‘Demand more’: rallying call issued on gender equality
A meeting was called for global leaders to prioritize accountability to their citizens and improve the lived realities of girls, women and gender diverse people.
It’s the last day of Women Deliver, a major gender equality conference. Melbourne Declaration will determine the agenda for the future of the movement.
Held for the first time in the Pacific Ocean region, the five-day conference brought together 6,000 delegates from 185 countries to discuss priorities, plans and challenges for the future of gender equality globally.
The Charter is the result of 650 consultations with people on every continent in the lead-up to Women Deliver, and hundreds of additional conversations over the past week.
It calls on states to uphold their human rights obligations, institutions to strengthen accountability, and funders to resource feminist movements and locally-led change.
“This is a commitment to doing things differently,” Women Deliver president Maliha Khan said in a statement on Thursday.
“What comes next must be defined by accountability to people, not just systems.”
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern was greeted with cheers and applause when she took the stage for a session on women living in conflict zones.
He urged people to continue demanding that elected representatives remain accountable to their citizens.
“We are a failure in leadership, and it is critical that we do not lower our expectations of politics and leadership,” he said.
“Raise those who lead with empathy, support women entering politics, and never lower your expectations from the political system of which they are a part.
“Don’t lower your expectations, please ask for more.”
Australia’s first female prime minister was another important speaker during the week.
Julia Gillard said the collective power of feminist activists coming together cannot be underestimated.
He warned that the strategic and organized objections of anti-rights movements against gender equality should not be ignored.
“Obviously we want to break glass ceilings… but we also have to make sure that we’re standing on concrete ground right now and that what we think we have can’t suddenly shatter,” he said.
“The world is in such flux that new systems and new ways of working together need to be built… When things change, it is also a time of opportunity.”
Australia’s gender equality ambassador Michelle O’Byrne said it was no longer enough to be shocked by the efforts of anti-rights movements.
“This is no surprise. It’s something that was well planned and particularly well executed,” he said.
“Our job is to make sure that we’re not just pushing back against pushback, but presenting a positive and powerful agenda and narrative about what we believe in, why we need to be there (and) how we can deliver on that.”
The Melbourne Declaration calls on governments to prioritize public systems and strengthen the accountability of civil society.
One of the main themes of the conference was to center the voices of First Nations people around the world and ensure they are heard.
“If there are people who are absolutely committed to gender justice and equality, make sure there are chairs around that table for those from First Nations Indigenous communities who need to be there,” said former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner June Oscar.
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