2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women that took place in Beijing in 1995, at which governments from around the world agreed on a comprehensive plan to achieve global gender equality, better known as the Beijing Platform for Action. The Beijing Platform is recognised as the most progressive international agreement on gender equality. This anniversary is celebrated with the Generation Equality Forum, a global campaign led by UN Women to reinvigorate the progress to achieve gender equality for all women around the world.

The IRC believes this process offers groundbreaking opportunities to advance gender equality and catalyse policy change in a global context where many societies are actually witnessing a roll-back of women’s rights.

However, there is a real risk that women and girls living in emergencies and protracted crisis will remain invisible in these debates. The debate currently does not reflect the necessary awareness for the dire situation of these women and girls, and their very specific needs for safety and empowerment.

The position paper therefore calls on all actors who are engaging in the Generation Equality Process to make an effort to push for the inclusion of women and girls affected by humanitarian contexts in the Generation Equality Forum and outlines structural recommendations to do so. The paper furthermore outlines specific recommendations for each of the 6 Action Coalitions, to showcase how the needs women and girls in humanitarian contexts can be reflected across all the work streams that will channel the work of the Forum.  

Available documents & links