Exploring the opportunities and challenges for adolescent girls to progress their economic justice and rights and how these can be addressed through the Generation Equality Forum
Background and Objectives
The Generation Equality Forum is to bring together all stakeholders committed to gender equality to review progress and make concrete, specific and ambitious commitments to accelerate progress towards gender equality in the next five years. As co-chair, France will host the Generation Equality Forum in Paris from 30 June to 2 July, 26 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive instrument to date on gender equality.
To achieve this ambition, a Global Acceleration Plan for Gender Equality will be launched in Paris, which will include actions developed by the champions of the six Action Coalitions to be implemented by 2026. Commitment Makers will also join this Global Plan. These commitments will be monitored through an annual accountability mechanism. These are the EJR Action Coalition Leaders across Member States, United Nations and international organisations, civil society and youth led organisations, private sector and philanthropies. The Economic Justice and Rights (EJR) Global Acceleration Plan has four actions on care work, decent work in the formal and informal economies, ownership of land and other assets, and macro-economic policy.
About the webinar
The webinar will allow us to explore opportunities and challenges through the Generation Equality Paris Forum for adolescent girls to progress their economic justice and rights, at a time when the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated gender inequalities and as we are entering the last decade for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Contributors will highlight where adolescent girls are positioned in relation to the four EJR action areas and will outline key demands and recommendations to EJR Action Coalition Leaders and Commitment Makers. We will discuss how child, early and forced marriage, social protection, access to education, and access to enterprise and jobs affect economic justice outcomes for adolescent girls.
The webinar panel will include a mix of adolescent girls and young women and technical contributions from FEMNET, Plan, AGIP Youth, ICRW, ODI-GAGE and Women Deliver through a mix of life experience and data analysis presentation, video, and audience-panel question and answer. Audience for the webinar includes Action Coalition Youth Leaders, Action Coalition Leaders and Commitment Makers, civil society and youth led organisations, philanthropy and private sector actors.
Key discussion points
- Adolescent girls’ voices – findings from ‘Setting the Agenda’ consultation commissioned by Plan to understand adolescent girls’ concerns and recommendations on economic justice and rights going into the Generation Equality Forum. (Plan, via menti meter quiz)
- The impact of gender norms and child, early and forced marriage on the economic justice and rights of adolescent girls in India and recommendations for intervention to address. (ICRW)
- Recommendations on social protection mechanisms that can support economic justice and rights for adolescent girls, coming out of GAGE research project in Jordan. (GAGE)
- Poverty and adolescent girls and young women economic justice – why it matters. (FEMNET)
- Exploring the economic impact of having a child before 18 – sharing findings from a Women Deliver-Population Council multi-country study. (Women Deliver)
Moderator
The moderator for the event will be Maria McLaughlin, Global Youth Employment and Enterprise Lead, Plan International Global Hub.
Speakers
- Elizabeth Kemigisha, Economic justice programme coordinator (FIDA Uganda, a member of FEMNET)
- Gulmina Imran (18, Pakistan), young women’s enterprise promoter, and launcher of Femission, an online platform helping economic empowerment of women and girls through overcoming existing power structures (AGIP Youth)
- Prerna Kumar, Senior Technical Specialist, (ICRW – International Centre for Research on Women)
- Madhu Kumari Bhagat (25, India), Mamta Mahanta (30, India), Ex Youth Facilitators (ICRW)
- Dr Nicola Jones, Director, (Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence – GAGE)
- Divya Mathew, Director of Policy and Advocacy (Women Deliver)
- Franziska Pflueger, Policy and Advocacy Advisor (Plan International)
- Moderator – Maria McLaughlin, Global Youth Employment and Enterprise Lead (Plan International)
Register via ZOOM: https://tinyurl.com/46bbu4nk
The webinar will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation in French and Spanish
