Emma Watson Took Part in the First-Ever Meeting by the G7 Advisory Council for Gender Equality

In her latest venture to improve global gender equality, Emma Watson has taken part in the first meeting held by the G7 Advisory Council for Gender Equality!

The meeting took place in Paris, France, at Élysée Palace and was hosted by Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, who took over the presidency of G7 on January 1 of this year. In his capacity as President of G7, he has asserted that gender equality will be a key focus.

The G7 (group of seven) group consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States as the seven largest advanced economies in the world and brings together representatives from each nation to work on global issues.

Watson joined other humanitarians and activists including three Nobel Peace Prize winners as the group discussed how to promote gender equality, focusing on three main topics: combating violence against women, promoting female education, and women’s entrepreneurship. The group aims to create a legislative package, a set of good practices, and strategies that leading industrial nations can put into place to achieve these aims.

Since being named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations in July 2014, Watson has been involved with projects that empower women, such as the HeForShe campaign, which encourages men to take a stand against gender inequality. In a speech made in 2016 about the progress of HeForShe, Watson spoke out about her hopes that women might become more prevalent in roles of political leadership.

While women still only make up such a small percentage of political leadership, to quote the awesome Michelle Obama, ‘because of these women, girls and boys all over the world will have real-life examples that women are leaders.’ […] I genuinely feel that we are closer to a gender[-]equal world, certainly closer than we were two years ago, and I know that each and every HeForShe has played such a huge part in that. I am proud to have been part of lots of amazing things in my life, but there is nothing that I am prouder of than being part of this.

President Macron further announced that France was financing a 123-million-euro ($136 million) fund to promote women’s rights movements on a global scale, particularly within less developed countries!

The next G7 summit will take place August 25–27 in Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France, later this year and will bring together leaders from all seven countries and the European Union.

Have you joined the HeForShe movement yet?