3rd Forum - Gender Equality in the UN and Beyond
© UNESCO/Osnat Lubrani
Ms Osnat Lubrani, Director, Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe, UNIFEM
The third UNESCO Forum on Gender Equality, held on 30 January 2008, took place against the backdrop of the joint biennial workshop of the OECD/DAC Network on Gender Equality (GENDERNET) and the UN’s Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE), which assembled gender focal points and advisors of the UN system, bilateral agencies and the development banks.
Given the presence of high-level Directors of Gender Divisions from throughout the UN system, the 3rd UNESCO Forum on Gender Equality took the form of a panel discussion, focusing on the topic of “Gender Equality in the UN and Beyond.” Panellists included: Mr Andrei Abramov, Special Assistant to the Special Advisor, Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues (OSAGI), Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); Ms Mayra Buvinic, Sector Director, Gender and Development, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, The World Bank; Ms Osnat Lubrani, Director, Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe, UNIFEM; Ms Thokozile Ruzvido, Director, African Centre for Gender and Social Development (ACGS), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA); Ms Elizabeth Longworth, Director of the Cabinet of the Director-General, UNESCO; and Mr Hans d’Orville, Assistant Director-General for Strategic Planning. The forum was moderated by Ms S. Gülser Corat, Director, Division for Gender Equality, UNESCO.
Mr Hans d’Orville opened the forum with welcome remarks. Mr Abramov gave a comprehensive overview of UN system-wide work and coherence on gender equality, including gender equality architecture, from strategic and policy perspectives. Ms Elizabeth Longworth presented UNESCO’s actions to promote gender equality in response to and accordance with UN system-wide work; notably, UNESCO’s decision to designate gender equality as one of two global priorities in the new UNESCO Medium-Term Strategy 2008-2013. Ms Mayra Buvinic gave a presentation on the recently published 2007 World Bank Global Monitoring Report, which highlighted two key thematic areas: gender equality and the empowerment of women (MDG 3), and the issue of fragile states. In addition, she presented some key aspects of the World Bank’s new Gender Equality Action Plan. Finally, Ms Osnat Lubrani and Ms Thokozile Ruzvido provided a regional perspective on UN system-wide work for the promotion of women’s empowerment and gender equality.
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