8 days of advocacy and activism for a gender just future within the SDG process. WECF recently attended the UN summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (High Level Political Forum, HLPF) in New York and reports back on their experiences.

Ministerial Declaration

Four days into the Summit, a few member states broke the silence on the Ministerial Declaration. The issues raised were on foreign occupation and gender equality. What was feared as a result was that we would leave the summit without an outcome document, which in turn would have had the possibility to weaken the HLPF process. Through meetings with country delegations and a twitter storm; Women’s Major Group (official UN observer network representing civil society groups working for women’s human rights and gender equality) made it clear: we wanted an outcome document, and we did not want to see gender equality language in the declaration being traded off for means of implementation.

Networking with country delegations & UN personnel

WECF and Women’s Major Group meeting with the Netherland’s Trade & Aid Ambassador Joeren Verheul. Photo: IISD-ENB / Kiara Worth

Besides advocating for the Ministerial Declaration, WECF also met with country delegations to discuss the future of gender equality within the HLPF and SDGs process. Many supported our cause and showed support by wearing our scarves on the UN campuses.