By connecting inclusive leaders within and between key institutions, the network facilitates a deeper level of collaborative exchange and leverages institutional knowledge.

The core of the International Gender Champions work begins with the Panel Parity Pledge, the Gender-based Violence Pledge and Two personal commitments that each Champion makes every year.

The Panel Parity Pledge: Creating International Awareness & raising women’s voices

Visibility is key for role models in the public space and the workplace, and women’s distinct and expert voices must be elevated through gender parity. Diverse points of view generate sustainable, innovative solutions, and lead to a change in culture.

Through the Panel Parity Pledge, Champions commit to no longer take part in any single-sex panels. This Pledge has made the notion of single-sex panels unacceptable in the hubs where IGC operates and Champions have thus taken the lead in raising awareness of the need to ensure gender parity. Whilst originally designed to foster the inclusion of women in male-dominated panels, the Pledge is increasingly applied to all-female panels. The Pledge helps to create a positive mindset for the inclusion of all people in discussions affecting our society and in this guidance Champions and their teams can find strategies to address difficult situations they may find themselves in.

How do I uphold the PPP? See our quick guide!

The Gender-based Violence Pledge: Standing for zero tolerance of gender-based violence, sexist attitudes and behaviors

Ahead of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) in Paris in June 2021, the IGC Global Board approved a new, network wide Gender-based Violence (GBV) Pledge to stand for zero tolerance of gender-based violence (GBV), sexist attitudes and behavior. This started out as a year-long IGC commitment to the Generation Equality Forum and aims to tackle some of the deepest and most harmful norms that prevent the equal rights of women and girls being realised.

Why address sexist attitudes and behaviour? GBV is deeply rooted in social and gendered norms, attitudes and beliefs - sexism has become ingrained in words, images, gestures, speeches, laws, policies, practices and traditions across our societies. Sexist attitudes, behaviour and violence directed towards men and boys also contribute to harmful gendered norms and violent behaviour. This Pledge is a call for the whole network to break down harmful gender stereotypes in all their forms and apply an intersectional lens that allows us to truly value diversity and overcome barriers to inclusion.

How will the Pledge accelerate progress? Champions already agree to uphold IGC’s core values which include creating and maintaining safe workplaces and treating every person with respect and fairness, but achieving culture change requires continuous reflection and action to ensure that everyone aligns around shared values, and that support and accountability mechanisms are effective. In addition, with many people working from home, those experiencing domestic abuse are even more vulnerable and employers can play a critical role in supporting survivors.

Personal S.M.A.R.T. Commitments: Two thousand steps closer to gender equality

Each Gender Champion makes two personal commitments to advance gender equality in their organisation or programmatic work. All Gender Champions report on their commitments in the end of each calendar year. Some examples are including below. These commitments are:

Specific to the Champion and their organisation
Measurable
Action-oriented
Realistic
Time-bound

Since IGC’s foundation in 2015, Champions have made over 2,000 commitments collectively, in such areas as good governance, leadership & accountability, work-life balance, programmatic work, organisational culture etc.

We have drawn on Champions commitments and incorporated themes identified by Generation Equality to provide you with a NEW 2021 guide, here. Together with our complimentary guide on intersectional discrimination which provides suggested language and resources to for this, here.