We are entering a decade that holds great promise for progressing gender equality. Five years ago, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development secured commitment from 193 member states, including commitment to SDG 5: creating a world where every woman and girl enjoys full equality.
At the leadership level, Mexico, Canada, and Sweden are stepping up and explicitly labeling their development assistance and foreign policy as feminist. Over the past two decades, there have been significant improvements for women and girls — particularly in the areas of health and education, which are essential for gender equality.
Movements such as #MeToo and #NiUnaMas have helped awaken the world to the scale of structural sexism and power abuse. For global NGOs and the United Nations alike, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse — once a box-ticking exercise in our programming — is increasingly a cornerstone of our work. The safeguarding and abuse of power crisis that hit our sector has exposed a deep disconnect between what we seek to achieve through our programs and the leadership systems, structures, and power within our own organizations.
About the authors
Malayah Harper@MalayahHa
Malayah Harper is a global health and women's rights expert and a powerful voice of #MeToo. She is an executive in residence at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, an adviser for Fair Share of Women Leaders, a founding board member and global champion for SheDecides, and the incoming director of sexual and reproductive health and rights at EngenderHealth. She is the previous director of gender equality and diversity at UNAIDS. She was the first woman to waive her right to anonymity and speak publicly about sexual harassment at UNAIDS in 2018.
Anne-Birgitte AlbrectsenABAlbrectsen
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen has been CEO of Plan International since September 2015 and is a SheDecides Champion. Prior to this, she was U.N. assistant secretary-general and deputy executive director for management at the United Nations Population Fund. Ms. Albrectsen is also chairman of the Board of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and a member of the Every Woman Every Child High Level Steering Group, Generation Unlimited Global Board, and International Civil Society Centre Board.
