On this International Women’s Day 2025, the Progressive Alliance stands in solidarity with women and girls worldwide. Today, we echo the urgent global call to Accelerate Action for gender equality, recognizing both the hard-won achievements and the reality that progress often stalls—or even reverses—in many places. According to the World Economic Forum, it may take until 2158—some five generations from now—to reach full gender parity, underscoring the need for both collective and immediate action.
A Century of Women’s Struggle—Yet Far to Go
Since the first IWD in 1911, generations of women and allies have fought tirelessly for equal rights and opportunities, achieving monumental gains. Yet the rise of authoritarian ideologies, policy rollbacks on diversity and inclusion, defunding of critical women’s programs, and women’s underrepresentation in leadership only intensify the urgency to speed up progress. We cannot afford to wait another century to secure true equality.
Why We Must #AccelerateAction
- 1. Fortifying Feminist Organizations
- Support the Supporters: One of the most direct ways to accelerate progress on gender equality is to uplift the very groups driving it—feminist and inclusive organizations of all sizes that deliver essential services, legal support, education, and advocacy for women, girls, gender minorities, and especially young women. The Progressive Alliance invites every partner, member party, and institution to incorporate intersectional, gender-transformative resource-building into IWD events, ensuring that those on the front lines of equality—especially those serving the most marginalized—have the robust support they need.
- Protecting Safe Spaces: We must counter the growing threats of online harassment, misogynistic disinformation, and crackdowns on feminist civic space. Supporting the supporters also means defending and expanding the social, digital, and community platforms that safeguard women and girls.
- 2. A Feminist Lens in Tumultuous Times
- 2026 and Beyond: As political, economic, and technological upheavals loom, we anchor our responses in feminist principles—prioritizing women’s leadership in shaping policy on climate adaptation, conflict resolution, equitable healthcare, and digital transformation.
- Feminist Foreign and Development Policy: We recognize that globally, women—especially those facing intersecting marginalization—are disproportionately harmed by crises. The Progressive Alliance urges each member to commit to a gender lens in foreign policy, ensuring women’s voices and needs are central at every negotiation table and in every humanitarian response.
- Focus on Women Living Under War and Occupation:
- Women living under war and occupation face unique and disproportionate suffering, making their experiences a critical human rights issue. Beyond the general devastation of conflict—displacement, loss of livelihoods, and destruction of infrastructure—women endure heightened risks of gender-based violence, exploitation, and severe restrictions on access to healthcare, education, and basic necessities. The breakdown of legal and social protection systems exacerbates their vulnerability, leaving them with fewer means to seek justice or support. In many cases, they are forced into roles as sole providers and caregivers in environments of extreme insecurity, compounding their economic and psychological burdens.
- Women in conflict zones also face severe challenges in protecting their reproductive health, as many lack access to maternal care and family planning services, putting them at heightened risk of unwanted pregnancies and complications. Furthermore, addressing the specific needs of women in conflict is not merely a humanitarian necessity, but also a political one, as the participation of women in peace negotiations is crucial for achieving long-lasting stability. Under international human rights and humanitarian law, the protection of women in conflict zones is a fundamental obligation, yet these rights are frequently violated with impunity. Addressing the needs of women in war and occupation is not only a moral imperative but also essential for any sustainable peace and recovery efforts.
- 3. Doing More of What Works, Faster
- Evidence-Based Action: As the IWD 2025 campaign reminds us, “One of the best ways to forge gender equality is to understand what works and do more of it, faster.” This means scaling up best practices—whether it’s mentorship programs for emerging women leaders, gender-responsive budgeting, or intersectional policies that address overlapping injustices.
- Intersectional Approach: We must dismantle systemic barriers that affect women of color, Indigenous women, LGBTIQ+ individuals, migrant and refugee women, women with disabilities, and others—so that no one is left behind.
