About the Manifesto
This manifesto claims that women constitute half of the humanity and recognizes Gender Equality as the ultimate goal for a peaceful, fair and healthy world, where everybody is provided with the same rights, opportunities, and resources in all areas of their lives. Gender Equality holds the notion of justice and recognizes specificities, differences, and privileges to bridge the gaps, to eliminate gender bias and discrimination against women and gender diverse people.
A new narrative is needed to challenge the underlying systems of power that sexism, racism, ableism, heterosexism, and so many social categorization schemes are each and all designed to sustain. Only gender equality and feminist values can achieve systemic change.
This is an Open Work in Progres
This Manifesto is not intended to be final or exhaustive. It is the first proposal of a group of Ashoka Fellows and social entrepreneurs who aligned on the most urgent mindset shifts needed to advance gender equity.
We welcome contributions, comments, new points, and examples of best practices.
Please, make this Manifesto your own and reach out to us!
How to read the Manifesto
As this Manifesto intends to promote a change in the current narrative on gender, each point showcases how reality would be when this narrative is embedded in our formal and informal norms, mindsets, and behaviors. We, therefore, wrote it in the present tense.
Do some of these assumptions sound strange? We have work to do!
Read the Manifesto and take action
Care is the fundamental leadership attribute and is at the core of our economy
Taking care of the common good, all living beings, including oneself and the planet, is at the center of healthy societies, systems, and humanity. This attribute is considered the strongest leadership quality: leadership and success are no longer centered on hierarchy, strength, and competition but on caring, empathy, wellbeing, collaboration, and enabling environments for others to lead change.
Care work is valued, recognized as fundamental in our societies, incentivized to ensure decent living and a healthy workforce, and redistributed accordingly. Care work is therefore represented and perceived as a dignified role, worth having and sharing. Care work is revolutionary, and as such it is desirable and respectful for everyone to carry its responsibility; it is something to be proud of and represented as a key skill to success, leadership, and power. All human beings have a stake in care work, and women are not being appointed as primary caregivers by default, unless this is their conscious choice to be.
Care transforms power in responsibility, and responsibility in power.
Solidarity & Sisterhood is incentivized and respected in all aspects and moments of life
Solidarity and sisterhood, including intergenerational sisterhood, are essential for women to thrive, dream boldly, be seen and heard, have an impact, be independent, fully participate in economic, political, and social life, and then to reach equality. Everywhere, communities of women are reinforcing access to and respect for their rights. Such initiatives, communities, and processes are supported and replicated. Women are half of humanity, and they value themselves and are valued as such, and for the values and positive assets they can bring to the world.
Young girls and women of different ages and backgrounds are in-powered and inspired to believe and feel the strength to have a say on their own future and to achieve their highest potential. Such strategies are included in the educational systems, breaking gender inequality patterns and co-creating a new narrative about female leadership. Sisterhood Circles of Impact are disseminated worldwide: she-for-she intergenerational powerful relations by doing things together in a spirit of support - as a key to in-power youth to be the next generation of leaders.
The power of sisterhood is key to overcoming patriarchy and building an equal society.
Language used publicly and privately always elevates people and their values
Language is a crucial tool for representativeness and role modeling. Using Asset-Framing, the leading narrative defines women by their aspirations and contributions, not their challenges.
Language is inclusive and diverse; it highlights the active roles of people in society, and not a passive role. Hence, language in the public and private sphere represents women as political, engaged, powerful, respected human beings, and not victims needing to be saved or supported. Through this language, women are valued, and their rights are recognized and respected.
Ending all forms of violence: Everyone deserves to live in safety, dignity and freedom
Security is understood as making active efforts (planning, financing, implementation, monitoring) at the level of local communities, states and globally to prioritize and target the prevention - and, if necessary, effective response - to all forms of gender-based or related violence: economic, psychological, physical and sexual violence, human trafficking, exploitation, unpaid care and education labor, degradation of the Earth's climate and natural resources, and others.
Power is no longer expressed “over” someone under the paradigm of a masculine monopoly on force that leverages a dichotomized world of men vs. women, but in an approach that recognizes the dimension of power "with", "to", "within" and shared by encouraging empathy, understanding, and collaboration.
Ending gender-based violence means taking the biggest step forward to achieving global security and equality, as it will mean putting an end to a practice that is systemic and embedded in our culture, rules, traditions, and power dynamics and that affects individuals and collectives both in the private and public sphere.
Masculinity and the dominant patriarchal culture are challenged and redefined
Displaying and discussing the dominant patriarchal narrative is at the basis of a bigger mindset shift. Educating youth to redefine masculinity, parenthood, and care work is at the core of raising boys who are allies and ambassadors of a new masculinity narrative.
Women have as much economic and political power as men and benefit from equal credibility, visibility and legitimacy.
Women are equally able to participate in and influence our current economy, as much as they are ensured of an equal impact and earnings that give them control and power over their own lives, bodies, and aspirations. Prioritizing women strategically and financially to develop their leadership in every position as well as to reinforce their credibility, visibility, and legitimacy, is a key approach to reach and achieve a real share of economic and political power. Equal presence of women in positions of power and decision-making also ensures the protection and application of women’s rights and will globally redefine the collective unconscious on stereotypes, the whole way of thinking, defining, organizing, and prioritizing every aspect of our society, and change our habits and mindsets in every way.
As a result, women have equal agency and voice in all economic decision-making processes from the private sphere in every kind of household, including single-parent families, to professional and institutional spheres, in the economy and in politics. Equal economic and political power supports a society where care and education are a priority, as well as where major global challenges (geopolitical, environmental, economic) are adequately addressed with women’s needed actions for sustainable solutions and representativeness in solutions.
Every decision-making process adopts an intersectional and collective approach
To fully create equitable and healthy systems, an intersectional approach is key. Acknowledging the different experiences people live based on their different identities and backgrounds brings to the surface the limits of the unjust systems we live in and allows for the implementation of transformative approaches that are equitable, inclusive, and respectful to everyone. It allows to shift how the systems work so that all, including the most discriminated people, will have full opportunities to dream boldly and thrive.
Collectives are stronger and more impactful than individual leaders or heroes. They bring a diversity of approaches, perspectives, and worldviews and represent the whole system and not only a part of it. Cross-sector collaboration also allows the distribution of the work and the reach and mobilization of more masses and reinforces the network. With the mantra “nothing about us without us”, every decision regarding women and LGBTQAI+ people puts them at the center of the design process.