Reflections on The Generation Equality Forum and its Digital Pulse

I cheered behind the screen as two World Pulse leaders spoke boldly before the curtains closed on the virtual stage at the Generation Equality Forum’s final session on July 2nd - a historic event bringing together governments, business, and civil society to secure ambitious commitments to gender equality. 

“Now it’s time to invest in girls and young women even more – for resources to reach rural and marginalized communities, for technology for public good and available to all!” proclaimed Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda of Zimbabwe, World Pulse Global Voice Council leader and African Union Goodwill Ambassador on Ending Child Marriage. 

“Work with us to shift the power at all levels: from the mat to the policy table,” called out Fiji’s Sharon Baghwan Rolls, also of World Pulse’s Global Voice Council. 

The forum brought direly needed momentum to reverse course on the backsliding on women’s rights – namely in the form of major funding commitments dedicated to gender equality, and powerful new collaborations and alliances.   

World Pulse stepped forward, too – making a commitment of our own.  Drawn from years of experience, collaboration, and listening to the voices of our global community of changemakers and partners, we were proud to announce the Her Digital Leadership Alliance. It’s a commitment with business, government, and civil society to build a global network of 20,000 grassroots women, girls, and gender-diverse leaders in 50+ countries and equip them with digital leadership, advocacy, and training skills. With these skills, these leaders will improve the lives of millions more in their communities; lead local efforts to bridge the gender digital divide; and bring historically excluded voices online to participate in the decisions that affect their lives.

Our commitment responds to the urgency for equal digital access and use especially during and following the pandemic era, while half of women and girls globally remain offline and cut off from the benefits of the internet.  For those who are able to access the internet, they face a gendered digital skills divide and are often exposed to traumatic online harassment.

World Pulse was one of the 200 signatories to a letter alongside prominent women and our partner the World Wide Web Foundation to call for tech giants to act against the epidemic of online harassment . When the corporate platforms responded without clear actions or timelines, we signed a new letter because their commitments do not go nearly far enough to address root algorithmic causes of online inequities or harmful content moderation - and will not adequately address the devastating epidemic of violence against women online.

And that’s not all:

• World Pulse joined a new Alliance for Sustainable Feminist Movements and will participate in its design.  


• World Pulse joined a coalition for Feminist Foreign Policy for the United States, to join Mexico, Sweden, France, Canada, Luxumburg – while calling for innovative online methods to bring women’s voices forward for accountability mechanisms, especially from nations under authoritarian rule, where there is no democratic process or formal process for women participate in domestic or international affairs. 


• World Pulse has signed on to the Every Woman Treaty, a legally binding agreement that would mandate laws, training, education and accountability protocols to help reduce the violence women and girls experience around the world.

These are just a few of the actions and intentions where World Pulse has joined forces with collaborators to strengthen the path to gender justice.

The Digital Pulse Grows

We were heartened to see new energy and many more commitments alongside ours centering digital technology for gender equality – long a neglected area of focus that World Pulse has championed since the launch of this community over a decade ago. 

The World Pulse global community knows that technology can help break down issue-based silos because we do not live single-issue lives or build single-issue movements.  All the Action Coalitions at the Generation Equality Forum will benefit from a strengthened feminist digital ecosystem:  Feminist Movements, Sexual and Reproductive Health,  Climate Justice, Economic Justice, and Ending Gender-Based Violence.

At the same time, there is a long way to go. 

We were shocked by major technology breakdowns of the global virtual conference platform for an event of this magnitude.  The majority of panels had some level of technical malfunction – including, sadly, the Technology and Innovation panel.  Even more harmful was the poor accessibility and the exclusion of those with disabilities, as closed captioning or interpretation was not available.  

Importantly, World Pulse has endorsed the platform of the Inclusive Generation Equality Collective and we include it here for others to do the same. 

This underscored our deep recognition that while we are hopeful of these commitments, they are not enough; we must hold these commitment makers accountable, including ourselves, to ensure that grassroots leaders and movements are inclusively strengthened in this pivotal global moment. We must ensure that convenings like the Generation Equality Forum are accessible, transparent, and powered by power-shifting feminist principles. We know that to truly reverse the tide, it will take deeper collaboration and deep listening to those who are most excluded.  

We extend our arms to all of our global network and partners – to co-create the next chapter with you. 

Because of you – instead of waiting for the tech giants to catch up (if ever) we create our own online spaces and communities that are vibrant, consentful, and liberating for women and gender-diverse people.  We create our own safe haven pulsing with rising voices, speaking for ourselves, and driving our own destinies. We will co-create the future that we want and deserve.  We know it can be done. Because we are doing it - thanks to the global community at the forefront of building the safe online space, culture, and webs of transformation at World Pulse! 

In solidarity, 

Jensine Larsen, CEO

World Pulse