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Emma Watson Presents G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council Goals

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Emma Watson has been a fierce feminist advocate for as long as we can remember, standing up for her beliefs as passionately as Hermione did with SPEW. On February 19, she attended the first G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council meeting in preparation for this summer’s official summit. Now, she’s helping present the council’s goals, which she’ll be advocating for come August.

Watson joined many other female activists, like Assia Benziane, Aranya Johar, Aïssata Lam, Nadia Murad, and Marlène Schiappa in Paris at the Élysée Palace. This is the second time the council has convened, so the effect it will have at this year’s summit is still relatively unprecedented. Still, Watson is determined to make real change, as she said in her post outlining her goals:

As a Council, we’ll be recommending ways that states can improve their laws to strengthen women’s rights and will be encouraging them to make new commitments to ensure accountability and access to justice.

The clock is ticking, though, and we have a lot of work to do before the G7 meets in the summer, but I’m excited to work alongside so many experts I admire, and to learn from my Council colleagues and the civil society groups that come together as W7.

This will be the first of hopefully many meetings for the council as it works toward advancing women’s issues worldwide. Watson emphasized the urgency and importance of its work, especially for women in countries outside of the seven nations that will be at the G7 summit:

At a time when many might feel a loss of confidence in politicians and the state, it’s easy to forget how vital national governments and legislation are in the wheel of factors that create meaningful and lasting change.

Disengaging is quite simply not an option when in many parts of the world, we’re seeing roll-backs on women and girls’ rights and cutbacks and corrosions to the basic state services that guarantee these rights.

Watson has high hopes for this year’s summit, and we can’t wait to see what she and the other activists in the council will accomplish. The 45th G7 summit will be held on August 25–27 in France, where Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States will all meet to discuss issues like this and work to solve global issues.