Listening to the spaces in between

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Dear John

On the eve of International Women’s Day, I wanted to take a moment as Equality Now’s new Global Executive Director to share why I believe radical listening is key to achieving gender equality ([link removed]) .

More than 100 years ago, French composer Claude Debussy wrote that ‘the music is not in the notes, but in the spaces between them.’

These beautiful words are still relevant today, and I am reminded of them often – whether it is during discussions with funders about climate solutions or while witnessing world leaders battling for attention on the global stage.
We’re all so busy talking that no one is actually listening. And all too often, it is those who are disproportionately harmed by inequality – women, non-binary people, disabled people, those from racialized and Indigenous communities – whose voices are most marginalized. To solve the world’s most pressing problems, we must cultivate a practice of radical listening.

Radical listening is not passive; it’s not inaction. It is intentionally setting aside what we believe we know in order that we might learn from others with different experiences and perspectives. To practice radical listening is to acknowledge and accept that those in the closest proximity to problems are often the ones who are best placed to solve them ([link removed]) .

Making Legal and Lived Equality a Reality

Nowhere is this truth more apparent than in the drive towards global gender equality, which over the past 30 years has been powered primarily by the women, girls, and activists of all genders on whose lives the impact of inequality has historically been most profound.

If we are to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal ([link removed]) of achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls by 2030, it is those who live with the daily consequences of gender discrimination to whom we must first listen ([link removed]) ; and it is they who must determine the policies and legal frameworks we use to eradicate violence, to eliminate exploitation, and to end practices that inhibit the autonomy and agency of all women and gender minorities.

But they cannot do it alone. We need organizations like Equality Now to provide the connective tissue between these ‘solution seekers’ and those with political influence so that each of them has an equal opportunity to contribute their unique expertise and resources.

This is why I am delighted to be joining Equality Now as the new Global Executive Director. Equality Now’s vision is to ensure that all women and girls the world over enjoy equal rights under the law. In a world that is shifting away from this vision, our work is even more critical to ensure that women and their communities can thrive. I am deeply humbled to lead an extraordinary team to make legal and lived equality a reality.

In solidarity,

S. Mona Sinha

Global Executive Director

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