Generation Equality (GEF) is an initiative convened by UN Women to accelerate investment and implementation on gender equality. It brings together organizations from every part of society to catalyze progress, advocate for change and take bold actions together. 

The GEF process had an ambitious vision and objective to accelerate progress towards gender equality and intersectional justice. It aimed to fuel powerful and lasting Action Coalitions (ACs) to achieve transformative change for generations to come. It promised to be a multistakeholder-driven process that centred young feminists, placing them in the “driving seat.” The GEF acknowledged the crucial role youth played in achieving its ambitious goals and realizing its vision and objectives.

However, the unfolding of the GEF left most of the Youth Task Force (YTF), youth-led organizations, and young activists frustrated, as in practice, it seemed that the GEF was a partner to youth in spirit, but not in actions. The implementation of its ambitious vision fell behind expectations, particularly in these areas:

• Youth leadership and co-ownership
• Feminist leadership
• Intersectionality / intersectional approach
• Transformative design and leadership

In response, the Young Feminist 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 sought to offer a young, intersectional feminist vision for the GEF and the ACs, as well as concrete recommendations to make multistakeholder spaces truly feminist, transformative, and intersectional.

We invite you to read the Young Feminist Manifesto below.