Happy International Women’s Day!

What are local leaders doing to advance gender equity around the world?

From delivering basic services – like health and education – to testing and scaling innovative pilot projects, Mayors and their teams touch the lives of citizens every day. Increasingly, local governments are delivering gender equity in order to build more resilient cities and fairer societies. 

Removing barriers to the full participation of women, girls and gender diverse people in our communities is not only a moral imperative, but also enables cities to function better for everyone. The member cities of our network prove this when they put gender equity at the top of their priority list everyday. By reducing, recognizing and redistributing the burden of unpaid care, local governments are enabling millions to re-enter and contribute to the local economy. By urging a range of stakeholders – from businesses to bus drivers – to help make nightlife safer, mayors are allowing more women to work, dance and move around after dark. By building schools and daycares near workplaces, policy makers are making it easier for women to focus on their businesses and careers, all while delivering quality education to the next generation. CHANGE cities know that investments in women are also investments in everyone around them.

As our mayors and urban planners strive to create more equal cities around the world, we work with them to collaborate and learn from one another, to build best practices together, and keep gender equity at the heart of local and global politics every day.

This International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the work that local leaders are doing to advance gender equity.

In this series of presentations, representatives of Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Freetown, Melbourne, and Mexico City share their experiences promoting gender equity in their hometowns.