Dear Friends,
We were thrilled to announce today in the closing ceremonies of the Generation Equality Forum that Women Moving Millions has surpassed its commitment to mobilize a minimum of $100 million to accelerate progress toward gender equality. We offer a special thank you to our member community, Board of Directors, WMM team, and partners who committed to give bold!
Launched at our Summit last fall, the Give Bold, Get Equal campaign called upon WMM members to commit $1 million or more to resource the leaders on the frontlines of gender equality work. This effort is our community’s direct response to the devastating impact the pandemic has had on women and girls, threatening their safety, health, and opportunity. The success of the campaign in such a short period demonstrates what happens when you combine the power of feminist leadership and community; the impossible becomes possible.
Convened by UN Women, the Generation Equality Forum (June 30 – July 2) is taking place more than a quarter-century after the Beijing World Conference on Women, and at a time when we find ourselves in the midst of the biggest crisis for women in our collective memory. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to share our campaign achievement before thousands of participants representing governments, corporations, civil society, and philanthropy.
This announcement is happening alongside the unveiling on Wednesday of an historic commitment of $40 billion from governments ($23bn), private sector ($13bn), and philanthropy ($4bn) to advance the Forum’s ambitious agenda.
While we celebrate this extraordinary investment, our work must continue. The crisis is too big, the gap in funding remains, leaving too many vulnerable. The path to achieving a gender equal world will require a historic level of focus and financing to usher in the seismic shift of priorities, structures, and power that is long overdue. While the challenges and barriers to change are formidable, they are in no way insurmountable.
Our work ahead is to ensure that gender equality is not a footnote but sits at the heart of the fight to make our world more equitable for all. Our mission: to continue to move unprecedented resources to make this happen. Now we call on the broader sector to continue the momentum of this week’s Forum and give boldly to get equal.
We invite you to join us and make your own bold #GetEqual Commitment. Learn more on our website.
In partnership,
Sarah
Sarah Haacke Byrd
Executive Director
Women Moving Millions