Generation Equality Forum: Mexico City
The Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City contemplates a series of meetings that addresses the structural and systemic obstacles that prevent the achievement of true gender equality and looks at ways of guaranteeing the exercise of human rights for women and girls on the global level.
This Forum presents with a historical opportunity to promote the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the framework of the commemoration of its 25th anniversary, in addition to being aligned with the Feminist Foreign Policy that the Government of Mexico is promoting.
You can find the programme agenda of the Forum with panelists of each session here.
Generation Equality Forum: CDMX
The Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City contemplates a series of meetings that addresses the structural and systemic obstacles that prevent the achievement of true gender equality and looks at ways of guaranteeing the exercise of human rights for women and girls on the global level.
This Forum presents with a historical opportunity to promote the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the framework of the commemoration of its 25th anniversary, in addition to being aligned with the Feminist Foreign Policy that the Government of Mexico is promoting.
You can find the programme agenda of the Forum with panelists of each session here.
CONTEXT
CONTEXT
The Generation Equality Forum is part of the evaluation process of the implementation of Beijing +25, where the following events are taking place:
The Generation Equality Forum is part of the evaluation process of the implementation of Beijing +25, where the following events are taking place:
THE BEIJING ROAD
THE BEIJING ROAD
Before Beijing
1975
Mexico hosted the First UN World Conference on Women from June 19 to July 2, 1975 1 held in the context of the International Year of Women and marking the start of the UN Decade for Women and associated follow-up conferences to evaluate progress in the elimination of discrimination against women and the promotion of equality.
The Conference was convened by the General Assembly and summoned by the Commission on the Status of Women, with representatives from 133 governments, along with 6,000 NGO representatives attending a parallel forum ––the International Women’s Year Tribune. The Conference defined a global plan of action for achieving the objectives of the International Women’s Year, including a comprehensive set of guidelines for the advancement of women up to 1985.
Three main objectives were identified:
- Gender equality and elimination of gender discrimination
- Women’s participation in development
- Greater contribution of women to world peace
It was the first international conference held by the United Nations that focused exclusively on women’s issues and marked a turning point in policy directives. From then on, women were seen as part of the process to develop and implement policies, rather than as recipients of assistance.
1995
The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, was an important turning point for the global gender equality agenda. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is an agenda for women’s empowerment, and resulted in the development of a key global policy document on gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action sets out a series of strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas:
The Beijing conference built on the political agreements reached at the three previous world conferences on women and consolidated five decades of legal advances aimed at ensuring the equality of women and men in law and practice. More than 6,000 government delegates and more than 4,000 accredited NGO representatives participated in the negotiations. A parallel NGO forum held in Huairou attracted nearly 30,000 participants.
After Beijing
2015
On August 2 of this year, governments united to push an ambitious agenda that contains 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) and 169 targets that seek to eradicate poverty, combat inequality, and promote prosperity, while protecting the environment by 2030. One of them, SDG 5, aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This goal includes the elimination of all forms of discrimination, violence, and harmful practices against women and girls, as well as ensuring their full and direct participation in the economic, political and academic life of their communities. The 2030 Agenda also mainstreamed gender into all the goals in order to address challenges by taking into account the contributions of and impacts on girls and women.
2020
On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Beijing+25, an assessment was conducted with the participation of Member States, civil society organizations, and youth from around the world to analyze progress, challenges, setbacks, and priorities towards gender equality. Within this framework, the Generation Equality Forum, as well as the CSW64 and the General Assembly of the United Nations, are part of the route of strategic actions that follow up the Beijing Platform for Action and that have been adapted due to the current health emergency.
Before Beijing
1975
Mexico hosted the First UN World Conference on Women from June 19 to July 2, 1975 1 held in the context of the International Year of Women and marking the start of the UN Decade for Women and associated follow-up conferences to evaluate progress in the elimination of discrimination against women and the promotion of equality.
The Conference was convened by the General Assembly and summoned by the Commission on the Status of Women, with representatives from 133 governments, along with 6,000 NGO representatives attending a parallel forum ––the International Women’s Year Tribune. The Conference defined a global plan of action for achieving the objectives of the International Women’s Year, including a comprehensive set of guidelines for the advancement of women up to 1985.
Three main objectives were identified:
- Gender equality and elimination of gender discrimination
- Women’s participation in development
- Greater contribution of women to world peace
It was the first international conference held by the United Nations that focused exclusively on women’s issues and marked a turning point in policy directives. From then on, women were seen as part of the process to develop and implement policies, rather than as recipients of assistance.
