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The world needs a strong, credible UN more than at any point in a generation. Gender equality is not a side issue in that fight. It is one of the clearest tests of whether the institution can still turn its founding promise into practice. As the UN considers the selection of its next Secretary-General, we are calling on every candidate to make five practical commitments to advance gender equality across the whole UN system, and to say publicly where they stand.

Add your name to the Open Letter

Signatories

Inaugural signatories

Former heads of state and senior political / UN leaders
  • Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; former Administrator, UNDP
  • Luis Guillermo Solís, former President of Costa Rica
  • Geeta Rao Gupta, former US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
  • Magda Robalo, former Minister of Health, Guinea-Bissau; President, Institute for Global Health and Development
  • Jan Beagle, Director-General, International Development Law Organization (IDLO); former UN Under-Secretary-General
  • Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General, UNRWA
  • Michel Sidibé, former Executive Director, UNAIDS; former Minister of Health, Mali
  • Flavia Bustreo, former Assistant Director-General, World Health Organization
Gender-equality leaders
  • Katja Iversen, former President/CEO, Women Deliver
  • Mona Sinha, Global Executive Director, Equality Now
  • Melissa Parke, Executive Director, ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons); former Australian MP
  • María Noel Leoni, Campaign Director, GQUAL
  • Gita Sen, feminist economist; founder, DAWN; Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
  • Naila Kabeer, Professor of Gender and Development, London School of Economics
  • Raewyn Connell, sociologist and gender theorist; Professor Emerita, University of Sydney
  • Gary Barker, CEO, Equimundo
  • Michele Barry, Founder, WomenLift Health; Stanford University

Global health, academic and institutional leaders

  • Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet
  • Adeeba Kamarulzaman, President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Monash University Malaysia
  • Rajat Khosla, Executive Director, PMNCH (Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health)
  • Ilona Kickbusch, founder, Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
  • Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
  • Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive, ODI Global
  • Marie-Laure Salles, Director, Geneva Graduate Institute
  • Liam Smeeth, Director, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
  • Alicia Ely Yamin, Harvard Law School; health and human rights
Institutions
  • 1 for 8 Billion Steering Committe
  • GQUAL Campaign (CEJIL)
  • Equality Now
  • Pathfinder International
  • ARROW (Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women)
  • EDGE Certified Foundation
  • EngenderHealth
  • PSI (Population Services International)
  • Equimundo

Inaugural signatories

Join the call

We are building a broad, public coalition of organisations, advocates, practitioners and researchers who want the next Secretary-General held to these five commitments.

You can sign in your personal capacity, or on behalf of your institution.

Add your name

Global 50/50 is an independent think tank holding the world’s most powerful institutions to account on gender. Global 50/50 informs, inspires and incites action for gender justice through rigorous evidence, accountability, and strengthening movements for change.

To learn more about the campaign or to engage with us generally on advancing gender equality in global health, contact us at: info@global5050.org.