“Let’s go, Open your eyes, Open your mind to her dream. Let’s go, fight for what’s right, fight for her life."

The inspiration for these funk-rock lyrics? HeForShe.

Since our launch in 2014, hundreds of thousands of young people have raised the bar for gender equality, translating their passion into more than two hundred HeForShe student associations around the world.

In September, 2015, to commemorate HeForShe’s first anniversary, we launched the first-ever HeForShe Get Free University tour, a grassroots effort to connect with passionate student activists across our global network.

As part of its International Women’s Day commemoration, UN Women is launching HeForShe Arts Week, a new initiative to leverage the arts for gender equality. From March 8-15, 2016, HeForShe and partner institutions across the city of New York will spotlight efforts towards gender equality and women’s rights.

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – First lady of New York City, Chirlane McCray, opened the HeForShe second anniversary at the MoMA in New York City, and shared a number of policies the city has enacted to advance gender equity. 

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – HeForShe IMPACT Champion and President of Stony Brook University, Samuel Stanley, co-hosted the HeForShe second anniversary event at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. President Stanley said that Stony Brook, which is the only campus in the United States to house a center for men and masculinity, is working toward closing the gender gap in matriculation and graduation rates, integrating gender equality into the academic and social experience; and driving a global understanding of the role of men in achieving equality.

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was appointed a HeForShe Champion for Youth Engagement at the UN Women HeForShe second anniversary event, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The Prime Minister, who is also the country’s Youth Minister, expressed his appreciation for being offered to serve in this position and his willingness to take on the challenge.

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – HeForShe IMPACT Champion and Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, addressed the HeForShe second anniversary with a firm commitment to gender equality, saying that if a conservative country like Japan changes, the world will change.

Abe spoke to the economic rationale behind empowering women. "I am a firm believer that without women’s empowerment, there is no revival of the Japanese economy," he said.

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – Actor Emma Watson extolled the work of activists and asked them to recommit to gender equality at the UN Women HeForShe second anniversary event, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Watson shared a number of her defining moments since the 2014 launch of HeForShe.

World leaders, change-makers, activists and celebrities came together to mark the second anniversary of UN Women’s HeForShe initiative at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

New York, NY (September 20, 2016) – President of Finland His Excellency, Sauli Niinistö, hosted the HeForShe second anniversary at the MoMA in New York City, and opened his remarks by asking, "how come we live in a world where something self-evident, namely that women and men, all born, are equal is still an issue? We should not need a movement like this in the 21st century."