With so much at stake for women and for equality, Ms. will be reporting on policy initiatives and progress within Congress and the Biden-Harris administration—as well as tracking the backlash to equality. Every Wednesday, we will keep you updated, informed and ready to push forward!

BY LILY SENDROFF | Vice President Kamala Harris led the virtual U.S. delegation in a speech during the opening ceremony of the U.N.’s Generation Equality Forum on Wednesday. Her main message: Gender equality is essential for legitimate and robust democracy. 

“At the G7 Summit, just weeks ago, world leaders pledged to unite against the threat of autocracy. World leaders pledged to unite behind the principles of democracy,” she said.

Harris painted a picture of “democracy in peril” across the globe—stark increases in human rights violations, rampant misinformation chipping away at public confidence, strong men gaining more power and growing corruption. As the world finds itself in the second year of COVID-19, the gendered impacts of the pandemic and backsliding democracy are apparent on a global scale.

Harris pointed to the fact that when democracies falter and fail, women and girls suffer the greatest. “I believe—as you all do—that addressing gender equity and equality is essential to addressing every other challenge we face,” she said. 

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