International Women's Day 2009
© Paola Gianturco
Celebrating Women
A series of events, exhibitions and conferences to celebrate International Women's Day 2009 took place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, between 09 - 25 March. It focused on the landmark decision of the Member States and the Director-General to designate Gender Equality as one of two global priorities of the Organization for the period 2008-2013.
The high-level International Round Table focused on the theme:
“Gender Equality as a Global Priority: Next Steps Forward”
© UNESCO/A Wheeler
Ms Vivian Fernández de Torrijo, First Lady of Panama.
The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, opened the International Round Table that brought together women Ambassadors to UNESCO representing each region of the world, in order to examine the role UNESCO can play to accomplish this goal, and identify the future challenges.
The guest speaker for the keynote address was the First Lady of Panama, Ms Vivian Fernández de Torrijos. A special message for the occasion from the Secretary of State of the United States, Ms Hillary Clinton, was read by Mr. Steve Engelken, Chargé d'affaires of the United States of America to UNESCO.
Please see the International Round Table publication (PDF format) for an overview of the proceedings including the speeches and highlights of the debate.
For information on the exhibitions and cultural events during the month, check out our International Women's Day 2009 Programme (PDF format).
See also