This paper illustrates how particular approaches to citizenship education can be catalysts or deterrents in the promotion of gender equality and social inclusion. The review suggests that new, emerging (i.e. decolonising, feminist, intersectional/situational) approaches to citizenship education and learning are more likely to address the multiple experiences of women, racialised, LGBTQ+ and disenfranchised groups, particularly when intersectional frameworks and situated learning are included. It further suggests emerging approaches infused with values and practices that enhance solidarity and social inclusion might be more likely to result in change rather than continuing with lifelong learning that emphasise credentials, individual economic growth, and limited scopes on literacy. Using a literature review method, global examples are provided that illustrate how inequalities are ameliorated and exacerbated, for example by the COVID-19 pandemic. The review suggests that emerging approaches intimate multiple benefits because they move beyond neoliberalism, engage with non-Western ways of knowing, and view all gender conforming, non-conforming and disenfranchised populations as change agents capable of solidarity and participatory democracy.