Emma Watson’s latest speech on gender equality is mandatory viewing

Emma Watson is not shy about her belief in women’s equality. She’s a UN Women Global Goodwill ambassador, an outspoken feminist, and delivered a totally brilliant speech in September on the importance of men joining the fight for equal gender rights. So we’re not surprised that she just gave some more powerful remarks to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Watson outlined her yearlong plan to address women’s empowerment by calling on men’s involvement in the fight, through HeforShe’s IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative, which she said, “is about concrete commitments to change, the visibility of these commitments and the measurability of them, too.” The campaign aims to engage governments, corporations and universities in the fight for better representation of women, by introducing and “pilot-testing” new approaches to tackling the problem of gender inequality. 

While she reinforced the great need to bridge the gender gap in all aspects of society, she’s optimistic about the future.

“There is a greater understanding than ever that women need to be equal participants in our homes, in our societies, in our governments, and in our workplaces,” she continued. “And they know that the world is being held back in every way because they are not. Women share this planet 20/20 and they are under-represented, their potential astonishingly untapped.”

Watson mentioned that part of the initiative is listening to solutions from people who stick up for equality in their everyday lives.

“Girls: Who have been your mentors? Parents: Did you make sure you treated your children equally? If so, how have you done it? Husbands: Have you been supporting your female partner privately to fulfill her dreams too? Young men: Have you spoken up in a conversation when a woman was casually degraded or dismissed?” Watson asked.

She also noted that her speech last September sent ripples farther than she imagined.

“I’ve been stunned by the amount of men in my life that have contacted me since my speech to tell me to keep going, and that they want to make sure that their daughters will still be alive to see a world where women have power and equality, economically and politically,” she continued.

Here’s to Watson being an instrumental and inspiring part of the change we hope to see. Check out her entire, moving speech. It’s pretty incredible.

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