Eight Ways to Advocate for Women

There are many ways to become involved in advocacy. UN Women outline eight ways to advocate for women which I have summarised. Most of these you will all be very familiar with and already doing. However, I thought this would be a great resource to share with other women outside of our organization in promotion of our core values.

1. Know the power of your voice and raise it.

This is one of the most important things for me personally in regard to being an advocate – speaking up and raising my voice for women. This can be through informal processes such as discussions with family and friends on issues you are passionate about or more formal talks and speeches.

In regard to GWNZ I encourage everyone to develop a 60 second or less “elevator pitch” summing up GWNZ and benefits of joining. This is a great way to not only raise awareness of women’s rights but interest in and awareness of GWNZ.

2. Support other women

As we all know supporting and empowering women is essential in achieving gender equality. This is one of the fabulous things about GWNZ and something to possibly include in your elevator pitch!

3. Share the workload

On average women carry out much more unpaid work than men. Encourage everyone in your life to split unpaid work equally between men and women so we all have the opportunity to rest, recharge, and take part in other activities that are important to us.

4. Get involved

We are already all doing this through GWNZ! But additionally, having women in leadership and governance positions is essential.

5. Educate the next generation

Empower young advocates and teach them about gender equality. Promotion of this may also help with growing our reach as an organization.

6. Know your rights

Know your rights and where women’s rights are also lacking and advocate for change (if there is particular issue that you are wanting to advocate on feel free to reach out to your friendly advocacy officer I am always open to assisting with both regional and national issues!).

7. Grow the conversation

Share your stories and successes and harness the power of platforms such as social media for growing your reach.

8. Give to the cause

Here UN women specifically asks for donations but to me, giving up your time when you are not in a position to donate financially to other causes such as UN women can be just as valuable.

You can find the full UN Women article at the below link. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/3/compilation-eight-ways-you-can-be-a-womens-rights-advocate

If you would like to discuss any advocacy issues or idea my email is

advocacy@gwnz.org.nz.

• Karen Richardson, Advocacy (PAC)