In September 2015 the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals. ?While these goals cover a range of issues almost all of them have goals related to gender embedded in them. ?This is in large part due to the realization by governments, civil society and other stakeholders that when women are included across all sectors of society communities benefit. ?
This realization was at the heart of a recent conference held on gender equality entitled How Gender Leads: Innovation, Perspective and Leadership.? The event was co-organized by UN Women (UNW), the 51勛圖 Development Programme (UNDP) and the 51勛圖 Population Fund (UNFPA) on Friday, 18 March as a side event of the (CSW60).
The conference was moderated by Aparna Mehrotra, Focal Point for Women in the UN System and?Officer-in-Charge, Division for Coordination, UN Women. Panel members included: Tinna Nielsen,?anthropologist and founder of Move the Elephant for Inclusiveness; Tanya M. Odom, diversity and inclusion consultant; Raquel Lagunas, UNDP senior policy advisor on gender mainstreaming; and Leyla Sharafi, ?UNFPA gender and youth specialist. ?
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(Panel from L-R: Leyla Sharafi, Raquel Lagunas, Aparna Mehrotra, Tinna Nielsen and Tanya M. Odom)
A panellist noted that feminism is not just for women because, Feminism is not just addressing women's right, but it is a realization of the social and economic justice for everybody. ??In this context, Ms. Sharafi introduced a recent UNFPA publication which researched boys' and young men's health risks related to masculinity, such as sexuality and media violence, which ultimately contribute to vulnerabilities for women and girls. Thus, it was important to promote gender equality starting from a young age with both girls and boys.
The conference sought to outline the ways in which the promotion of gender equality can strengthen organizations by dismantling unconscious biases and increasing diversity and noted the need for increased cooperation and solidarity between men and women to effect true structural change. ?