Joint press release from the President of the French Republic and the Executive Director of UN Women: Dates of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris (8 Mar. 21)

Originally published on forum.generationequality.org

Today on 8 March 2021, we celebrate International Women’s Day. One year ago, we invited thousands of people to join us in July 2020 for the Generation Equality Forum, the most significant convening for gender equality since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in 1995 in Beijing, China.

Since last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has further deepened gender inequalities, impacting women disproportionately, as they have been on the frontlines of the response and recovery. As we rebuild societies, it is urgent to take action in a global context of increased pushback against women’s rights.

During this crisis, we did not give up, quite the opposite. Despite the pandemic, because of the pandemic, we have redoubled our efforts. We are more determined than ever to make progress and go forward. This is why we have the pleasure to announce today that the rescheduled Generation Equality Forum will be held in Paris from 30 June to 2 July 2021. We will convene Governments, international organizations, civil society, youth, the private sector and activists from the entire world to make concrete, ambitious and sustainable commitments towards achieving gender equality. This convening will be the culmination of a process launched in Mexico this 29-31 March 2021.

We invite you to join us to reaffirm the importance of multilateralism through our actions – to give girls equal access to education, to allow women to decide autonomously on their bodies, to stop violence against women and girls, to allow women to have equal opportunities with men in the economy, society and in decision-making, to support feminist movements and women’s human rights defenders. When we promote and defend women’s rights, which are universal human rights, we build more just societies. Together, let’s make Generation Equality a reality.