On June 29, Mexico passed the torch to France as co-chair of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) that will take place from June 30 to July 2 in Paris. The COVID-19 pandemic could not deter the important renewal of commitments made 25 years ago in the Beijing Platform for Action. In fact, it gave a sense of urgency to look at women and girls that once again, silently, are the main victims of domestic violence and job losses during extended lockdowns.
At the same time, the contribution by women during the recurring waves of COVID-19 has been enormous, but again, not always visible. They have not only been at the frontline of the pandemic response, as nurses and doctors, but also as providers of meals for the unemployed and as unpaid caretakers of infected family members, supporting online home school, etc.
In this context, the timing for the GEF, as a multi-stakeholder and bottom-up global event focused mainly on our new generations supported by the United Nations, could not be better. It comes a few weeks after the G7 Development Ministerial Meeting in May, where its members committed to align with the GEF goals launched in Mexico last March; and ahead of the G20 International Ministerial meeting on Women Empowerment, next August in Italy.
Indeed, this call will be summing up voices not only within the 193 member States of the United Nations, but also from the seven top economies and the emerging markets that form the G20. It is a matter not only of seating women in the main international fora, but of transforming the way decisions are taken worldwide. It must not only bring a gender and human perspective, but also one that is inclusive, empathic, compassionate, intuitive, and therefore, key to strengthening international cooperation and peace.
This is why a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) should be one of the outcomes of the GEF, as Sweden, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom have done; and more recently, Mexico, who hosted the World Conference on Women in 1975.
Back then, 20 years before Beijing, Mexican feminist pioneers—Rosario Castellanos, Elena Poniatowska, Marta Lamas, Elena Urrutia, and others—planted the seeds of affirmative action policies. As a result, Mexico’s Congress is the first within the OECD countries with more women legislators; and with the support of the Senate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally launched Mexico’s FFP in 2020.
Based on a growing body of academic research that concludes that increasing inclusion and women’s economic, social, and political participation can lead to a richer and more peaceful world, the GEF will stir in Paris a wide movement for the next five years in support of a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender.
This step taken by Mexico, as the first Latin-American country and emerging economy to have a FFP from the Global South, should not be unnoticed by other main democracies. In fact, a gender perspective, compared to traditional policies—either real politik or other vertical responses—can be equally pragmatic, allowing a bottom up and a cross-cutting, multi-sectoral, and a more integrated approach and definitely, a more democratic one.
No wonder that the GEF discussions in Mexico City concluded on the need to build back better and restart a sustainable, more just, prosperous, and inclusive paradigm, to tackle the gender equality crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Therefore, based on a growing body of academic research that concludes that increasing inclusion and women’s economic, social, and political participation can lead to a richer and more peaceful world, the GEF will stir in Paris a wide movement for the next five years in support of a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender.
For this purpose, six Action Coalitions will be launched: On gender-based violence; economic justice and rights; bodily autonomy, sexual and reproductive health and rights; feminist action for climate justice; technology and innovation for gender equality; and on feminist movements and leadership. They should become tools for the reformation of existing norms and practices, and the knock-down of systemic gender and inequality gaps, focusing on human rights.
A post-COVID era can’t be imagined without economic recovery measures as well as assertive social programmes for gender inclusion since women and girls have been the most affected of the homeless or jobless, indigenous or rural communities, migrants and refugees, or other victims of discrimination. This is why Mexico has decided to include all of these groups, as well as LGBT+ individuals in its gender perspective.
A post-COVID era can’t be imagined without economic recovery measures as well as assertive social programmes for gender inclusion since women and girls have been the most affected of the homeless or jobless, indigenous or rural communities, migrants and refugees, or other victims of discrimination. This is why Mexico has decided to include all of these groups, as well as LGBT+ individuals in its gender perspective.
No country, developed or developing, has reached the goals traced back in Mexico and Beijing. The United Nations 2030 Agenda, that all countries adopted in 2015, traces a clear roadmap for gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls (SDG5). The GEF Action Coalitions will allow us to stir further action and transformation, from whole-of-the-government and society alliances, on this important journey in favour of the dignity, opportunities, and rights of women and girls.
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Judith Arrieta Munguia is the Deputy Chief of Missions Embassy of Mexico in India.
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