Generation Equality Forum: Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
The Generation Equality Forum is a global gathering to accelerate equality, leadership and opportunity for women and girls worldwide, convened by UN Women, Mexico and France. Together, the events in Mexico City and Paris mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. In addition to spurring a bold new agenda with financial and political commitments for gender equality, the Forum will launch six “action coalitions”. UNFPA will co-lead a new platform promoting the rights of women and girls called the “Action Coalition for Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights”. 
The aim of the Generation Equality Forum is to deliver tangible progress towards gender equality during the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals – notably Goal 5 to "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".
The Generation Equality Forum also builds on the International Conference on Population and Development, the 1994 conference that produced an agenda which continues to bring unique contributions to the achievement of gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment. It also provides an important opportunity for maintaining accountability and achievement of the 1,250+ commitments made during the Nairobi Summit.
UNFPA is co-leading the Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, along with Argentina, Burkina Faso, Denmark, France and North Macedonia and partners including the Global Financial Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (Canada), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Malaysia), Alliance Droits et Santé (Côte d’Ivoire), International Planned Parenthood Federation, Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer (Argentina), the Commission for Indigenous Children and Youth (Peru), and the company CLUE.
The Coalition’s priority actions will be to:
- Increase delivery of quality comprehensive sexuality education that promotes human rights and gender equality (aligned with international technical guidance) in and out of school, and links young people to accessible and acceptable sexual and reproductive health services.
- Improve the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, free from coercion, violence and discrimination.
- Address gender norms in order to increase girls’, adolescents’ and women’s sexual and reproductive health decision-making capacity and ability to exercise autonomy in their sexual and reproductive lives.
- Increase accountability to, participation of and support for autonomous feminist and women’s organizations (including girl-led and Indigenous organizations), women human rights defenders and peacebuilders, and networks and movements working to promote and protect bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The ambitions of the Generation Equality Forum will be carried forward through a bold feminist agenda and the five-year workplans of the Action Coalitions. The result: tangible progress towards gender equality during the UN Decade of Action (2020–2030) to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum will reaffirm the value of multilateralism and bring together the leadership and participation of various stakeholders – civil society, youth, governments, business, cities, parliaments, trade unions, media and more – focusing on intergenerational and multi-stakeholder partnerships. UNFPA welcomes this opportunity to ensure that the energy, passion and commitments from the Nairobi Summit are central to the Generation Equality Forum and the future work of the Action Coalition on Bodily Autonomy and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
