Opinion: How can we deliver on our promises for gender equality?

This summer, over $40 billion was pledged by governments and the private sector to advance the rights of women and girls around the world at the Generation Equality Forum in Paris. The forum was a follow-up to the fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, which shaped a transformative and widely recognized plan toward achieving gender equality.

As the global community again took stock of the state of gender equality — 26 years after the landmark women’s conference — participants re-committed to fund a range of priorities. Over a one- to five-year time frame, diverse constituents pledged to influence public policy to support care workers; change discriminatory norms and behaviors to end gender-based violence; increase access to education and finance; and develop leadership pathways and green technologies to solve the climate crisis.

In addition to these pledges, the blueprints launched at the forum also outline a targeted set of concrete actions across six key issue areas, organized into “Action Coalitions.”

But while ambition is high, certain challenges could limit the ability to achieve transformational change.

Having worked in philanthropy, I saw firsthand what governments, donors, and multilateral institutions such as the United Nations got right and wrong in the wake of the Beijing conference. Without matching action, implementation, and accountability, the set of commitments made at the conference fell short of delivering groundbreaking change.

Gender data to track and measure progress across a range of outcomes from poverty to health was significantly lacking. Review and assessment every five years was not enough. Women’s rights organizations were not adequately funded.

Over two decades later, several of these challenges persist. Resources are finite; gender data is limited; institutional practices are bureaucratic; and accountability mechanisms, which have yet to be established, will need broad buy-in and capacity in order to be successful.

We have a unique opportunity this time to build on these lessons to ensure a different outcome. This fundamentally means creating a dynamic, independent, multistakeholder governance structure to monitor key outcomes and evaluate progress. With the right mix of co-ownership, transparency, and funding, we have a chance to practice mutual accountability and catalyze efforts to co-create a process that can drive more concrete and impactful results.

What does this mean in practice?

To start, successful accountability processes must be co-created and co-managed. A strong governance structure must be multistakeholder with technical evaluation experts, women’s rights organizations and networks, young feminist leaders, governments, private sector representatives, and U.N. agencies.

Guided by International Center for Research on Women’s Feminist Foreign Policy Framework, the inclusion of feminist civil society and communities most impacted by gender inequality will be a critical measure of success. Those who have already been engaged in the GEF process should be invited to join the structure alongside other representatives. Balance — in terms of the diversity of regions and sectors, expertise, age, disability, ethnicity, and gender — is essential.

The governance structure’s principal functions should be to review, supervise, and lead on matters related to the accountability process and implementation of GEF commitments and blueprint goals. This includes reviewing and approving budgets, tracking activities, and developing monitoring frameworks and reporting protocols that are realistic and achievable. Evaluating progress toward gender equality and communicating results are core priorities.

A strong governance structure needs strategic partners accountable to GEF’s vision and values, and who will balance a range of competing organizational interests. Joint decision-making and agenda setting is key to developing a robust implementation plan; hence, each member should be entitled to one vote and subject to conflict of interest agreements.

All stakeholders should engage as trusting equals to develop collective priorities and strategies, and outline expectations and roles. The Girls First Fund, a donor collaborative with diverse partners, is committed to ensuring successful implementation by following strong integrated processes and governance practices. Drawing on this type of model will be useful.

Transparency must be at the heart of this structure, and knowledge sharing is fundamental to this goal. Investing in a well-resourced and long-term learning platform will be critical to provide a central knowledge base that will help connect different commitment makers; strengthen coordination between local, national, and global levels; and support robust research to shape stronger programs, policies, and outcomes.

A comprehensive online database or dashboard with quantitative and qualitative findings, analysis, and case studies will help us understand what is happening with the promised funds and track progress. Indeed, the Ebola health crisis has taught us many lessons about the importance of data tracking.

Measuring and sharing relevant and disaggregated data is critical, not only for what we achieve or don’t achieve, but also for what we are learning along the way. There must be dedicated resources to improve gender data and its use by all, while highlighting evolving needs and successes, as well as comparative findings. In particular, we need reliable data on 10- to 14-year-old girls who remain invisible due to lack of priority and funding.

Starting from scratch is not necessary. Drawing on existing sources and leveraging innovative models and tools at the global and national levels will be both cost- and time-effective.

The Open Government Partnership — where governments and civil society map out plans to implement policies on issues such as education and health care — is a promising model to learn and adapt from. OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism ensures transparency and accountability through independent, evidence-based reporting. IRM could offer similar accountability, learning, and reporting functions to the GEF structure and collaborate with evaluation experts and civil society for systematic reviews. 

Finally, funding is critical. Some of the pledged funds should be earmarked for creating and sustaining a robust governance structure to enhance data collection, capacity building, and support women’s rights and youth organizations, women’s networks and leaders to meaningfully participate in the accountability processes and monitor progress. And — considering inadequate capacity is often a key factor for poor implementation — we must keep mobilizing resources to avoid such gaps.

The stakes are high and the next few months will be busy in the wake of a recent convening of stakeholders at the U.N. General Assembly, which discussed the roadmap toward implementation and showcased the range of inspiring commitments pledged at the Generation Equality Forum. Other events and consultations will follow to mobilize opportunities to develop the accountability framework, which is expected to be launched sometime in November.

With the largest collective pledge for global gender equality on the books, expectations are high to drive meaningful change. While we explore our vision for an equitable future, there is an opportunity to avoid setbacks and ensure mutual ownership and accountability. As Elvira Pablo, a youth activist from Mexico, boldly reminds us: “Now is the moment for action. Women and girls are watching and waiting.”