More than 130 civil society actors and parliamentarians attended the conference "Anchoring women's rights at the heart of the G7" organized by Equipop and CARE France at the National Assembly. A call was made to participate in the Gender/G7 campaign, which aims to make women's rights an essential topic for heads of state and government in Biarritz in 2019.
Organized byEquipop and CARE France, the conference "Anchoring Women's Rights atthe Heartof the G7" wassponsoredby Mireille Clapot, Member of Parliament for Drôme and Vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee. IsabelleHudon, Canadian Ambassador to France,spoke at the conference, presenting her role as co-chair of the 2018 CanadianW7Gender Equality Advisory Council and the challenges for 2019.
The conference brought together a wide range of participants: representativesof associations and foundations,students, and parliamentarianscommittedto making women's rights a priority at the next G7 summit. This demonstrates that thereisstrongdemandfor action on these issues and a real capacity for mobilization within civil society.
Clear commitments
As it takes over the presidency of the G7 in 2019, France must assume its leadership role andimplementits commitments on women's rights.
ThePresident of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has repeatedly and unequivocally shownhisstrongcommitmentto this issue. At the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on September 25, 2018, he reaffirmed:
[blockquote text="In France, I have made gender equality the main cause of my five-year term, and I am calling on you to join me in making it a major global cause." quote_icon_color="#f7461c" text_color="#b3ada9" quote_icon_size="10"]The conference provided an opportunity for the government representatives present to clarify this commitment.
Onthe podium, Cyrille PIERRE, Director of Sustainable Development at the Directorate-General for Globalization, Culture, Education, and International Development at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, stated:
[blockquote text="Today, we officially have feminist diplomacy (...) gender equality is a multiplier for the Sustainable Development Goals." text_color="#b3ada9" quote_icon_color="#b3ada9"]Jean-Marc Berthon, Advisor to the Elysée Palace on Development Policy, Climate, Human Rights, Francophonie, and Civil Society,confirmedFrance's political will to position itself as a leader in gender equality.
[blockquote text=""We have decided, at the instigation of the President of the Republic, to allocate €100 million in 2019 to the French Development Agency for the cause of gender equality. This is a very strong gesture that the President wanted to make in order to promote internationally this major cause of his five-year term, which is gender equality." text_color="#b3ada9" quote_icon_color="#b3ada9" quote_icon_size="5"][vc_video link= »https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zit16wO3iog&list=PLxLR-rCrw4oK2FI3LfvkXQtC_zp-D7Cu5″ align= »center » title= »Jean-Marc BERTHON : L’engagement de l’Elysée pour les droits des femmes au G7″]The main role of civil society in 2019 will therefore be to ensure that these commitments are honored, not only in the preparation ofthe G7 butalso in the implementation of the measures that will be taken afterwards. That is why mobilization must be organized in a coordinated and effective manner.
The next steps in citizen mobilization
On October 18, Equipop and CARE France launched an appeal and will coordinate an advocacy campaign to ensure that the French presidency of the G7 leads to concrete actions in favor of gender equality, including financial commitments. The aim is to influence the official G7 agenda leading up to the summit itself at the end of August 2019, through G7 sherpa meetings, thematic ministerial meetings, and the work of the Gender Equality Advisory Council.
A highlight of this citizen mobilization campaign will be theWomen7(W7) summit, which will bring together French and international civil society organizations in spring 2019.
Would you like to join the movement?
Send an expression of interest to nicolas.rainaud@equipop.org and chassot@carefrance.org with the subject line "Gender Mobilization/G7." Please briefly introduce yourself and your organization, if applicable, and specify how you would like to participate in this mobilization.
Download the event file: Participant file AN October 18
