Blog Post- my participation in the Gender Equality Forum

The Gender Equality Forum held in Mexico this year served as a catalyst for international cooperation and commitment to advancing women’s equal participation in the socio-economic and political arenas, while amplifying the voices of young women and girls around the world.

The opening remarks by Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Amina J. Mohammed implored our international communities to work towards equal gender representation of women in government and institutional bodies:

Mohammed delivered a powerful message to the world at a time where all hands-on deck is needed to ensure a strong and resilient economic and health recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 3 million people.

Many grass roots women activists have shared their views on government funded support to empower women make progress in and for their communities. According to Relinda Sosa Perez, a grass roots leader from Lima, Peru, women are capable of making change and are currently in the frontlines fighting the pandemic. There is a plethora of women led farmers associations and fisher folks who have been involved with aid relief and are now involved with the pandemic recovery. Not only do women have experience with actions of protest and proposals, but they are also leaders with strong relationships to their local communities and stakeholders. Perez spoke to the importance of government investing in grass roots women activists to advance the national recovery efforts.

My most memorable part of the forum was participating in the Imagining 2026 Youth Panel Discussion, where 4 young women activists from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, and Guatemala speak about how they envision their countries’ progress on women and girls’ rights in 5 years time.

I resonated most with Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s 2026 vision, the former believes period poverty would be eradicated and all socio-economically disadvantaged women and girls will have access to menstrual products and will be able to attend school. The latter hoped for policy makers to not only consider youth perspectives in decision-making spaces, but particularly highlight adolescent girls’ voices and demands on issues that directly impact our lives. Not only will adolescent girls work with other youths, but also across generations with high level individuals in order to bridge generational gaps, as each generation has a unique perspective to share. Her hope for 2026 is for Saudi Arabia to abolish the guardianship system, allowing women to travel and exercise their agency without the consent of a man.

My main takeaway from the forum was everyone has a part to play in the movement towards women and girls’ rights. We know women and girls have untapped potential that are not being realized due to socio-economic and political challenges especially during the Covid-19 context.

Governments and leaders have a responsibility to invest, support, and strengthen the voices of women leaders and activists, who are affecting change in their communities, who are building their communities and who are leading the way for economic and health recovery. Our goal is to have women and girls at all levels of the decision and policy making process because policies and laws need to reflect the entire population, of which 50 per cent is made of women.