"Engaging Philanthropy to Promote Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment"
22 February 2010 – New York
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), will host a special event, “Engaging philanthropy to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment”, organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) in collaboration with the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP)and the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to be held on 22 February 2010, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the United Nations Headquarters, New York City. The program will take place on International Corporate Philanthropy Day in the United States.
This event is organized as part of the preparatory process for the 2010 Economic and Social Council’s Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) on the theme, “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to gender equality and empowerment of women”, to be held during its annual session in July.
Chaired by the President of ECOSOC, with the participation of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the special event will gather a roster of foundations (corporate and non-corporate), private sector companies and civil society representatives that have a particular interest in the areas of gender empowerment and women’s equality. The event will start with an opening plenary on “Strengthening partnerships in support of achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women”, to be followed by break-out sessions on the themes, “Ending violence against women and girls”; and “Promoting women’s economic empowerment”.
The audience will be comprised of Member States, representatives of the United Nations system, senior giving officers from philanthropic organizations and the private sector, as well as other civil society organizations.
The key objectives of the special event are to:
- Promote concrete initiatives by the philanthropic community and initiate new partnerships that would accelerate progress in reaching the targets in MDG 3; and
- Expand multistakeholder engagement in the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE To End Violence Against Women Campaign.
- Provide a platform for all actors involved in the work of ECOSOC to increase the awareness among the philanthropic community on the progress made, and the challenges faced in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 – to promote gender equality and empower women;
The event will have a number of co-convenors that are dedicated to strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships in support of gender equality and empowerment of women. These include:
- Arab Foundations Forum
- Clinton Global Initiative
- Global Alliance for ICT and Development
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
- The World Bank
- United Nations Millennium Campaign
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
- United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
- United Nations University (UNU)
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP)
The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP) is a global network of donors, foundations, and socially responsive corporations established to advance effective and accountable giving. www.thewcmp.org [2]