French G7 Presidency: France’s commitment to gender equality

Against a backdrop of increased global ultraconservative rhetoric, the missions of the GEAC provide counter-discourse based on expertise. 

For 2026, the President of the French Republic has thus launched reflection on demographic issues from a feminist perspective. To achieve this, 20 high-level experts are tasked with drawing up recommendations, chaired by Ghada Hatem, an obstetrician-gynaecologist and founder of La Maison des Femmes, with David Duhamel, an economist specializing in demographic issues, as vice chair.

What is the GEAC, or Gender Equality Advisory Council?

The GEAC is a forum for dialogue bringing together high-level independent experts. Its aim is to produce strategic recommendations for G7 Heads of State and Government in the areas of gender equality and women’s rights. 

The product of a Canadian initiative during the G7 Presidency in 2018, the GEAC has convened every year since then, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2019, under the previous French G7 Presidency, the GEAC helped identify best legislative practices in terms of gender equality and was the driving force behind a Declaration on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment adopted by 14 Heads of State and government to encourage full empowerment for girls and women. 

This work contributed to the creation of an annual review of gender inequalities by publishing information on education, employment, domestic violence and health, which has been released every year since 2021.

The French G7 Presidency in 2026

This year, with France once again holding the G7 Presidency, the experts will present their report to the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron and to the G7 authorities alongside the Paris Peace Forum. Meeting in Paris from 9 to 11 November, the members will also meet members of Parliament, institutional partners, students and G7 engagement groups on women’s rights (W7) and young people (Y7).

The GEAC issues public policy recommendations based around three fundamental ideas:

• Adaptation: decreasing fertility rates is a global trend to which States must adapt
• Eliminating structural barriers to forming families: the goal is to reduce the gap between people’s reproductive aspirations and their ability to fulfil them
• Combating demographic disinformation and regulating technological developments: in the face of the instrumentalization of demographics to the detriment of women’s control over their bodies, the G7 must provide counter-discourse based on reliable data and compliance with human rights.

For the GEAC, gender equality is not a metric to be adjusted in the face of demographic shifts; it is at the very core of demographic resilience.

Experts in 2026

• Chair Ghada Hatem (France/Lebanon): Obstetrician-gynaecologist and founder of La Maison des Femmes and the #ReStart network.
• Vice Chair David Duhamel (France): Economist and lecturer at the Independent Institute of International Relations (ILERI) and Sciences Po Paris.
• Catherine Ladousse (France): Co-founder and Vice-President of Ensemble contre le sexisme and Cercle InterElles, and co-chair of the Commission on Gender Balance of the High Council for Gender Equality.
• Amy Hepburn (Canada): CEO of the Investor Leadership Network (ILN) Secretariat, member of the NationSwell Council and the Global Women’s Forum on Economy and Society.
• Dr Katharina Wrohlich (Germany): Head of the Gender Economics Research Group at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and Professor of Public Finance, Gender and Family Economics at the University of Potsdam.
• Monica Ricci Sargentini (Italy): Journalist and foreign correspondent for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera and Vice President of Radfem Italia.
• Dr Sawako Shirahase (Japan): Former GEAC Chair in 2022 and specialist in sociology of population, gender equality and demographic issues.
• Laura Bates (United Kingdom): Academic, journalist, author and feminist activist, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project.
• Frances Fitzgerald (European Union): Former Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Minister for Justice and Equality and Cabinet Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Former MEP and recipient of the Legion of Honour in recognition of her advocacy for equality. 
• Aurélie Gal-Régniez (France): Since 2015, Executive Director of Equipop, a feminist NGO promoting gender equality and sexual and reproductive health rights, and founding member of the Francophone Feminist Alliance.
• Stuart Gietel-Basten (United Kingdom): Associate Director of the Center for Aging Science, Associate Dean at The Hong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and co-founder of openpop.org. 
• Nahla Haidar (Lebanon): Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
• Dr Jisoo Hwang (South Korea): Professor at the College of Liberal Studies, Seoul National University.
• Dr Apoorva Jadhav (United States): Demographer, family planning and reproductive health expert, senior fellow at the Population Reference Bureau and nonresident scholar in the Carnegie South Asia Program as part of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and former senior demographer at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
• Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (South Africa): Former Deputy President of South Africa and former Executive Director of UN Women.
• Vanessa Moungar (France/Chad): Head of diversity and inclusion at LVMH Group, former director for gender, women and civil society at the African Development Bank and member of the Presidential Council for Africa. 
• Hélène Périvier (France): Director of Research at the French Economy Observatory (OFCE) and Director of the Gender Studies Programme at Sciences Po.
• Anna Roy (France): Author, columnist and gender equality activist.
• Dr Jennifer D. Sciubba (United States): Demographer specializing in political science, President and CEO of the Population Reference Bureau and author of the book Toxic Demography. 
• Mr Lawrence Yanovitch (France/United States): Coordinator of the One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund Network