On the 26th of September 2022, a She Leads activist delivered a joint NGO statement with, DCI, Plan International, ECPAT, Plan International, The African Women’s Development and Communication Network, and Terre des Hommes on the Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Human Rights Council and that of its mechanisms. The theme of the statement was on overcoming gender-based barriers to freedom of opinion and expression.
Girls and young women face a number of specific barriers to enjoying their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, including:
- Restrictive social norms related to their gender and age;
- Lack of funding available for girl- and youth-led organisations, and the legal and administrative barriers they have to access funding;
- Violence and harassment against them, both online and offline.
To address these challenges and ensure that all girls and young women can fully enjoy their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, we call on Member States to:
- Ensure that girls and young women can freely and openly participate in debates within this Council, as well as in other UN spaces, removing administrative barriers for them to do so;
- Work collaboratively United Nations Youth Office once established to ensure the active and meaningful participation of young women;
- Provide flexible multi-year funding to girl- and young women-led groups;
- Strengthen and enforce all national laws and policies targeted at ending violence and discrimination against girls and young women as human rights defenders, whether in the private, public or digital spaces.
Click here to read the full statement
