HeForShe Launches Barbershop Toolkit 2.0: A Call for Bold Allyship at UNGA 80

25 September 2025 – On the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, HeForShe unveiled the HeForShe Barbershop Toolkit 2.0, a refreshed resource designed to engage men and boys in meaningful dialogue on gender equality. Building on the success of the original toolkit launched in 2017 in collaboration with the Government of Iceland and UN Women Iceland, this updated edition reflects a decade of lessons learned and responds to today’s urgent global context with intersectional, action-oriented tools.

Framed by milestone anniversaries of the UN’s 80th, 30 years since the Beijing Platform for Action, and the midpoint toward the 2030 Agenda, the launch positioned gender equality as both a moral imperative and a global necessity. 

“For UN Women, working with men and boys is critical. Our mission is to better the lives of all women and girls. But without men using their influence and agency to advance equality, we will not reach a just world. And in today’s environment, where harmful digital spaces are growing and authoritarian narratives are gaining traction, engaging men as allies is not only about fairness—it is about safeguarding progress and building cultures of respect and accountability.” 

– Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women

Speakers underscored the urgency of engaging men not as bystanders but as active allies. Thorarinna Söebeck of Iceland’s Directorate for International Development Cooperation stressed that new challenges require new tools, pointing to the rise of online misogyny and anti-gender movements. Toolkit author Aashraya Seth explained that Barbershop 2.0 offers 10 practical modules, from addressing digital spaces to climate justice, noting that you don’t need to be a gender expert to facilitate these conversations.

The private sector also featured prominently. Alexandra Siegel, Salesforce’s Chief Equality and Engagement Officer, highlighted the role of businesses as platforms for systemic change, sharing how Salesforce addressed the gender pay gap a decade ago and continues to deepen allyship through employee-led networks.

Speakers called on male leaders in particular to take responsibility for shifting norms. Gary Barker, President of Equimundo, linked social change to a barbershop visit: 

“The barbershop is a powerful metaphor: for a boy growing into manhood, it can feel intimidating because of the sharp tools yet also spark curiosity as it invites him into the space of adulthood. Also, the barbershop is not a place to visit just once—it is a place where you keep returning to. That is a great metaphor for the continuity and longevity that we need to build into this work.” 

— Gary Barker, President of Equimundo

The event demonstrated the Barbershop methodology in practice through a live session on Accountability and Power Sharing. Participants experienced the peer-to-peer model that has sparked conversations with over 26,000 men and boys and contributed to the adoption of 52 local bylaws advancing women’s rights in Malawi alone. 

The event closed with a collective call to action: move from passive support to courageous allyship, lean into discomfort, and apply the toolkit in workplaces, communities, and homes. As Swara Patel, a One Young World Youth Ambassador, reminded the room, “It’s hard to break a taboo when half of the world is left out of the conversation.”

Barbershop Toolkit 2.0 arrives at a critical moment offering practical guidance, a bold reform in multilateralism, and above all, a renewed invitation for men and boys to stand up for equality not just in principle, but in practice.