2018 will be an exciting year for the city of London! The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, officially launched his new women’s equality campaign – #BehindEveryGreatCity. Khan called on Londoners, businesses and organizations to make their New Year’s resolutions for gender equality in 2018.​

Over the next year, and beyond, I commit to redoubling my efforts to fight for gender equality. And I will be encouraging Londoners to celebrate the women of all ages, ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds that make London the greatest city in the world.”

“As a proud feminist I am really encouraged to see so many Londoners supporting this campaign to say that Behind Every Great City is equality, opportunity and progress – regardless of your gender.”

Sadiq Khan

The campaign launch follows reporting showing:

• Three times more women than men say that their gender hinders their progression at work
• Four times more men than women say their gender helps their progression in the workplace
• In the last 20 years, the gender pay gap in London has closed by only 0.5%—from 15.1% down to 14.6%

Khan plans to work across sectors in London such as in culture, education and business, to politics and public service. Leaders will support the continuing success of women, as well as push for greater gender equality for women from all backgrounds across the city.

More About #BehindEveryGreatCity

The #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign celebrates the achievements and contributions of women, from all walks of life. And acknowledges that these contributions are what make cities like London great. It will coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. This act, introduced by the campaigning of suffragists, gave some women the vote.

The campaign’s slogan #BehindEveryGreatCity is a deliberate play on the feminist slogan used globally in the 60s and 70s, ‘Behind every great man stands a great woman’. It highlights that women don’t stand behind great men, but instead power great cities.

Since becoming Mayor, Sadiq Khan has published City Hall’s first-ever gender pay audit. City Hall has used the data from these audits to implement plans to reduce the gender pay gap. It will do so by increasing the availability of part-time and flexible-working options, aiding career progression, offering mentoring, career-support programmes and sponsorship for qualifications, piloting ‘no name’ application forms, and training senior managers to ensure recruitment processes are as fair as possible. Over 50% of Khan’s Deputy Mayors are women, as are 10 of the 16 members of his Business Advisory Board.

For more information on London’s Gender Equity campaign see #BehindEveryGreatCity. And learn more about how countries around the world are striving towards women-friendly cities by exploring our library of Wise Practices.