The work of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment (UNHLP-WEE), completed in 2017, focused on several key issues that are particularly relevant for the building back better and increasing the resiliency of women and girls in the face of future economic, environmental and social shocks. This side event brings together some members of the UNHLP-WEE along with a range of policy makers, private sector, civil society and other actors to discuss the importance of gender economic equity across the SDGs, recognizing the devastating economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the critical role of women and girls for the pandemic response, recovery and resilience.