HeforShe Campaign

The strategy behind the campaign is revealed by its theme, "He for she" - in other words, men ought to stand up for the rights of the women of the world who are their mothers, sisters, and daughters. The campaign, which is a women's rights campaign featuring not a single woman, has at its centrepiece a website, where visitors can watch a video clip meant to serve as a teaser that introduces the initiative. The clip features several famous men urging support for gender equality, including the actors Matt Damon and Patrick Stewart, Desmond Tutu, and the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon. Men (not just famous ones) are encouraged to join these voices, such as the father who uploaded his video to YouTube, viewable below. Twitter is another tool: "Are you a man? Then tweet [@UN_Women] for women's equality. Use hashtag #HeForShe to speak out on any gender equality issue you're passionate about. Men are also asked to change their profile picture to reflect the HeForShe logo.

The campaign also features in-person events. For example, in her role as UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, on September 20 2014, British actor Emma Watson co-hosted a UN Women special event for the HeForShe campaign from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, NY (United States). Moderated by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, the event featured speeches as well as the activation of the HeForShe map, which is a real-time map with a geo locator that captures men's engagement with the initiative around the world over the subsequent 12 months and provides a tally against the campaign's one billion target. The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the initiative's first goal, which is to mobilise the first 100,000 world citizens in this way. Through his map activation, he was counted as the "number one man". Also unveiled at the event was a new public service announcement (PSA). Click here in order to view the webcast from the event as well as to read the speeches that were delivered there.

Women, Rights, Gender

UN Women engages men to share their voices via the social media avenues described on the HeforShe website by asking these action questions:

• "Globally, women earn up to 30 percent less than men for the same work. How are men responsible for this imbalance? What can we, as men, do to change it?
• Educating women is one of the most effective ways to reduce world poverty, yet women still make up 64% of the world's illiterate. What would you say to a man who thinks educating girls is a waste of time?
• Every day, almost 800 women die from preventable complications during pregnancy and childbirth. How would it make you feel if a woman you loved was dying in childbirth and no one would help her?
• One in three women are subjected to violence in their lifetime. What can we as men do to end this violence against women and girls?
• Do you know a woman who is good at resolving conflict? How would it affect world affairs if more women were involved in decision making on the global level?
• Globally, only 1 in 5 lawmakers is a woman. Do you think policymaking would improve if it were formed in a more balanced way?"