Loretto Community Supports Women’s Rights Over the Decades: From Beijing to #GenerationEquality

For many years, the Loretto Community has championed the rights of women and girls all around the world. Loretto has had a presence at all four of the United Nations global Women’s Conferences. At the Beijing gathering in September 1995, we were represented by two of our Loretto former presidents, Marian McAvoy and Maureen McCormack, as well as Mary Peter Bruce and many friends from Bolivia. The outcome document of the Beijing conference, called the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), remains the most progressive human rights document for women and girls ever written. The BPfA has many policies that have not yet been achieved, and no country has yet to declare gender equality.

Last year, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing conference and the BPfA, UN Women launched a new, multi-generational campaign entitled Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future. This campaign demands equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to sexual harassment and all forms of violence against women and girls, healthcare services that respond to women’s needs, and equal participation by women in political life and decision-making in all areas of life.

The Generation Equality campaign kicked off this spring with two Generation Equality Forums, global multi-stakeholder gatherings convened by UN Women and co-chaired by the countries of France and Mexico working in partnership with civil society and youth. There was a three-day gathering in Mexico at the end of March 2021, and a three-day gathering in France at the end of June 2021. These forums launched six #GenerationEquality Action Coalitions and brought together governments, corporations and changemakers from around the world to define and announce ambitious investments and policies. The intended result will be a permanent acceleration in equality, leadership and opportunity for women and girls worldwide over the next five years.

Although the Generation Equality Forum presents a vital moment for activists, feminists, youth and allies to achieve transformative change for generations to come, we see that patriarchy is still very much present in our society and our Church. Recently, COVID-19 has exacerbated existing gender inequities, with reports of rising violence against women, as well as higher adverse economic impacts caused by increased unpaid caregiving and the fact that women work in more insecure, low-paid and informal jobs. The situation is even more challenging for women of color, indigenous women and youth, who face compounded risks and barriers. However, let us rely on the wisdom of Mary Peter Bruce as quoted by her sister, Lillian Moskeland, who noted, “Barriers aren’t there to stop a person, but to help us learn to go around them.”

Check out these links:

Generation Equality Forum, Paris, France (30 June – 2 July 2021): https://forum.generationequality. org/generation-equality-forum-paris

Loretto at the UN website: https:// www.lorettocommunity.org/how-we-serve/global/un/