HeForShe Wrapped 2025: A Year of Action, Allyship, and Accountability

As the world enters the final stretch toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2025 marked a pivotal year for HeForShe. Against a backdrop of accelerating progress and persistent pushback on gender equality, the movement continued to mobilize men and boys, strengthen partnerships, and translate commitments into action across communities, institutions, industries, and digital spaces. From storytelling and research to national chapters, global advocacy, and practical tools for change, HeForShe’s work in 2025 reflected a clear message: gender equality advances when allyship is visible, sustained, and accountable. 

January:  
The year began with the launch of In the Words Of, HeForShe’s men’s storytelling editorial series. With SDG 5 critically off track and less than 5 years remaining, the series sought to humanize male allyship by highlighting the lived experiences of men actively advancing gender equality in their professional and personal lives. Across 2025, the series explored themes ranging from menstrual equity and STEM, climate action, changing the face of mining, advocating for a future without violence, empathy-building and allyship, community building and highlighting men’s role in ending violence. By centering personal narratives, In the Words Of gave face and voice to allyship, demonstrating how men can help close gender gaps at work, at home, and in their communities, while inspiring others to act. 

February:  
In February, UN Women Rwanda launched the #HinduraBlague HeForShe campaign, a localized adaptation of the global #ChangeThePunchline initiative. Grounded in the belief that humor can either reinforce harm or spark reflection, the campaign challenged sexist jokes and narratives that normalize harmful gender stereotypes. By promoting inclusive, respectful, and gender-sensitive humor, HinduraBlague created space for dialogue and cultural change, demonstrating how everyday language and social norms shape attitudes toward gender equality. 

March: International Women’s Month 
March brought new evidence underscoring both progress and urgency.  

Team Lewis:  
A global survey conducted by TEAM LEWIS Foundation in support of HeForShe revealed that while women’s participation is essential to economic growth, it continues to be constrained by rising online abuse and rollbacks on women’s rights. For the first time in the history of TEAM LEWIS’ International Women’s Day research, gender equality ranked among the top three global concerns, alongside healthcare and climate change, signaling growing awareness, but also the scale of work ahead. The study also found that 80% of Gen Z and 76% of Millennials are concerned about sexist rhetoric online, reflecting a strong call from younger generations for greater attention and intervention and reinforcing the urgency of advancing safe digital spaces as a sustained priority. 

Teck Alliance Member: 
That urgency was echoed through action. HeForShe welcomed Teck into the HeForShe Alliance, with President and CEO Jonathan Price named a HeForShe Champion. In a traditionally male-dominated industry, the partnership reinforced momentum toward change, including Teck’s commitment to increase women’s representation in its workforce to 30 per cent by 2030 and its leadership in creating safer, more inclusive workplaces. 

HeForShe Call to Action: 
March also saw the HeForShe Alliance, led by Vodafone, release an open letter calling for decisive action against online misogyny. With overwhelming concern among Gen Z and Millennials about sexist rhetoric online, the letter emphasized that safer digital spaces are essential to gender equality and that responsibility must be shared by platforms, policymakers, and society at large. 

April:  
In April, HeForShe Central Asia launched a groundbreaking comic book developed with UN Women Kazakhstan and the Central Asian Alliance to End Gender-Based Violence. Using illustration and storytelling, the comic challenged rigid gender norms, addressed gender-based violence, and invited readers, particularly young people, to rethink masculinity, femininity, and relationships. By meeting audiences where they are, the initiative demonstrated the power of creative approaches to drive social change and engage new generations. 

May:  
May marked the launch of the HeForShe Italy Chapter, responding to growing demand for structured, country-level platforms that connect local action with global goals. The Chapter brings together government, private sector, academia, and civil society to advance gender-responsive policymaking, community programmes, and advocacy rooted in accountability. 

The month also featured the bi-annual HeForShe Lab in New York. Convened at a critical moment, 30 years after the Beijing Declaration and five years from 2030, the Lab brought senior leaders together to assess progress, align strategies, and co-create pathways forward amid increasing resistance to gender equality. The Labs continue to serve as an engine for cross-sector collaboration and innovation within the Alliance. 

June:  
In June, HeForShe Brazil officially launched its national chapter at the UN House in Brasília, appointing João Edegar Pretto as the country’s first National HeForShe Advocate. His leadership signals renewed momentum to mobilize public institutions and companies across Brazil in advancing gender equality. 

 
July  
In July, UN Women Türkiye, in collaboration with Fenerbahçe Sports Club and with support from Tüpraş, released the Gender-Responsive Sports Reporting Handbook. Developed under the HeForShe framework, the handbook provides practical guidance for media professionals to apply a gender lens across sports coverage, recognizing the role of media in shaping norms, visibility, and opportunity.