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Melbourne launches global Declaration for Gender Equality

Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaking at Women Deliver 2026

Melbourne has taken centre stage in the global gender equality movement, hosting the launch of the Melbourne Declaration for Gender Equality at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference (WD2026) at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

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Featuring a global audience of more than 6,000 from around 200 countries, including leaders such as Justin Trudeau and Julia Gillard, Women Deliver shares strategies, builds solidarity, and shapes bold feminist futures.

Regionally hosted for the first time by the Oceanic Pacific, WD2026 centered the leadership and lived experience of feminists, First Nations leaders, and advocates across the region.

The Melbourne Declaration for Gender Equality represents a powerful collective statement shaped by Women Deliver and more than 650 participants worldwide. It outlines a bold, shared vision for advancing gender equality at a critical moment for human rights globally.

Named in recognition of its host city, the Melbourne Declaration reflects the culmination of months of collaboration across regions, movements and sectors, with Melbourne serving as the place where this global process came together.

View the declaration

A response to global challenges

Women Deliver described the Declaration as a direct response to the growing threats facing human rights, including the global rise of authoritarianism and the erosion of essential public services.

The Declaration also calls out long-standing shortcomings in the international development system, particularly the replication of colonial power dynamics and the concentration of decision-making power among a few institutions.

It presents a clear call to rebuild the global gender equality ecosystem around care, accountability and justice, grounded in the unalienable human rights of all people and the planet.

Melbourne Declaration commitment

The Melbourne Declaration calls for a world where:

  • States respect, protect and fulfil their human rights obligations
  • Local and national feminist movements and civil society have the resources, space and legitimacy to hold States accountable
  • Resources, infrastructure and influence across the wider ecosystem are aligned with feminist values

The Declaration commits to strengthening local movements, challenging entrenched power structures, centring local priorities at the institutional level, and ensuring that funding and decision‑making better reflect feminist principles.

Alongside the Declaration, Women Deliver also launched the Melbourne Declaration: A Guide, a comprehensive background document that provides a geopolitical analysis of the current global landscape and outlines the principles underpinning the Declaration.

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