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Global
Leadership Initiative on Gender Equality A Public/Private Partnerships Workshop |
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A Program of CIFAL Atlanta • Co-hosted by the City of Atlanta and UNITAR "Gender equality is more than a goal in itself.
It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty,
promoting sustainable development and building good governance." CIFAL Atlanta, the City of Atlanta and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) will be hosting the "Gender Equality National and Local Governments" workshop in Atlanta, Georgia from November 13-15, 2006 at The Georgian Terrace Hotel, Midtown. As part of the Global Leadership Initiative on Gender Equality, this workshop will look to "promote gender equality and empower women,"one of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) enacted by the United Nations. This workshop is also being supported by ILO, UN-INSTRAW and UN-HABITAT and sponsored by Fulton County, Agnes Scott College, Spelman College and Delta Air Lines. Program Background Making gender equality a reality is a core commitment of the United Nations, as it underlies vital development and human rights issues and is critical to global economic and social progress. In September 2000, the United Nations General Assembly, in its Millennium Declaration, called for gender equality among menand women in terms of education and life opportunities as key to the elimination of poverty and the elevation of society. In 2005, UNITAR chartered CIFAL Atlanta to develop and lead a program for its worldwide network of centers in support of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals addressing the issue of gender equality with a focus on local government. Such a program will go beyond the traditional "awareness" conference approach to focus exclusively on developing self assessment processes and action-plans for participating local governments. This workshop is unique in that research has been conducted by CIFAL Atlanta in cooperation with various women's colleges and gender experts from UNITAR, UN-INSTRAW and ILO in an endeavor to consolidate the vast array of international best practices in gender equality into a single framework that government officials could implement to measure and achieve gender equality in their cities and states. The primary focus of this workshop is to sensitize policy makers
to gender equality issues as gender equality can only be achieved
if it becomes a core commitment of the highest reaches of society
and government. This commitment is demonstrated by action and the
aim of this workshop is to outline the actions governments must take
to achieve gender equality. The expected outcomes of this workshop
are as follows:
CIFAL Atlanta will deliver the first workshop in Atlanta, which will serve as the kick-off of a worldwide dissemination effort in 2007, 2008, and 2009, leveraging other CIFAL Centers around the world to replicate the same program in multiple regions. CIFAL Atlanta will focus on developing its ability to complement and cooperate with existing Gender Equality networks dedicated to awareness building and advocacy by providing them unique tools, methodologies and workshop formats to further support their mission. Program Format Utilizing UNITAR's unique methodology, each city delegation will complete the self-assessment survey prior to the workshop in an effort to measure their level of gender equality competency. This process facilitates best practice sharing as it assists in identifying potential "learners" and "sharers" for each best practice area and aids CIFAL Atlanta in pairing delegates for maximum knowledge exchange. Interactive sessions will be held the first three days of the workshop.
Action-oriented results and findings will be presented the last day
of the program during a plenary session, a public forum that will
receive high profile media coverage with CNN moderating. Participant Profile City of Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin will chair this program and lead a select group of 40 participants for the kick-off event. In addition to a host of prominent speakers and attendees, program committee members include H.E. Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar, Vice President of El Salvador; H.E. Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica, and Francine Senecal, President of Metropolis Women's International Network in Montreal and the Honorable Mumtaz Begum, Mayor of Bangalore, India. High-ranking government officials from cities and states across the
globe will gather together with members of NGOs, academia and the
private sector to discuss how to practically achieve gender equality
in every segment and at every level of society. Best Practices Areas The workshop will focus on best practice areas that municipal leaders have authority over and will provide an outline of action-oriented steps local leaders can take to create gender equality in their cities. Some of the workshop's best practice areas include:
Venue The
Georgian Terrace Hotel Built in 1911, this historic hotel showcases Atlanta's southern charm and elegance, while offering the latest technology in 16,000 square feet of business meeting space. NOTE: Rooms are blocked under "CIFAL". Please be sure to reference CIFAL when booking your hotel room to ensure the group rate. For
more information, please contact: Abby Smith |
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