She is set to join the likes of high-profile global advocates who’ve been honoured with this award in the past, including Malala Yousafzai,  Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Nelson Mandela and former German chancellor Angela Merkel. The only other Australian to receive the award is former Foreign Affairs Minister Gareth Evans.

The Four Freedoms Awards are presented each year to men and women committed to the four principles proclaimed by US president Franklin D. Roosevelt in a historic 1941 speech: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom of want and freedom from fear. 

Forrest’s work eradicating modern slavery will be honoured with the ‘freedom from fear’ award.

The eldest child of billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest and Nicola Forrest, she co-founded the international human rights group, Walk Free, in 2011 under the family’s philanthropic venture, the Minderoo Foundation. 

Each year, Walk Free produces the Global Slavery Index, which is the world’s most comprehensive dataset on modern slavery. 

The Index estimates that 50 million people were living in modern slavery on any given day in 2021, an increase of 10 million people since 2016. 

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In an essay for Marie Claire in 2023, Forrest shared that since founding Walk Free she’s “recognised the innate vulnerability women and girls face with modern slavery and other forms of extreme exploitation”, but has also come to realise their true power to “reimagine and build long-term change”. 

Forrest has campaigned against this human rights abuse for over a decade, developing policy based on extensive field research. This advocacy has informed new laws across the globe.

Recently, she joined former UK prime minister Theresa May’s Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, alongside UN Under-Secretary General Adama Dieng. They will work towards putting modern slavery on the global political agenda, especially in G20 countries where 50 per cent of all people in modern slavery live, according to Walk Free’s Index.

Upon hearing the Roosevelt freedom award announcement, Forrest said on Wednesday she is “deeply humbled” to be nominated and considers it “an honour” as there’s “a rich history of human rights and international law behind it”. 

The other award announced on Wednesday was the Freedom of Speech medal, which will go to Netherlands-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat for its work separating fake news from fact in international conflicts.

The awards ceremony will take place in the Netherlands on April 11.

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Ramaphosa raised the question to a room filled with some of world’s most powerful political and diplomatic leaders, noting just how few of them were women.

“It should be a matter of concern to us all that the majority of people who are sitting in this assembly are men,” he said. 

“The question we have to ask: where are the women of the world? The women of the world have a right to be here to represent the views of women across the world.”

According to Reuters, from the 189 UN member countries who spoke at the Assembly, just 21 speakers were women. Among the women, there were six heads of state, four heads of government, one vice president, nine ministers and one vice minister.

Among them was Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong. 

In his speech, Ramaphosa made clear that South Africa was committed to gender equality at a domestic level and in the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

“The achievement of the sustainable development goals depends fundamentally on the empowerment of women in all spheres of life,” he said.

“Social and economic progress will not be possible unless we end gender discrimination. We must ensure there is equal access for women to healthcare, education as well as economic opportunity. 

“We must pay particular attention to the provision of adequate health services to every woman, child and adolescent. By doing so we will fundamentally improve the health and wellbeing of all.”

Ramaphosa said he was proud to note that in South Africa 50 per cent of the members of the cabinet are women and that he was accompanied to the UN General Assembly by an all-women delegation.

@metropolesoficial O presidente da #ÁfricadoSul, Matamela Cyril #Ramaphosa, defendeu o fim da discriminação de gênero durante a Assembleia Geral da #ONU nesta terça-feira (19/9). Em seu discurso, Ramaphosa disse que, para se alcançar os objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, é preciso empoderar as #mulheres. "Devemos assegurar que exista acesso igualitário para mulheres na #saúde, educação, assim como nas oportunidades econômicas", disse o presidente. Ramaphosa enfatizou ainda que levou para a ONU uma delegação toda de mulheres. O líder da África do Sul, então, disse que "a maioria das pessoas estão sentadas nessa assembleia são homens" e questionou: "Onde estão as mulheres no mundo? Elas têm o direito de estar aqui e representar o ponto de vista delas". #TikTokNotícias ♬ som original – Metrópoles Oficial

This year’s General Assembly marked the half-way point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

A recent gender snapshot report showed that just two of the SDG indicators aimed at women’s equality were “close to target” and none were at the “target met or almost met” level. Current trends will see more than 340 million women and girls in extreme poverty by 2030, while an estimated 110 million girls will be out of school in 2030. 

When it comes to women’s representation in decision-making positions, the latest Women in Diplomacy Index shows that just one fifth of all ambassadors in the world are women. Meanwhile, just 6 per cent of UN recognised countries are led by women.

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