On the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group Spring Meetings, the UN Office for Partnerships, Vital Voices Global Partnership, and the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) co-hosted a leadership breakfast in support of the "We the Women" campaign. 

The event brought together close to 30 women leaders who share a vision for feminist foreign and development policies, including financing strategies, to advance progress on women’s participation across the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

Throughout the gathering, participants engaged in discussions, exploring avenues to strengthen the "We the Women" campaign and amplify female voices and emerging leaders to catalyze change.

At the event’s opening, H.E. Ms. Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic and Development of Germany, reiterated her country’s commitment to advancing feminist agendas on a global scale. "The Sustainable Development Goals are not on track," Minister Schulze said, underscoring the importance of collaboration in achieving equitable and prosperous futures for all. “We want to engage with women, we want them to share their thoughts, their ideas, aspirations. What do the women of the world want? We need to raise those voices and make their vision a reality," she added.

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, emphasized the need to maintain hope and energy in the face of challenges, particularly for women affected by various crises worldwide. She highlighted the need for women's voices to be heard and for increasing female representation in leadership positions while urging participants not to lose momentum in advocating for change. 

“We've got six years to meet the promise for SDGs. And we can do it, if we look at the means of implementation, and the means of implementation have to land on the ground. So, we'll be creative and innovative. And we will shout and make the noise we need,” Ms. Mohammed underlined.

Speaking about the "We the Women" campaign, Ms. Annemarie Hou, Executive Director of the UN Office for Partnerships, provided some insights into the preliminary results of the "We the Women" Global survey, based on an initial sample of 12,000 respondents, emphasizing the importance of leveraging its findings to guide future actions and policies. “Beyond the Summit of the Future, there will be homework for all of us, individually, as leaders, and for the organizations we serve to implement all of the findings and recommendations of the survey,” she added.

Also speaking at the event, Ms. Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices, said: “Women are not just another number to be tapped. Women are more than just an economic force. We are a transformational leadership force. And we have seen as in every crisis, the world turns back to women. And then as we move out of the crisis, we turn away from women. But what we know is that the world can no longer wait. A world can no longer wait for what women bring as leaders”.

About We the Women

We the Women was launched along the margins of the 2023 SDG Summit by the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed and H.E. Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany. The We the Women campaign reaches out to women of the world to ask them about their challenges and priorities and inform the decisions made by the international community about the future of the world.