What’s next for the Generation Equality Forum? Q&A with Eugenia López Uribe

The first convening of the Generation Equality Forum hosted by UN Women and the Mexican Government came to an end in March after 4 days of activism, international collaboration, and youth leadership. Speaking to Girls Not Brides’ Head of Latin America and the Caribbean Engagement, Eugenia López Uribe, we found out what the Generation Equality Forum means for the movement to end child marriage, and what’s happening next in the process.

What is the Generation Equality Forum, and why does it matter?

The Generation Equality Forum, or GEF, is an opportunity to celebrate progress on girls’ and women’s rights, and to drive commitments by governments to ensure women thrive. Currently there are strong backlashes against gender equality efforts worldwide, so GEF was created to provide a multi-stakeholder space that ensures there is the mobilisation, investment, and willingness to move forward.

The Generation Equality Forum marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, when “the girl child” was first brought into the conversation on rights. It is important for the movement to end child, early and forced marriage and unions because of this focus, and the fact that girls’ rights are still largely neglected, with a great need for advancement and investment.

If a girl has more resources, education and access – the decisions and plans she can make for her life will be better informed.

The GEF also matters because young people and adolescents have been working hard to influence the Forum’s agenda and lead through the Youth Task Force. The task force is a global group of young leaders, brought together to ensure youth voices and priorities are at the centre of the Generation Equality process. Together with these young leaders, we are advocating that if a girl has more resources, education and access – the decisions and plans she can make for her life will be better informed.

What was the significance of the GEF being hosted by Mexico?

The Generation Equality process aims to be more feminist and transformative with leadership from progressive governments and regions. Mexico has a feminist foreign policy, and the Latin American and Caribbean region has made strong commitments related to reproductive rights, gender equality and LGBTQ+. The forum was an opportunity to bring that strength and show our commitment to progress.

The Mexican Government’s leadership also provided an opportunity for organisations working at the local level to share their expertise. This was very powerful. Indigenous girls were very vocal in the forum and a young trans girl facilitated one of the panels. Having this strong participation from youth leaders and organisations working with directly with communities will allow us to link global commitments better at the grassroots level.

Young people are not just the future, and their inputs are not “only words”. We need action now.

What were your key takeaways from the convening?

For me, there were several important takeaways. We have produced a pathway for a Feminist Agenda for Generation Equality that was made in collaboration with civil society organisations around the world. The pathway has strong, progressive recommendations and centralises the vision of the global gender equality movement and what we want to achieve.

Also, for the first time, two panels were led by adolescents. Usually the panels are led by UN agencies or governments, but here adolescent girls were defining which questions to ask and deciding the agenda. I hope this signals a cultural change in the way we host these forums, including ensuring young people’s participation is both meaningful and safe.

As my Girls Not Brides colleague and young indigenous woman, Elvira Pablo, said at the forum’s opening ceremony, in the presence of the President of Mexico, “Young people are tired of hearing words and commitments without immediate action”.

Young people are not just the future, and their inputs are not “only words”. We need action now.

What will happen next? How can activists and civil society actors get involved?

The next milestone is the Generation Equality Forum in Paris in June 2021, which will result in a set of ambitious commitments to achieve progress towards gender equality. Civil society organisations can contribute recommendations through the pathway survey, to make sure our voices are represented not only in France but also in the Feminist Agenda for Generation Equality that will be presented at United Nations General Assembly in September. This pathway is a collaborative effort between the Civil Society Advisory Groups for the GEF, Mexico, France and the GEF Youth Task Force. It’s a solid process that we’re building to represent civil society views for the future.

Civil society actors can also become a Generation Equality Action Coalition Commitment Maker. Child marriage is included in two of the six Action Coalitions; on Bodily Autonomy and Gender-based Violence. This is an opportunity to make a 1-year commitment that is specific on child marriage and is adequate and contextualised to your own community.

These two platforms are an opportunity to be heard, engage, learn from the other partners, and to include adolescents and young people in global efforts for gender equality. Vitally, it’s a moment to ensure that we as the movement to end child marriage are pushing for progress to end the practice for girls everywhere.