide momentum and visibility to leaders, civil society and feminist movements seeking gender equality worldwide. Belen Sanz, Representative of UN Women Mexico, Elvira Pablo, Representative of the Youth Task Force, and Jérôme Audin, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Mexico also joined in the launch announcement.

The urgency of the Generation Equality Forum has been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated existing gender inequalities, causing rising violence against women and girls globally as well as disproportionate negative economic consequences for them. At a critical moment for change, the Forum will assess the urgent impacts of the global COVID-19 crisis on women and girls’ rights and reinforce the case for putting gender equality at the center of global recovery plans. The Forum in Mexico will amplify the power and voice of feminist, youth, and grassroots movements at this urgent moment, and renew action towards the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The Generation Equality Forum of Mexico City is a global civil society-centered, multi-stakeholder gathering to drive urgent action and accountability on gender equality. The event will take place virtually from March 29 to 31, 2021, marking the ‘kick-off’ of the Forum journey. A second event, The Generation Equality Forum in Paris, France, will take place in June 2021. The Mexico Forum will inspire and incubate the drive for urgent action which will culminate in the announcement of trail-blazing gender equality commitments and investments at the event in Paris. Registration for the Generation Equality Forum in Mexico is open until March 19 through the Forum’s platform at https://forogeneracionigualdadmx.vfairs.com/. The event will take place virtually due to the current pandemic and it will offer sessions at dual adjusted schedules in order to foster wider participation of people in a diverse range of time zones from all regions of the world.

The Mexico event seeks to honour the grassroots legacy of the Beijing Platform of Action by highlighting the power of gender-based activism and to utilize its momentum to position activists, organizers, and youth as key actors in the development of the gender equality agenda. It will therefore provide the space to develop a multilateral feminist agenda and will include a side-event by the Government of Mexico to create a multilateral alliance of countries to promote gender equality. The event will also feature the work of the Generation Equality Action Coalitions, a set of global, innovative, multi-stakeholder partnerships that will mobilize governments, civil society, international organizations, philanthropies and the private sector. The leaders of these coalitions will unveil their draft blueprints for the most catalytic actions to accelerate women’s rights – in the fields of economic justice, violence against women, actions for climate justice, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights, technology and innovation and feminist movements and leadership. An additional Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action will work to drive action and accountability for this agenda.

 Announcing the countdown to the Mexico Forum Nadine Gasman, president of Mexico’s National Institute for Women, said: “The Forum in Mexico will place the agenda for women and girls’ rights at its core by centering the voices of grassroots organizations as accelerators for social change. The Forum offers a new way to join our voices, a horizontal space where diverse feminist movements of all generations come together with governments, international organizations, and the private sector to achieve the equality that women and girls deserve.”

“The Generation Equality Forum will establish clear lines of work and make a strong call to action to encourage the different parties that have been part of this process, to commit at the highest level in order to achieve the objectives of the Forum. I invite you to join us in this effort and to transform our reality for the benefit of all”, said Martha Delgado Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights.

“The disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on the lives of women and girls makes the need for the Generation Equality Forum more acute than ever”, added Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director. “This is a unique opportunity for stakeholders in all sectors to establish commitments that guarantee a gender-equal post-pandemic recovery, centering the rights of women and girls around the world”.

Notes to editors

• For further information about the Generation Equality Forum Mexico City please contact Isabel González Flores, Secretariat Generation Equality Forum Isabel.g.flores@gmail.com, + 525565252263 Miguel Trancozo Treviño, Communications Specialist, Generation Equality Forum – Mexico, m.trancozotrevino@unwomen.org, +525538366192. 
• You can register for the Generation Equality Forum at this link.
• The Generation Equality Forum Mexico City is a global civil society-centered, multi-stakeholder gathering to drive urgent action and accountability on gender equality. Through diverse and inclusive creation and consultation, the Forum will bring together feminist advocates from around the world. Taking an intersectional perspective, it will open spaces for intergenerational dialogue to foster strong action. As a global movement for urgent action and accountability on gender equality, the Forum will promote systemic and transformative change that accelerates the implementation of the historic Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and leads to gender equality, the resilience and sustainability in a world affected by COVID-19. Reaffirming the value of multilateralism, the Forum will include the leadership and commitment of civil society, governments, academia, international organizations, collectives, community groups, companies, cities, parliaments, unions, and the media, among other stakeholders, with an emphasis on intergenerational and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The Mexico Forum intends to celebrate and recognize the full diversity of women and girls, placing a special focus on involving and amplifying the voices of girls, adolescents, youth and rural women, Afro-descendants, indigenous women, defenders of the earth, women with disabilities, women with diverse sexual orientations and identities.