An F. Word Guide to HeForShe

 

In September 2014, the United Nations launched HeForShe, a worldwide campaign aimed at inciting both women and men to join forces and take action against gender discrimination and violence. Thanks to a powerful speech delivered by actress and UN Women Goodwill ambassador Emma Watson at the United Nations New York headquarters, HeForShe became a trending topic on a number of social media platforms and, in just three days, more than 100,000 men signed-up to participate in the fight for gender equality.

Here at F. Word, we’ve decided to celebrate the campaign’s one-year anniversary by creating a three-step guide to HeForShe and exploring how the campaign has inspired men to take action and create a better world for the women around them.

 

Three HeForShe Essentials

1. The HeForShe Commitment

The HeForShe Commitment is a short and simple way for men to show their commitment to the fight for gender equality. All it takes is one simple click on the “I am HeForShe” button and you too can become part of the movement. You also have the option of sharing the news about your recent commitment on Facebook, Twitter or by e-mail, potentially motivating the men in your friend and family circles to follow in your footsteps and in those of the HeForShe Impact Champions.

In addition, you can find an interactive map that allows you to discover how many men in your country have also committed to HeForShe (the United States is currently in the lead, followed by China and India).

2. The Action Kit

The HeForShe Action Kit is a free downloadable PDF that can be used as a playbook for the implementation of the movement in UN entities, civil society organizations, gender equality advocate groups and university associations. It contains a general overview of the campaign, practical implementation steps and a list of different campaign tools and resources. If you’re interested in launching HeForShe in your school, neighborhood, office, etc., this is the perfect “how-to” manual.

3. A One-Time, Monthly or Yearly Donation

We know what you’re thinking: why donate to this cause and not the millions of other non-profits around the world? Well, we don’t really have a counter-argument. But what we do have are numbers. A yearly donation of 100$ can provide shelter and life skills training to 12 women in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp, allow six marginalized Dalit women working as manual scavengers to find alternative employment in India or train a low-income female entrepreneur to run a grocery store in her Johannesburg town. To sum things up, for less than 10$ a month, you can transform the lives of 6-12 women and give them the tools to take control of their future.

 

One Year Later, Has HeForShe Made A Difference?

In a recent TED Talk, head of UN Women’s HeForShe initiative, Elizabeth Nyamayaro, talked about the campaign’s achievements in the past year, explaining that, since the launch of the movement, men from all over the world have started developing innovative ways of improving the lives of the women in their community.

A few examples:

– Zimbabwe: One man founded a “husband school” and reached out to all the abusive husbands in his village to teach them how to be better partners to their wives.

– Sweden: The government has officially promised to put an end to unequal employment and pay between its male and female citizens.

At the end of her inspirational talk, Nyamayro reminds us that this is just the beginning of the shift towards gender equality, inviting male listeners to join the conversation and come up with their own ways of bringing about political, economic and social change in women’s lives.

Today, 483,809 men across the globe have joined the solidarity movement by making the HeForShe Commitment.

Will you be number 483,810?