In launching the Media Compact, over 40 signatories from all regions committed to playing an active role in advancing gender issues within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. This commitment entails a range of concrete changes such as championing women’s rights and gender equality issues through news coverage, ensuring the inclusion of women as sources in stories, aiming for gender parity among editorial personnel and adopting a gender-sensitive Code of Conduct on Reporting.

To encourage the private sector to advance gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and communities, UN Women and the UN Global Compact call on companies to sign the Women’s Empowerment Principles or WEPs. Signatories topped 1,000 in 2015, while over 500 companies registered for a two-day WEPs event launched with a keynote address by Hillary Clinton.

For International Women’s Day in 2016, UN Women and the UN Global Compact joined 35 stock exchanges in every region of the world in ringing their opening or closing bells to raise awareness in support of gender equality. In Santiago, 800 corporate and government leaders gathered to show support. The Dhaka exchange highlighted the low share of women in board positions among listed companies and announced a survey to inform steps to boost participation. A half-day session at the Nairobi exchange profiled best practices by companies to empower women, while speakers in Amman stressed how gender diversity improves corporate performance.

UN Women’s longest-serving private sector partner is the Coca-Cola Company, where collaboration has focused on developing women’s entrepreneurship and social leadership in Brazil, Egypt and South Africa. For example, in Brazil training has helped 21,500 women improve business skills and strengthened recycling cooperatives. Over 23,000 women in South Africa have learned basic business management concepts that have built confidence and provided a solid foundation for profitable business ventures.

In 2016, at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women—along with the YWCA and the UN Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality— inaugurated the meeting’s first Youth Forum. Three hundred young participants charged the meeting with their energy and aspirations, affirming that they are ready for their role in achieving gender equality by 2030. As Vanessa Anyoti, a representative who delivered recommendations from the Forum to the commission, put it: “The SDGs are about our lives NOW and our collective tomorrow.”