Gender Equality

PRESENTATION

The ORU Fogar Gender Equality Working Group was born in 2023 with a clear objective: to add the voice of regional governments to the construction of a global feminist agenda. Since then, it has followed a path filled with milestones that reflect cooperation, innovation, and commitment to equality.

The story began with the first coordinations between Córdoba and Catalonia, followed by a preliminary virtual session and the drafting of an institutional gender diagnosis. On November 20, 2023, during the ORU Fogar Assembly, the group was officially created, and that same year pioneering initiatives from Argentina and Ecuador were awarded within the framework of the VIII Regional Best Practices Award.

Access the founding text of the Gender Working Group.

In March 2024, the group took its message to the CSW with the activity “The contribution of regional governments to the advancement of the global feminist agenda.”

In September, Córdoba hosted the Suprarregional Forum “Women and Politics,” while in October Barcelona hosted the group’s first in-person meeting and the side event “Women and Zero Hunger” within the Zero Hunger Summit. 

Suprarregional Forum “Women and Politics.” Córdoba, September 2024.

“Women and Zero Hunger” at the Zero Hunger Summit. Barcelona, September 2024. 

That same year, the IX Best Practices Award recognized projects from Catalonia, Córdoba, and Brazil on menstrual health, attention to men in situations of violence, and women’s political leadership.

The Comprehensive Care Center for Men in Situations of Violence was awarded the Regional Best Practices Award carried out annually by ORU Fogar.

In 2025, the network further expanded its reach. The side event “Women and Zero Hunger” was held in a hybrid format connecting venues in New York, Barcelona, Ivory Coast, Córdoba, Ecuador, and Brazil. 

Shortly after, within the framework of the 69th CSW in New York, the group led the Local and Regional Governments Day, reaffirming the key role of regions in global debates on gender equality.

 Local and Regional Governments Day, 69th CSW.

OBJECTIVES

The ORU Fogar Gender Equality Working Group is constituted as a strategic space for international coordination. Its main objectives are:

• Promote gender equality through the action of regional and local governments, recognizing their role in building inclusive public policies.
• Make visible and disseminate good practices that provide innovative solutions to gender issues, such as violence prevention, menstrual health, and women’s political empowerment.
• Encourage cooperation and the exchange of experiences among regions from different latitudes, consolidating networks that strengthen resilience and female leadership.
• Contribute to the global feminist agenda from a territorial perspective, linking the local and regional levels with major international debates.

Each action shows ORU Fogar as a living organization, weaving networks among territories and multiplying experiences to move towards fairer societies. The Gender Equality Working Group is, in essence, a space of coordination and leadership that promotes women’s participation, combats violence, and places regional governments at the heart of social transformation.