1995
The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, was an important turning point for the global gender equality agenda. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, is an agenda for women’s empowerment, and resulted in the development of a key global policy document on gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action sets out a series of strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas:
The Beijing conference built on the political agreements reached at the three previous world conferences on women and consolidated five decades of legal advances aimed at ensuring the equality of women and men in law and practice. More than 6,000 government delegates and more than 4,000 accredited NGO representatives participated in the negotiations. A parallel NGO forum held in Huairou attracted nearly 30,000 participants.
After Beijing
2015
On August 2 of this year, governments united to push an ambitious agenda that contains 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) and 169 targets that seek to eradicate poverty, combat inequality, and promote prosperity, while protecting the environment by 2030. One of them, SDG 5, aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. This goal includes the elimination of all forms of discrimination, violence, and harmful practices against women and girls, as well as ensuring their full and direct participation in the economic, political and academic life of their communities. The 2030 Agenda also mainstreamed gender into all the goals in order to address challenges by taking into account the contributions of and impacts on girls and women.
2020
On the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Beijing+25, an assessment was conducted with the participation of Member States, civil society organizations, and youth from around the world to analyze progress, challenges, setbacks, and priorities towards gender equality. Within this framework, the Generation Equality Forum, as well as the CSW64 and the General Assembly of the United Nations, are part of the route of strategic actions that follow up the Beijing Platform for Action and that have been adapted due to the current health emergency.
RESULTS OF THE FORUM
RESULTS OF THE FORUM
The Generation Equality Forum began its activities in Mexico City with a global transgenerational and intersectional meeting for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and partnership of civil society.
People from around the world, mostly from feminist organizations and movements, came together to celebrate the power of activism, feminist solidarity and youth leadership to bring about transformational change, and to develop joint strategies for gender equality.
This event had three specific objectives:
- Design of a roadmap for Action Coalitions.
- Development of a global feminist strategy to propose and promote accelerated changes towards gender equality in the coming years.
- Establishment of an alliance of champion countries that will promote the gender equality agenda in multilateral forums.
The Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City contemplated a series of meetings that addressed the structural and systemic obstacles that prevents the achievement of true gender equality and guarantee the exercise of human rights for women and girls at the global level.
The commemoration of this event presents a historic opportunity to promote the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in the framework of the 25th anniversary of its signing, in addition to being aligned with the Feminist Foreign Policy that the Government of Mexico is promoting.
The Generation Equality Forum began its activities in Mexico City with a global transgenerational and intersectional meeting for gender equality, convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and partnership of civil society.
People from around the world, mostly from feminist organizations and movements, came together to celebrate the power of activism, feminist solidarity and youth leadership to bring about transformational change, and to develop joint strategies for gender equality.
This event had three specific objectives:
- Design of a roadmap for Action Coalitions.
- Development of a global feminist strategy to propose and promote accelerated changes towards gender equality in the coming years.
- Establishment of an alliance of champion countries that will promote the gender equality agenda in multilateral forums.
The Generation Equality Forum in Mexico City contemplated a series of meetings that addressed the structural and systemic obstacles that prevents the achievement of true gender equality and guarantee the exercise of human rights for women and girls at the global level.
The commemoration of this event presents a historic opportunity to promote the full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in the framework of the 25th anniversary of its signing, in addition to being aligned with the Feminist Foreign Policy that the Government of Mexico is promoting.
GLOBAL STEERING GROUP
GLOBAL STEERING GROUP
The Generation Equality Forum is a meeting convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and partnership of civil society. The Steering Group, in charge of making decisions on the planning, agenda, and implementation of the Forum and its outcomes, has representation from each of these four key partners. Two members of the Civil Society Advisory Group are part of the Steering Group, and the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee supports the Steering Group in carrying out the Forum. Visit the pages of these groups for more information.
The Generation Equality Forum is a meeting convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the governments of Mexico and France, with the leadership and partnership of civil society. The Steering Group, in charge of making decisions on the planning, agenda, and implementation of the Forum and its outcomes, has representation from each of these four key partners. Two members of the Civil Society Advisory Group are part of the Steering Group, and the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee supports the Steering Group in carrying out the Forum. Visit the pages of these groups for more information.
On this page photographs of:
Andy Richter, Dzilam Méndez, Ariel Silva, Joe Saade, Ryan Brown.