No Male Panel

Under the slogan #NoWithoutWomen, the promoting institutions seek to put an end to the absence of women in events, presentations, conferences, and webinars. To achieve this, a joint declaration was made in September 2021, committing to ensuring the participation of women in all panels organized in the country and that their representatives do not participate in panels that do not include them in their composition. See the declaration at this link: https://uruguay.un.org/es/144653-comunicado-paneles-y-participacion-de-mujeres.

The #NoWithoutWomen initiative proposes that institutions, companies, or organizations consider women in panel compositions for their activities and, at the same time, that their representatives do not participate in panels where women are not represented. The goal is to gradually achieve parity to ensure that the opinions and voices of women are included and heard to improve conversations, promote inclusion, and challenge gender norms and stereotypes.

Despite significant strides toward gender equality in Uruguay and other regions of the world, panels composed entirely of men demonstrate that much work remains to be done.

Arguments in favor of changing this reality:

1. Panels exclusively made up of men - or "manels" - bring a male perspective to the discussion and do not represent the diversity of the world we live in, a more holistic and innovative perspective.
2. Mixed panels reflect not only equality but also representative and inclusive democracy, which is the spirit that we aim to contribute to building and consolidating from our institutions.
3. There is no topic in the world that does not concern women; therefore, there is no reason to exclude women from any discussion, and there are all reasons to include them, as they provide another perspective and raise issues and viewpoints that men may not have considered.
4. "Manels" are manifestations of sexism and exclusion as they reinforce gender stereotypes by which men "are in charge" or "have superior expertise," and they assume that women are incapable of contributing to the discussion.

The #NoWithoutWomen initiative proposes that institutions, companies, or organizations consider women in panel compositions for their activities, and at the same time, their representatives do not participate in panels where women are not represented. The goal in Uruguay is to expand this commitment to equality to other companies and institutions. Since its launch in 2021, prestigious institutions from both the public and private sectors have joined the initiative.

Now, the campaign is being relaunched, aiming to encourage more organizations to join such a basic demand as not excluding half of the world's population from the discussion.

Therefore, we call on you to take action:

By proposing to your organization to join this campaign following these simple steps:

• On a personal level, you can also join #NoWithoutWomen by sharing your support on social media and using the materials provided.
• You can use this icon on social media to spread your support for this initiative. You can also use this stamp when you encounter a "manel" and help us identify and continue to raise awareness about this issue, which reflects historical and unfair inequality.