Gender Equality Activists

"The “different kind of leadership that women are bringing in droves on climate”"

"The value of “making our hearts public”, bringing feelings and stories into climate conversation."

"The climate crisis is not gender-equal or gender-neutral."

"Gender equity is on par with wind turbines and solar panels and forests,” Wilkinson says, adding, “This does not mean women and girls are responsible for fixing everything. But we probably will."

"Curbing growth of our human population is a side effect,” she says---one that would reduce global emissions."

"The acknowledgment of how much has been and will be lost in our current systems, but still showing up for the work of what we can save in “this hard and magnificent moment”"

"If women’s farms yielded as much on average as farmers run by men across the world, it would stop approximately 2 billion tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere between now and 2050. “That’s on par with the impact household recycling can have globally."

"In my experience, to have eyes wide open is to hold a broken heart every day."

"I think about the feminine as the life-giving energy that circulates through the world. It’s an appreciation for interdependence and the connectedness of all things. It’s about working with the living systems of the planet rather than trying to conquer or wrangle them. The Feminist Climate Renaissance is not a revolution or a takeover or a war, but rather an upwelling of a better way to do climate-oriented work."

"I think it’s part of why I’ve really chosen to focus on communication of various stripes and culture-making of various stripes as at least a good chunk of what I do professionally, and what I do on on climate, because I think that whether it’s poetry, whether it is film, any number of mediums can take us to a place that we might otherwise feel antsy about or resistant to. And we kind of settle in around story. There’s something, I don’t know whether it reminds us of childhood in some cases, whether it feels like some kind of ancient practice in some cases, but I think it helps us see differently. It helps us feel into different experiences, different scenarios."

"That dialog about solutions is often about scale and speed; yet, we would benefit from considering solutions at depth with “heart-centered wisdom” and love as a powerful leverage point"

"To address climate change, we must make gender equity a reality. And in the face of a seemingly impossible challenge, women and girls are a fierce source of possibility."

"That “at our very best, we as human beings are active and generative collaborators with lifeforce… in these relationships of reciprocity and almost play with the planet’s living systems.”"

"Instead of clear-cutting new land, why not work to make the existing farms run by women more efficient? “Close that gap and farm yields rise by 20 to 30 percent."

"Support women smallholders, realize higher yields, avoid deforestation, and sustain the life-giving power of forests."

"Women are the primary farmers of the world,”They produce 60 to 80 percent of the food in lower-income countries."

"We want to be heard so that we can create policies that include us, but we also want to be supported. We are not pleading for help, we can contribute our support. We want an investment. We don't want a donation. We want investment in the development of our skills, of women and girls, young people and young indigenous populations.”"

"I got to do a red carpet for the first time in my life! It was great. As a woman with a disability, as someone with a hijab, to be on the red carpet, posing, presenting a fashion sense, presenting my cause and my country. That was exciting and I loved it and I was trying not to get my wheelchair tangled. That’s also something I have to consider all the time!”"

"I am very hopeful that the changes that are taking place now will pay off for the new generation. Moreover, we are at this point thanks to the efforts of several generations of indigenous leaderships, and because we have found allies in institutions and we have the support of well-known figures and sometimes, even politicians had supported us along the way. Thus, the strategy chosen by our elders about using the UN Charter to claim our rights has been effective."

"We spoke a lot about her own experiences and we are trying to come up with more collaborations together. So menstrual healthcare will be a very strong area within the community to work on and when it comes to human rights and health in the future and other than that.”"

"“So I still need to take a break and enjoy some afternoon tea but before that I have to do a lot of work around this award."

"In countries where children have “disappeared”, grandmothers stood up to demand justice. In areas ravaged by AIDS, HIV-positive mothers replaced stigma with hope. In homophobic societies, lesbian victims of rape survived and organized […] As long as one woman’s human rights are violated, our struggle is not over."

"Ik ben diep verdrietig door het overlijden van mijn dierbare vriend, aartsbisschop Desmond Tutu", schrijft Mabel op de website van Girls Not Brides. "Ik heb de eer en het plezier mogen ervaren om met hem samen te werken. 'Arch' kwam altijd op voor mensen die niet gehoord werden"

"Eighty-four percent of LBT women and gender non-conforming people (who do not typically behave in traditional male or female roles) have reported intimate partner violence,""

"Girlythings, she added, redresses imbalance. The reaction to these topics has, Khan said, been “extremely welcoming”, with significant support from Pakistani men. “It made me think: ‘Why haven’t we talked about this earlier?’ I’m only one person and I want to reach every corner, but this response makes me feel hopeful that our society is becoming very progressive.”"

"We are women who are also experiencing poverty, but also want to talk about bullying in schools or the experience of ecological development in the Pacific."

"“The thing is that anybody who is extremely serious about the work that they do and the type of opportunity that they want to bring to their country, probably cannot enjoy an experience because they’re constantly thinking about the way forward. They’re constantly thinking about connecting resources with opportunities. So, though I am in this amazing space with amazing people, I am constantly thinking about how we can leverage this opportunity as much as we can.”"

"I run Girlythings, a service that delivers menstrual health products to women across Pakistan. I am the writer, producer and actor behind Pakistan’s first short comedy on disability called Fruit Chaat. I’m also a public speaker and do many other ventures on disability and empowerment.”"

"What's come up the most is youth livelihoods. They also want us to focus on accelerating efforts on tackling issues related to climate change and adaptability, climate finance, and climate education."

