Following their landmark meeting in Toronto on September 19 and 20, 2024, the co-chairs, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, and Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, issued the following statement:
"We gathered in Toronto with women foreign ministers from around the world and reaffirmed our commitment to break down barriers and empower the next generation of women leaders.
"We are encouraged that women's political representation globally has doubled in the last 25 years. However, this still only amounts to around 1 in 4 parliamentary seats held by women today.
"We pledged to advance women's participation in leadership and decision making and support safe and inclusive spaces for women in politics and public life. We also pledged to intentionally encourage young women across the world to enter politics and public life.
"We are concerned with the growing hate and misogynistic discourse found online targeting women, particularly in civic spaces. The safety of online public spaces is a public good for societies and democracies as a whole, such that regulations to preserve safety and truth should not be seen as anti-transparency or anti-freedom of speech or the press.
"We, therefore, agreed to address online, gender-based violence and prevent gendered disinformation and call on online platforms to take action and increase their accountability.
"We discussed strategies for amplifying the voices of women and other marginalized groups, from grassroots to the highest levels of government.
"We expressed our deepest concerns about the egregious human rights violations of women and girls in Afghanistan and call on the Taliban to restore women's and girls' rights to education and to meaningfully participate in public life and put an end to their draconian measures, which have erased decades of progress in women's rights.
"We discussed the question of gender imbalance within the UN system.
"It is time for a woman Secretary-General.
"We strongly encourage member states considering the nomination of a candidate for the position of the United Nations Secretary-General, to nominate women.
"In noting that there have been only four women presidents of the UN General Assembly in the last 79 years, we believe that it is also time to pursue gender parity for this position.
"It is within our reach to make these meaningful changes.
"We engaged with diverse civil society representatives. They highlighted the importance of supporting women's grassroots organizations and human rights defenders in shaping policies. We agreed to foster supportive environments for gender equality and recognized independent members of civil society as key drivers for the success and resilience of democracies.
"Looking ahead, the year 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as well as 25 years since the unanimous adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. We cannot take these hard-fought gains for gender equality and inclusion for granted. Our collective efforts will be crucial in making sure women fully participate in shaping inclusive societies and a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous future."
