On 28 January 2025, the Geneva Hub held its first biannual Champions meeting of 2025. The meeting was hosted at the Permanent Mission of Canada by Ambassador Nadia Theodore, Permanent Representative to the WTO, WIPO and UNCTAD, and Ambassador Peter MacDougall, Permanent Representative to the UN and Conference on Disarmament. 45 Geneva-based Gender Champions attended, representing United Nations agencies, International Organisations, Permanent Missions, and Civil Society Organisations. 
Ambassador Theodore delivered the opening remarks, affirming that ‘now is the time to double down on our efforts for gender equality’ in the face of a global pushback on the rights of women in all their diversity. Her opening was followed by a keynote speech by Dr. Musonda Mumba, Secretary-General of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, on ‘Women, Wetlands and Water: a Critical Intersection in Agenda 2030’. Dr. Mumba spoke on the vital role of women in environmental conservation, the disproportionate impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on women and girls, and the importance of nexus thinking in achieving the SDG’s. Her triple-A approach of ‘Advocacy, Alignment and Acceleration’ was picked up in many of the interventions that followed.
The keynote speech was followed with remarks by Ambassador Matthew Wilson, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the UN and other International Organisations in Geneva, who represented the IGC Global Board. Ambassador Wilson called for ambitious action in light of the global anti-gender pushback: ‘This is not an easy time to be a Gender Champion, but it is the right time to be a Gender Champion’. He then highlighted IGC’s key 2024 achievements, including the launch of the Geneva Pledge for Gender-Responsive Climate Action, endorsed by over 70 leaders globally, and the successful completion of the pilot Youth Champions Programme. Looking ahead towards 2025 – a milestone year which will mark key anniversaries such as Beijing+30, but also the IGC’s 10th anniversary – he outlined the IGC’s plans to build on these achievements by strengthening existing partnerships and forging new ones, breaking down silos, and leveraging its collective influence to advance gender equality. This includes plans to welcome 20 private sector Champions to the network by the end of 2025.
During the second part of the meeting, Champions were invited to engage in small group discussions on one of six thematic areas aligned with IGC’s strategic priorities: the climate-gender nexus, digital and new emerging technologies, Women, Peace and Security and humanitarian action, human rights, private sector engagement and internal/organisational policies to advance gender equality. The main themes of discussion were integrated in a plenary session, moderated by Agi Veres, Director of UNDP’s Geneva Office and IGC Geneva Steering Group member. To wrap up the meeting, Champions gathered for a family photo.
Overall, this first meeting of the year was a powerful show of commitment by Geneva-based Gender Champions, who are ready to turn 2025 into a year of standing firm, elevating ambition, and leading by example for gender equality.
