UN Women and FIFA join forces for gender equality

NEW YORK, 24th July, 2023 (WAM) — UN Women and FIFA are collaborating during the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand 2023 (20 July to 20 August 2023) to celebrate the skills and achievements of the teams and players, to advance gender equality in football, and to prevent abuse and discrimination on and off the field.

The 2023 tournament is expected to be seen by more than two billion people—the largest audience in history for a single women’s sport—which offers an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievement in sport and to move the needle, both for women’s football and for gender equality.

To address some of these challenges and advance in closing the gender gap in football, FIFA raised the prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup to US$150 million—triple the amount in 2019—as part of a three-step gender equality plan. The “Football Unites the World” campaign will highlight major gender equality issues during the tournament.

Under this umbrella, UN Women is partnering with FIFA on two calls to action: the first to “Unite for Gender Equality”, to realise gender equality as a fundamental human right and as critical for a peaceful and sustainable world; and the second to “Unite for Ending Violence against Women”, a call to end violence against women and girls as the most pervasive human rights violation worldwide.

The two calls to action on gender equality will be promoted via the team captains’ armbands, pitch-side digital LED boards, large flags presented on the pitch, giant screens in stadiums, and via social media.

“Unite for Gender Equality” will be the featured message on match day 3 (30 July – 3 August 2023) and “Unite to End Violence against Women” will be the designated message during the Semi-Final (16 August 2023).

Five other UN agencies have joined the “Football Unites the World” cause activation, including UNESCO, UNHCR, UN Human Rights Commission, World Food Programme, and World Health Organisation.