"There are many different things we care about as human beings," said Nabulivou, a self-confessed workaholic who says she has drawn fresh inspiration from her young daughter. "I want a world for her that is amazing, in which she can be liberated and free."

"Zijn toewijding was cruciaal voor de oprichting van Girls Not Brides. 'Arch' was een altijd gepassioneerd pleitbezorger voor gelijke rechten voor mannen en vrouwen. En hij deed dit altijd met een geweldige combinatie van diep geloof en geweldige humor. Hij zei altijd: 'God is niet gek. God creëerde Eva omdat hij wist dat Adam het in zijn eentje niet zou gaan redden'."

"So, that is what I am lobbying for and come 2023, I believe that one of my priorities as I am in office is to make sure that we have more young people sitting on the table in these discussions as we deliberate, in terms of Africa, where we are, where we would like to go, and ensure that all the young people are also represented in these conversations.”"

"I feel we need to bring Pakistani or South Asian perspective to these platforms because western ideas get more space. This doesn’t mean that women in other countries are not suffering rather many a time they may not be aware of the different platforms where they can raise their voice. Through representation, we can remove confusions about our part of the world as well as call out any organisations which exploit Pakistan for their own gain by constantly painting it as a site of pity.”"

"Through a listening tour, I commit to engaging with youth organisations, youth transformative groups and young Africans across our continent and in the Diaspora with the aim to represent everyone and to tap into all the bright ideas that will propel and accelerate further efforts.“I advocate for inclusion of young people with disabilities in decision-making processes. It is important that no one person is left behind."

"As soon as you start moving around the world, you face challenges. It’s difficult to find a school or a university that is wheelchair-friendly and has an elevator, so I had to pick the institution first, then my degree. Being yourself, out in the world, is the greatest accomplishment,”"

"“When I looked at the world, I didn’t see a space for myself. Not in TV series, not when I read a book … there was nobody who represented people with disabilities. I decided, ‘I’m going to create that space.’”"

"“I am lobbying that come next year the next AU Heads of State Summit should be held in collaboration with an AU Youth Summit, so that young people can get to sit on the same table with Heads of State and be able to drive the agenda in achieving the Africa that we want and engineer the solutions together."

"I've been spat at; (my wife and I) have had people harass us in public; we've had stones thrown at our roof at night. There have been many things over the years,""

"I expect young people to be at the forefront of efforts to address the climate crisis. We should have the needs of young people at the forefront when it comes to climate adaptation and climate financing. We must also have opportunities for young Africans to innovate and provide climate solutions. For COP27, I am hoping there is a youth advisory board to ensure that the needs of young people are fully represented."

"Just the fact that a woman with a disability from Costa Rica is seen on national television in the DPRK running around on a scooter and being very modern and talking brings a different perspective and even hope to persons with disabilities in a country that has been in such isolation,”"

"I think it’s great that I’ve had the opportunity. It’s something I do not take lightly. I believe that my role is unique. In that I also have an opportunity to speak to young people, being communities being in civil society, through national youth councils, through Member States, at the same time, I also have an opportunity to speak to the policymakers and the governments. From the Ministers, the Head of States, other Special Envoys. And it gives an opportunity to make sure that you merge that. That the voices of young people, from what I hear from the ground through my youth townhall meetings through the listening tours, reaches the decision-making table, where I’ve had the privilege of accessing the decision-making table. At the same time, also making sure what comes from the policymakers reaches young people too."

"I had a newspaper out me. I've had to fight the Methodist church on the radio and on TV, which was really hard to do as I'm a very private person,""

"I don’t like sob stories or tragedies,” said Khan, who is a disability and women’s rights campaigner in Pakistan. “I’m not saying they don’t exist – we can all face adversity – but I think we need a more positive approach to solving problems. I wanted to present people with disabilities in a more positive way."

"When we talk about Pakistan, it’s one country but there is a lot of diversity,” Khan said. “There are a lot of women who are empowered and have agency – but in the same country, you can find women who have never left the house or gone to school, so there are challenges across those diversities. For many women who work and go to the office, companies don’t have access to menstrual care, so what does she have to do? She has to quit the meeting,” she said. “It creates a barrier.”"

"UNICEF, UNDP, and all the agencies working at country level will have to support programmatically the implementation of the convention and that is a fundamental change and is something that is strongly needed."

"I would say do not ever underestimate the impact that you makein this world. I feel like as young people at times, we underestimate how we’re contributing towards society. But never do so, it could be within a community, within a family, within a country, a continent or globally, but ultimately, we are all contributing, at whichever stage that you are. So, keep that in mind. Always do the best that you can."

"We cannot continue to deal with a GA hall that is not accessible for wheelchair users. We cannot continue to not be able to enter bathrooms. There is a lot to do and we are not happy about that, but what I am optimistic about is we now have a framework of action,"

"It requires this organization to be held accountable on how they are doing with persons with disabilities, but also it is important that it will provide the support at national levels,"

"I'm glad that the African Union appointed African Youth Peace Ambassadors for the various regions in Africa. And we've been having consultations regarding a Continental Framework on Youth, Peace and Security. As I speak, Youth Peace Ambassadors are in Nigeria to consult on that framework and to assist in rolling out a national action plan on peace and security."

"For young people worldwide, my message is that the future is in our hands. We must act now. We must influence decisions that affect us."