3rd March 2026
Equality Now recommends that governments, multilateral institutions, civil society organisations and funders take coordinated action to counter backlash and strengthen accountability for the rights of women and girls.
Priority actions include:
- Support international and national civil society organisations, including through sustained core funding to build long-term resilience against anti-rights movements.
- Foster national, regional and cross-regional collaboration, enabling shared learning, coordinated advocacy and collective responses to rollback efforts.
- Implement evidence-based and proactive legal strategies, including normative standard-setting and strategic litigation that reflects the lived realities of women and girls.
- Adopt comprehensive, multi-sectoral approaches, ensuring that finance, housing, labour, education and social protection systems integrate gender-competent policies that withstand backlash.
- Protect and support women’s rights defenders, including through legal protections against retaliation and investment in their health, safety and right to care.
- Strengthen multilateral engagement and accountability mechanisms, ensuring that international legal frameworks remain inclusive, accessible and grounded in universal human rights standards.
Together, these steps are essential to prevent regression, protect hard-won gains and advance substantive gender equality in law and practice.