The Courage to Create: Gender Equality and the Arts

In honour of International Women’s Day, UNESCO, in partnership with the French National Committee for UN Women, will host a debate entitled “The Courage to Create: Gender Equality and the Arts” at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 8 March 2017, from 2.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m in Room IV.

This highly interactive debate will address the challenges and barriers facing women artists, as well as the role of the arts and creativity in achieving gender equality.

Issues of freedom of artistic expression and the impact of new media will be analysed in depth, with participants including: Laurence Rossignol, French Minister for Families, Children and the Rights of Women; Yannick Glemarec, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women; Deeyah Khan, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Artistic Expression and Creativity; Ole Reitov, Executive Director of Freemuse; Jackie Buet, Director of the Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil; filmmakers Maysaloun Hamoud and Shlomi Elkabetz; artists Jepchumba and Pia Myrvold; digital publishing expert Octavio Kulesz; singer Suzanne Combo; and Simon Carpentier and Victor Solf of the band “Her”.

The debate will also launch HeForShe Arts Week Paris, an initiative inspired by UN Women’s HeForShe campaign, which will involve numerous museums, galleries, theatres and cultural centres from across the city in the fight for gender equality.