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Today, at the 12th and final Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, 30 partners joined No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, Vital Voices Global Partnership, and WEConnect International to announce a new series of commitments that address significant gender gaps and advance the gender equality targets of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over the next five years, the coalition’s collective CGI Commitments to Action will advance women’s economic participation, address violence against girls and women, and promote women’s leadership in the public and private sectors.
“This coalition demonstrates that a broad range of partners from the private sector to the grassroots community to the UN offers us a powerful opportunity to accelerate opportunities for girls and women worldwide,” said Chelsea Clinton, who announced this group of commitments on-stage during a plenary session titled, Girl, Uninterrupted: Increasing Opportunity During Adolescence. “No Ceilings data show us that achieving gender equality doesn’t only change the lives and opportunities for girls and women, it changes the world. When girls and women participate fully, societies, nations, and our global community are all more secure.”
Through the coalition’s collective Commitments to Action, “Girls, Women and the Global Goals” will invest more than $70 million, and as a result will:
“The global community, including this multi sector coalition, have organized to launch a new era of inclusive international development guided by the SDGs. The success of women and girls in all aspects of their lives is central to sustainable development and prosperity for all,” said Elizabeth A. Vazquez, CEO and Co-Founder, WEConnect International.
According to Terri McCullough, CEO of No Ceilings, “These commitments build off of data culled in the “No Ceilings Full Participation Report,” which presents the gains and gaps that girls and women have made since 1995. Driven by data, this coalition of partners from across sectors is moving from evidence to action, and working to close critical gender gaps. Partner commitments to action will complement the critical work of the United Nations and country governments to deliver on the SDGs for girls and women, both here in the United States and around the world.”
“Never before has addressing gender inequality been seen as an imperative when tackling the challenges of global development. We are proud to be part of this dynamic coalition of partners working to achieve breakthrough change in the advancement of women and girls. It is a once in a generation opportunity that we believe will drive global progress for all,” said Alyse Nelson, President & CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership.
Coalition partners include: Airbnb, American Jewish World Service, Avon, CARE, Catalyst, Cherie Blair Foundation, Dermalogica, EY, East-West Center, Foundation Center, Freeport-McMoRan, Global Fund for Women, IBM, International Center for Research on Women, Ingersoll Rand, McLarty Global Fellows, NEST, No Ceilings an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Sodexo, Together for Girls, UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, Unilever, Upaya Social Ventures, Vital Voices Global Partnership, WAKE International, Walmart, WEConnect International, Women Deliver, Women for Women International, and Women’s Funding Network.
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Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together 190 sitting and former heads of state, more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 3,500 Commitments to Action, which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries. For more, visit: clintonglobalinitiative.org.
No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project is an initiative of the Clinton Foundation which aims to advance the full participation of girls and women around the world. Through a data-driven analysis on gender equality, an in-depth conversation series, innovative partnerships, and CGI commitments, No Ceilings builds an evidence-based case to chart the path forward for the full participation of girls and women in the 21st century. For more, visit: noceilings.org.
Vital Voices Global Partnership invests in women leaders who improve the world. Guided by the belief that women are essential to progress in their communities, it has partnered with leaders from more than 140 countries who advance economic opportunity, increase political and public leadership, and end violence against women. Programs in strategic planning, business, advocacy and communications build critical skills needed for creating transformational change at scale. For more, visit: www.vitalvoices.org.
WEConnect International helps women-owned businesses succeed in global value chains. It identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women’s business enterprises based outside of the U.S. that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women, and then connects them with qualified member buyers. For more, visit: www.WEConnectInternational.org.
