Join the conversation at UN Women Rio+20 events

At Rio+20 UN Women is calling for robust policies and strong commitments to remove discriminatory barriers and ensure women's central role in sustainable development.

On 19 June at The Future Women Want: Leaders' Forum on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment for Sustainable Development, hundreds of representatives from government, UN heads of agencies, civil society and the private sector made their voices heard at a full-day forum organized by UN Women in collaboration with the Government of Brazil and other partners. Ms. Bachelet delivered opening and closing remarks. Highlighting that gender equality is fundamental to a sustainable future the event amplified women's voices and showcased innovative strategies that are making a difference in communities across the world.

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Join the conversation

Virtual participation brought voices of those who could not attend from Riocentro. Social media was used to engage civil society networks, women's groups, and the public at large extensively. At the Forum, social media enabled interactive sessions with questions coming from online users. Questions related to gender equality and sustainable development was submitted prior to the Forum and during the panels through the hashtag #WomenRio.

Social media was also used to disseminate daily information on UN Women's messages, events and priorities on sustainable development. UN Women tweeted from @UN_Women in English, @ONUFemmes in French and @ONUMujeres in Spanish and Portuguese. A summary of the #AskUNWomen Twitter chat which took place in the lead up to Rio+20 is available here.

The Leaders' Forum is sponsored by: Government of Brazil; Government of Australia; Government of Switzerland; Government of the Republic of Korea; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rockefeller Foundation; Ford Foundation; DANIDA International Development Corporation; Itaipu Binacional; Petrobras.

Related links

For more information on UN Women's work on sustainable development and its events at Rio+20: https://www.unwomen.org/the-united-nations-conference-on-sustainable-development-rio20/