Closing the PLAY GAP – Generation Equality Forum and Sports
by Katja Iversen, Executive Advisor, Author and Gender Equality Advocate.
Warm greetings from Paris where I am wrapping up, after having participated in the global Generation Equality Forum convened by UN Women and hosted by the Presidents of France and Mexico.
With 50.000 participants online and smaller in-person gatherings it was the largest convening on gender equality and women's empowerment since the Beijing conference in 1995, and it was an important and inspiring fueling station for the way ahead.
The Forum came at a crucial moment for the world, where we see a destabilizing and widening inequality gap, growing conservatism and pushback on women’s rights - all of which has been enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Very concretely, we are seeing skyrocketing increases in gender-based violence, women carrying even more of the unpaid care work, rising rates of girls dropping out of school, and women leaving the labor force, and enhanced misogyny.
So, there was enough to tackle. (Read more here.)
From left: Katja Iversen, Hillary Clinton, Former United States Secretary of State, and Hanna Kristjansdottir from Women Political Leaders.
Before I dive into a little more specifics on what happened in regards to girls, women and sports, here are a couple of the topline takeaways from the Forum:
Accelerating action: A 5-year plan to drive progress across seven areas of action Feminist Leadership, SRHR, Economic justice, climate change, tech & media, gender based violence, and Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action - was put forward.
Money on the table: More than 1,000 entities – CSOs, governments, UN agencies, private sector, philanthropists, sports organizations etc. – made strong commitments, amounting to nearly $40 billion (!) of investments for gender equality and the implementation of the plan. Almost half of the commitments came from civil society and youth-led organizations.
More coming: There is strong commitment to continuing the work and the anticipation from the organizers is that more commitments will be coming over the next couple of months and years.
Together: The event is mainly virtual with a couple of in-person high-level events, with only a few hundred select participants due to COVID restrictions. It was wonderful and very privileged to physically sit in a crowd of influencers and feel the warmth, energy and strong commitment to the issues and to making change. I wish more could have been there - also virtually, but unfortunately the online system had its challenges, including for people with disabilities.
There were more than 100 events during the 3-day Forum, and it was great to see that women and sports were on the agenda.
Sport leaders came together in a big session to make commitments to the Sport for Generation Equality Principles, where the Executive Director of UN Women said:
"Sport is a vital tool to advance gender equality and empower women and girls. ... It is an important vehicle for girls to be leaders."
(Source)
P&G and its brands put forward a solid sports commitment to promote accurate portrayal and equal access to sports, including by highlighting the stories, experiences and inspirational accomplishments of a diverse collection of women athletes.
Global Goals World Cup also came forward with its own strong commitment, which goes like this:
“We will bring the Global Goals World Cup to 193 countries by 2030. In 5 years we aim to have played in 100 countries.
In partnership we will deliver sport and physical activity programs that support girls and women in their efforts to unleash their own potential and enjoy being active. This will help amplify the United Nations 17 Global Goals and the important role women play in achieving the Global Goals.
Through the GGWCUP tournaments we will build a Global Community fuelled by girls and women who are equipped with new skills as well as confidence to build a sustainable and more just future for all.
We commit to closing the PLAY GAP, advancing gender equality and the UN SDG's in every country we play.
We will ensure that historically excluded girls and women are reached, included, engaged and supported through our tournaments and safe spaces are identified for women to play.
We commit to building meaningful partnerships and creating meaningful leadership opportunities through every GGWCUP tournament and Coach Programs.”
I look forward to going home and to – as part of the advisory group – support the organization in implementing this ambitious and beautiful commitment.