- 4. Elevating Women’s Political Participation
- Women’s political participation is a cornerstone of inclusive governance and democratic development, yet it remains hindered by systemic barriers, cultural norms, and institutional biases. Despite progress in many countries, women—including young women—still face limited access to leadership roles, gender-based discrimination, and underrepresentation in decision-making bodies. Ensuring women’s full and equal participation in politics is essential for creating policies that address diverse societal needs, promote gender equity, and strengthen democratic institutions.
- Achieving this requires legal reforms, capacity-building programs, and shifts in cultural norms to challenge stereotypes and support women’s leadership. Where possible, we encourage member parties to set measurable targets and to regularly assess progress. When women are actively involved in politics, they bring unique perspectives, champion critical social issues, and contribute to more responsive and effective governance.
Driving change through the Gender Equality Action Plan
Adopted at our Global Convention in Santiago in 2024, the Progressive Alliance Gender Equality Action Plan challenges us to close all gender gaps by 2030. It is built on five interlinked pillars:
- Rights – Advocate for robust laws and frameworks against discrimination and violence, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Representation – Ensure women’s full and equal participation in political processes, leadership posts, trade unions, and civil society. Set clear targets and quotas, and redefine leadership with feminist principles of empathy, equity, and collective decision-making.
- Resources – Push for gender-responsive budgeting, fair wages, paid family leave, and investment in the care economy, recognizing that economic justice is fundamental to women’s empowerment.
- Intersectionality – Tackle the compounded barriers that arise from the interplay of gender, race, class, disability, sexual orientation, and other identities.
- International Solidarity – Build cross-border alliances, share best practices, and coordinate policy efforts to safeguard hard-won feminist gains against global rollbacks.
2025 is our moment to accelerate the Plan’s rollout: share toolkits and resources, track accountability on DEI commitments, and fortify local feminist institutions to withstand political and economic headwinds. In upcoming forums and conferences, we will also explore further measurable goals that reflect the spirit of #AccelerateAction—such as clear funding targets, best-practice toolkits, and regular self-assessments to ensure accountability.
Putting Words into Action
- Share it: Show solidarity by posting your party or organization’s statements, photos, pieces of legislation, and/or pledges. Let us inspire one another to ramp up change within our spheres of influence.
- Champion Policy Reforms: Advocate equal pay laws, equitable representation in parliaments and party structures, expanded protections against online and offline harassment, and the urgent integration of care work into economic agendas.
- Elevate Success Stories: Highlight local or regional victories—e.g., campaigns that advanced women in STEM, addressed gender-based violence, or promoted women’s entrepreneurial leadership—so that each success fuels others to act.
Stepping Forward in Solidarity
As we accelerate toward a fairer future, let us remember that IWD belongs to all who care about women’s equality. Our diverse membership spans continents, political systems, and cultural contexts. By aligning every campaign, conference, and legislative effort under a feminist lens, we send a resounding message: freedom, justice, and solidarity are incomplete without full gender equality.
In an era of global turbulence, standing together is more important than ever. This March 8 and throughout the year, we call on partners, activists, and leaders from every corner of our network to forge forward. Let’s support the supporters, fight the defunding of crucial programs, challenge the rise of anti-feminist rhetoric, and reclaim momentum for intersectional progress.
Will You Help Us #AccelerateAction?
When women move forward, entire communities benefit. By championing the Progressive Alliance Gender Equality Action Plan—https://bit.ly/PlanGenderEquality—and upholding the #IWD2025 theme to Accelerate Action, we commit to rewriting the rules of engagement so that women’s rights and leadership remain at the forefront—ensuring that everyone can prosper. Aligning with these global efforts is our way of contributing to a united, multilateral push to uphold the rights of women and girls everywhere.
Join us in solidarity. Let us shape a future where women and girls live free from discrimination, their contributions and leadership recognized at every level, and gender equality transforms from aspiration to lived reality.
📷 Women’s March in New York, 21 January 2017. By Narih Lee, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Women%27s_Rights_are_Human_Rights_(31608110754).jpg).
