Today, at the UN General Assembly, I had the privilege of co-hosting an event to mark the one year anniversary of the launch of the Equal Futures Partnership – a coalition of countries who have committed to take action to remove barriers to opportunity and promote equality for women and girls in our countries.
I was joined by, Secretary Kerry, World Bank President Jim Young Kim, and Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues Catherine Russell, together with representatives from 23 countries, to talk through the progress we’ve made, and to reaffirm our commitment to the partnership.
When the Partnership was originally announced by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and I, one year ago, we were acting in response to President Obama’s challenge to his fellow heads of state to take new measures to break down barriers to women’s political and economic empowerment. The United States and 12 other governments launched the Equal Futures Partnership, and committed to specific actions to advance equality in our respective countries.
After our successful launch a year ago, we welcomed progress reports from founding members and new commitments to join from others at the World Bank’s annual spring meetings, hosted by World Bank President Jim Kim and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
Fonte: White House