ABOUT
The GEF process has an ambitious vision and objective to accelerate progress towards gender equality and intersectional justice. It aims to fuel powerful and lasting Action Coalitions (ACs) to achieve transformative change for generations to come. And it promises to be a Civil Society-driven process that centers young feminists, placing them in the “driving seat”. The GEF clearly acknowledges the crucial role youth plays in achieving its ambitious goals and realising its vision and objectives. However, the unfolding of the GEF to date has left most of the Youth Task Force (YTF) and youth-led organizations and activists frustrated, as in practice it seems that the GEF is a partner to youth in spirit, but not in actions. The implementation of its ambitious vision is falling behind our expectations, particularly around these areas:
Youth leadership and co-ownership
Feminist leadership
Intersectionality / intersectional approach
Transformative design and leadership
This manifesto was developed by young activists in the context of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF). It was co-created through a participative process involving youth-led organizations participating as Action Coalition co-leaders, the Generation Equality Youth Task Force (YTF), young feminists from the global Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) and Mexican CSAG as well as the National Gender Youth Activists (NGYAs). It seeks to offer a young, intersectional feminist vision for the GEF and the ACs, as well as some concrete recommendations to positively impact the GEF/ACs and make it a truly feminist, transformative and intersectional space and process.
Please take the time to read, and support our demand for youth-friendly and youth-led decision making spaces!
GET INVOLVED
“Young people should be at the forefront
of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society’s margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies"