Advancing Gender Equality through Partnerships: GEYC gathering insights from the ECOSOC Partnership Forum 2025 – SDG5
On February 5, 2025, the ECOSOC Partnership Forum convened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, focusing on key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 5: Gender Equality, alongside SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Discussions highlighted the urgent need for collaborative efforts to address persistent gender gaps, with contributions from global leaders, policymakers, and civil society representatives. The SENSE. project was represented in these conversations by our colleagues from GEYC, Gabriel BREZOIU – General Manager and Adelina Dragomir – Head of Entrepreneurship & Employability, gaining valuable insights on how inclusive education and partnerships can drive gender equality in STEAM fields.
Bellow are some ideas that were expressed during the conversation
Loretta Ching’Andu: Urgent Action Needed for Gender Equality
Loretta Ching’Andu, Chair of the Panel, underscored the pressing need for accelerated efforts to achieve gender equality, with only five years remaining until the 2030 deadline. Despite progress in women’s leadership, education, and legal reforms, the 2024 Gender Snapshot Report reveals a stark reality: at the current pace, it would take 300 years to achieve full gender equality. She highlighted alarming statistics, including over 340 million women and girls living in extreme poverty, with climate change threatening to push an additional 150 million into poverty by 2050.
Ching’Andu emphasized that challenges such as child marriage, gender-based violence, and limited political representation continue to undermine progress. She called for multi-stakeholder partnerships, bringing together governments, civil society, the private sector, academia, and local communities to drive measurable change. Her message reinforced that only through collective action and inclusive policies can gender equality be realized—a goal that resonates deeply with the SENSE. project’s mission to promote inclusive education and empower young women in STEAM fields.
She concluded by highlighting that civic spaces for gender equality advocacy are shrinking, making it harder for grassroots movements to influence decision-making. The increasing backlash against gender rights, she warned, could roll back decades of progress if stronger, more inclusive partnerships are not mobilized. This call to action aligns with the broader conclusions of the session, where panelists emphasized the need to mainstream gender equality across all SDGs and ensure sustainable financing for gender initiatives.
Shawyn Patterson-Howard: Local Leadership for Gender Equity
Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Mayor of Mount Vernon, New York, highlighted the critical role of local governments in fostering gender equality. She emphasized the need for clear policies that support housing, education, and workforce development, especially for women balancing work and family responsibilities. Patterson-Howard’s initiatives, such as Mayors for Guaranteed Income, provide direct financial support to families, promoting economic stability and access to essential services.
Her efforts to partner with women leaders, NGOs, academia, and the private sector demonstrate how local policies can address global challenges. Patterson-Howard stressed that reskilling and upskilling programs are vital for women’s economic empowerment, ensuring that they are not left behind in a rapidly changing job market. Her advocacy for inclusive policies and support systems aligns with the SENSE. project’s commitment to equipping young people, particularly girls, with the skills and opportunities needed to thrive in STEAM careers.
Additionally, Patterson-Howard emphasized the importance of flexible childcare policies that accommodate the non-traditional work schedules of many women. She called for global cooperation between female mayors and local leaders to develop policies that allow women to fully participate in the workforce without sacrificing family responsibilities. These policies, she argued, must be built on inclusive partnerships and sustained political will, reinforcing the rapporteur’s conclusions that gender-sensitive policies must be institutionalized beyond electoral cycles to ensure lasting impact.
Aarushi Khanna: Data-Driven Partnerships for Gender Equality
Aarushi Khanna from the Equal Measures 2030 Coalition shared insights on the power of data-driven partnerships in advancing gender equality. She highlighted successful collaborations such as the partnership between KAPAL, an Indonesian women’s rights network, and the Indonesian government. This initiative focuses on addressing child marriage and gender-based violence through accurate data collection and policy implementation.
Khanna also showcased the Salesforce and Equal Measures 2030 Fellowship, which enhances data journalism skills for reporting on gender issues. This partnership has empowered journalists in India, Kenya, Colombia, and Guatemala, amplifying stories on gender equality through data-driven narratives. These examples underscore the importance of data, transparency, and accountability in policy-making—a principle that guides the SENSE. project’s approach to using evidence-based methods to foster gender inclusivity in education.
She further noted that gender-disaggregated data is crucial for monitoring progress and holding stakeholders accountable. Without reliable and comprehensive data, many gender-based issues remain invisible to policymakers and funders, hindering effective solutions. The rapporteur’s final conclusions reinforced this point, calling for investments in gender-responsive budgeting and localized policy frameworks that address specific community needs.
Foteini Papagioti: Feminist Foreign Policy and Multilateral Engagement
Foteini Papagioti, Founder of the Feminist Foreign Policy Index, highlighted the challenges faced by civil society organizations in engaging with the multilateral system amidst declining support and limited resources. Despite these challenges, she emphasized the successes of feminist groups in influencing global policies, legal reforms, and gender-sensitive programs.
Papagioti called for trust-based partnerships and the inclusion of feminist principles in policy-making, stressing that gender equality is a cross-cutting goal essential for the entire 2030 agenda. Her insights align with the SENSE. project’s vision of integrating gender equality into education systems, ensuring that young women are empowered to pursue STEAM careers and contribute to global innovation.
She warned that multilateral institutions are facing increasing resistance to gender policies, making it even more critical to amplify feminist voices and invest in grassroots advocacy, emphasizing that women’s leadership must be central to global governance, with increased representation in decision-making at all levels.
Panel’s conclusions emphasized the need to recognize SDG 5 as a cross-cutting goal integrated into all future SDG reviews and post-2030 agendas, while prioritizing multi-stakeholder partnerships that foster digital advocacy, cross-sector collaboration, and community engagement to enhance gender accountability. Strengthening multilevel governance by linking global commitments with localized actions was highlighted as essential, along with ensuring institutionalized women’s leadership in global governance structures beyond electoral cycles. Additionally, the conclusions stressed the importance of sustainable financing and data-driven accountability for gender equality initiatives, particularly at the local and grassroots levels, to drive lasting and meaningful change.
The SENSE. project aligns closely with the key takeaways from the ECOSOC session on gender equality, particularly through its policy recommendations for inclusive and gender-just STEAM education. Both emphasize the need for multi-stakeholder partnerships—involving civil society, educational institutions, and local communities—to promote gender equity and social inclusion. SENSE. advocates for flexible learning pathways, participatory arts, and citizen science, resonating with the session’s call for inclusive, data-driven, and localized policies. Additionally, both stress the importance of addressing structural barriers, such as gender stereotypes and socio-economic exclusion, through holistic education, continuous feedback, and adaptable curricula. The SENSE. project’s learner-centered approach, which encourages self-directed learning and critical thinking, supports the ECOSOC conclusion that sustainable financing and institutionalized women’s leadership are essential for lasting gender equality in education and beyond.