Girls' Goals: Gen Z Activists Lead the Charge for Gender Equality

A call to action for change

International Women's Day is a time to celebrate how far we’ve advanced girls' rights but also a moment to shed light on a sobering reality: There's still a long way to go. At the current rate, we’re more than 130 years away from reaching full gender equality.

Consider the following statistics: nearly 1 in 4 girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are not in school, employed or in training, compared to 1 in 10 boys. Harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) are still prevalent in many parts of the world. And violence against women remains common — 1 in 6 girls in this age group have experienced physical or sexual violence from a husband or partner in just the past year.

For young activists today, these aren't just numbers — they're a call to action for change. While the scale of gender inequality in society can feel daunting, many of the youngest changemakers have found that the most powerful way to make an impact is through community and by uplifting others. Here, UNICEF USA National Youth Council members Anika, Jazmine and Sophia share how and why they are committed to advocating for a more equitable future for girls and what it means to be a female youth activist today.

Taking a stand against gender-based violence

Gender-based violence was the issue that Jazmine, 17, a high schooler from Los Angeles, wanted to raise awareness around in her activism work. “It’s a difficult topic to discuss, so conversations around it are limited, but the stigma must be broken. Only then can young people establish healthy boundaries with themselves and others.”

To do this, she turned to the other members of her school’s UNICEF Club. Together, they organized an event for Domestic Violence Awareness Month last October.

The stigma must be broken. Only then can young people establish healthy boundaries with themselves and others. — Jazmine, 17

Working with a local nonprofit, YWCA, they gathered a team of 13 individuals to volunteer at and help organize their annual Domestic Violence Candlelight Vigil and Resource Fair. UNICEF Club members handed out candles to families and friends to honor the lives lost to domestic violence and helped design the program for the event, which included survivors sharing their personal stories.

The power of the event didn’t just come from the stories told, but from how the community came together because of it. “Collaborating with other young people is key as it allows for combining different experiences and knowledge, making the most impact," Jazmine says. "Young people today should know how much power can come from advocating."

Elevating other young women

Anika, 18, a freshman at the University of Michigan, says being a young female activist means elevating other young women through her volunteer and advocacy work for UNICEF USA. Whether it’s leading an advocacy training for and with other young people or sharing her voice in spaces where typically only adults are heard, she continues to push for change, knowing, as she says, “that the things I am doing are not solely for me, but for millions of others who do not get the same opportunities.”

The things I am doing are not solely for me, but for millions of others who do not get the same opportunities. — Anika, 18

This is especially important to remember whenever she encounters resistance because of her age and gender. “Though these moments can be demeaning, I always find it helpful to focus on myself and what brought me to these experiences in the first place," Anika says.

A defining moment for her? Being a panelist at the Interfaith Convening on the Rights of Children at the UN last fall. Despite being the youngest person in the room, she felt her perspective was valued. “It was extremely fulfilling having individuals so much more experienced than me asking about my ideas and how they should implement youth voices in their respective groups,” Anika says. Her experiences taught her that “any small action can snowball into even greater impacts. Taking small steps to gain confidence at first is completely okay. At the end of the day, know that your voice and anything you do matters.”

Showing up and being heard

Even getting into the rooms where ideas are being exchanged or where decisions are being made in the first place can be a challenge. Sophia, 19, a freshman at Cornell University, points out: “I’ve noticed that I don’t always receive direct pushback — because more often than not, I’m never even invited into the room to receive it. The spaces that would dismiss me based on my age or gender tend to exclude me entirely, which is far more dangerous than any overt criticism. It’s one thing to be challenged. It’s another to be overlooked before you even have a chance to speak.” She handles this by “showing up prepared, speaking with confidence and making it impossible for them to ignore me.”

This goes hand in hand with another battle faced by many young female activists — they feel they are reduced to their gender rather than seen as multifaceted individuals. “There’s a dangerous tendency to treat women as a one-size-fits-all identity,” Sophia notes.

In reality, being a woman is just one of the many demographics she associates with. “My experiences as a Moroccan-American, Muslim woman and first-generation student shape how I navigate activism. The issues I face are not the same as every other woman, and yet, we’re often expected to speak as if we represent all women everywhere. True advocacy means recognizing the complexity of identity — understanding that gender is just one layer, and our experiences in activism are shaped by so much more.” 

Facing a grocery list of expectations

There is a grocery list of expectations placed on young women activists, which they feel obliged to address before they can earn the right to have their voices heard. Sophia observes, “We are often expected to be palatable: Strong, but not too aggressive, assertive, but not emotional. There’s an unspoken pressure to constantly prove ourselves, to be twice as prepared, twice as polished, just to be taken seriously. And when we succeed, our work is often dismissed as passion instead of strategy.”

But again, this proves how community can help. By sharing and hearing the experiences of other young women with a multitude of experiences and identities, one sees the many unique paths to activism. Yet, within those differences, there is also commonality and motivation for change, leading to empowerment. All three youth activists cite their mothers as the inspiration behind their activism, and this is no coincidence; it’s proof that empowered women empower other women. “Breaking into a space only matters if you bring others in with you,” Sophia adds.

As for what they’d tell other young women and girls who want to take action and may be new to the activism space? Their advice is simple. Just start — wherever you may be.

Speak up in the spaces you're in, find the issues that make you restless and take small actions that build into something bigger. Also, try, try, try. My dad always told me, 'Let them say no to you.' — Sophia, 19

“You don’t need the perfect plan, platform or words,” Sophia says. “Speak up in the spaces you’re in, find the issues that make you restless and take small actions that build into something bigger. Also, try, try, try. My dad always told me, 'Let them say no to you.'"

Every success, advancement and shift in numbers once began as a thought formed into an action, and was met with failure along the way. Perseverance fuels progress, but finding community and joining together with others fuels compassion, which sets the course for the most impactful, meaningful kind of change. Change in which reaching full gender equality won’t take 130 years.

Ready to take action and spark change in your community? Start by forming a UNICEF Club at your school