Harry Potter star and UN ambassador Emma Watson unveiled a new year-long initiative to end gender inequality as part of HeforShe campaign

Actor Emma Watson took her gender equality campaign to Davos on Friday when she told politicians and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that she wanted governments, universities and companies to join her new initiative.

Appearing in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador for UN Women, the Harry Potter star outlined her new year-long “IMPACT 10X10X10” plan to address deficiencies in women’s empowerment and gender equality.

“We need all-country leadership, as well as that of hundreds of universities and corporations, to follow HeForShe’s IMPACT 10X10X10 so as to bring an end to the persisting inequalities faced by women and girls globally,” said Watson, who was appearing in her capacity as a goodwill ambassador for UN Women, the United Nations organisation dedicated to gender equality.

Watson said she had been overwhelmed by the messages of support she had received since speaking at the launch of HeForShe – a UN campaign that attempts to include men in the battle for gender equality – in New York last September. In that speech she extended a “formal invitation” to men to participate in the conversation about gender equality in a “uniting movement”.

She told Davos:



I’ve been stunned by the amount of men in my life that have contacted me since my speech to tell me to keep going, and that they want to make sure that their daughters will still be alive to see a world where women have power and equality, economically and politically.

The actor spoke passionately about a fan who told her that since hearing her speak she had been able to escape the cycle of her father’s violence.

I’ve had my breath taken away when a fan told me since watching my speech she has stopped herself being beaten up by her father. We are tapping into what the world wants: to be a part of change. Now we have to channel that energy into purposeful action.

Watson ended her speech on a mobilising and positive note. “It is my belief that there is a greater understanding than ever that women need to be equal participants in our homes, in our societies, in our governments, and in our work places,” she said.

“They know that the world is being held back in every way, because they are not. Women share this planet 50/50 and they are under-represented, their potential astonishingly untapped.”

Millennium Campaign (@mcampaign) It is my belief that women need to be equal participants...world is held back bc they are not #heforshe @EmWatson l pic.twitter.com/uLrGtuOnOq

Watson was joined by a panel including UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, who emphasised Watson’s appeal to men to be key to influencing the fight for gender equality.



“HeForShe has signed up fathers who want to raise empowered daughters; leaders who know their societies will be stronger when there are as many women in parliament and in business as men; and ordinary people who are fed up with violence and discrimination against women – and want to be part of a global force for change,” he said.



The initiative was attended by prime minister Stefan Löfven of Sweden, UN executive director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, president Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Paul Polman, CEO and Chairman of Unilever.



UN Women (@UN_Women) "Shutting women out of economic opps is probably biggest waste in the world" - Stefan Lofven, PM Sweden #action2015 pic.twitter.com/m5czeqlMCJ