Emakunde Showcases Basque Leadership in Local Alliances for Equality at the United Nations

• Emakunde’s Director, Miren Elgarresta, represented the Basque Country in a key session on fostering alliances with local organisations to advance gender equality
• Basque strategies designed to promote local partnerships for equality: the Country Pact for Equality and Lives Free of Violence against Women, the Berdinsarea network of Basque municipalities, and the Basqueskola network of women politicians.

The director of Emakunde, Miren Elgarresta, participated today in a session at the 69th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the United Nations' largest annual gathering dedicated to advancing gender equality and women's empowerment. Elgarresta was selected to join the session spotlighting local and regional governments, where discussions centred on the vital role of local alliances between social and political organisations in driving progress toward gender equality.

The session prominently addressed this year’s priority theme: the review of progress on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, marking its 30th anniversary. In her speech, Elgarresta outlined three key initiatives spearheaded by Emakunde, showcasing Basque leadership in equality policies and local coalition building.

She highlighted the Country Pact for Equality and Lives Free of Violence against Women, which draws on the United Nations Generation Equality initiative as a guiding framework. "It mobilises public and private sector actors, alongside the public, to make concrete, actionable commitments to advance gender equality — fostering transformative, intergenerational, cross-sectoral, and multilevel change," she stated.

In addition, Elgarresta showcased two further examples of Basque leadership in fostering local alliances. She highlighted Berdinsarea — the Network of Basque Municipalities for Equality and Against Violence against Women — established in 2006 to implement and strengthen local equality policies. She also introduced Basqueskola, a pioneering network of women politicians created by Emakunde and EUDEL in 2012. “Through these initiatives, the Basque Country remains committed to building a fairer, more equal and sustainable society,” Elgarresta declared.  “We honour the lessons of the past while shaping a future where the next generation becomes the generation of true equality.”

The Basque delegation concluded its mission in New York after a series of strategic meetings, including with key UN agencies such as UN Women and UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund), reinforcing a long-standing collaborative relationship aimed at advancing global gender equality efforts.