UN Women puts women’s rights and leadership in the heart of international development discourse in Brussels
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UN Women Deputy Executive Director, Yannick Glemarec, starts today a visit to Brussels (Belgium) to participate in the third edition of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) and the European Development Days.
On June 7, Mr. Glemarec will take part in a panel session on “Empowering Women through Recovery” at the World Reconstruction Conference, which aims to promote resilience through post-crisis recovery. The event is co-organized by the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.
Disasters are not gender neutral, with women and girls bearing the brunt of their impact in every respect, from fatalities to economic losses. Despite a growing recognition of the gender inequality of risks, Disaster Risk Reduction policies, plans and programmes seldom offer space for women’s leadership, and routinely fail to address women’s specific vulnerabilities and needs. UN Women is working to ensure women’s leadership in disaster risk reduction and resilience building.
Later that day, the Deputy Executive Director will participate at a European Development Days’ panel to discuss “The smart investment - empowering women in the economy”, together with Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, and Elisabeth Rasmusson, Assistant Executive Director of the World Food Programme, among others.
The panel will focus on the potential of working with the private sector to enhance women’s role as contributors to their economies and drivers of development in their communities, as entrepreneurs, employees, farmers, consumers, and as undertakers of unpaid care work at home. The panel will bring together leaders from business, government, civil society and international organizations committed to making smart investments to advance gender equality.
UN Women is also co-organizing a Brainstorming Lab session at the European Development Days on “Reaching out to women in fragility contexts: why and how?”, which will focus on innovative measures to empower women and girls in addressing recurring natural disasters.
Highlights
UN Women Deputy Executive Director Yannick Glemarec talks about the business case for empowering women during the European Development Days 2017.
Mr. Glemarec participated in a panel discussion on “The smart investment - empowering women in the economy”. In his remarks, he emphasized that "women's empowerment and gender equality can help us accelerate efforts made towards the SDGs".
At #WRC3 I stressed that "preparedness for recovery" is critical to engage #women in #reconstruction. pic.twitter.com/G7EKSjDA61
— Yannick Glemarec (@yannickunwomen) June 8, 2017