2.1. opening ceremony

✧ Organization of a new Conference in March 2022 ✧

In order to explore further the topic of gender equality and women’s empowerment, from a systems thinking perspective, we are organizing a new conference which will take place on March 3-5, 2022: the International Conference on Advancing Women's Empowerment through Systems Model Expansion (AWESOME).

This virtual 3-day event is mainly organized by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, but we hope to build on the collaboration with UNESCO Chairs and invite them all to participate, either as members of the International Scientific Committee of the Conference, or by encouraging their academics, researchers and students to present their work.

The International AWESOME Conference aims to hold a premier interdisciplinary platform to address gender equality. The conference invites thinkers, researchers, practitioners, educators, and innovators from complex systems thinking, women and gender studies, technology innovation, and related fields to present, discuss and exchange ideas and perspectives of the potential of complexity science, system thinking, and innovation for women’s empowerment and gendered interventions. The conference seeks contributions around the most recent innovations, trends, concerns, and best practice solutions adopted to address practical challenges and improve women’s resilience.

2. Day 1 - Presentation by Honorary Guest Speakers and UNESCO Chairs

2.1. opening ceremony

Master of ceremonies and moderator: Dr. Tarek Rashed and Mrs. Radhika Shetty

Guest of Honor: Ms. Ava DuVernay, Co-Chair, Prada Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, United States of America

Distinguished Speakers: ▶ Ms. Jamila Seftaoui, Director, Division for Gender Equality, Cabinet of the Director-General, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. ▶ Dr. Peter J. Wells, Chief, Higher Education, UNESCO, Paris. ▶ Mr. Eric Falt, Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka ▶ Dr. Gloria Bonder, Coordinator of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender, Director of the Gender, Society and Policies Department, FLACSO Argentina, and Coordinator of the UNESCO Regional Chair on Women, Science and Technology in Latin America

The conference began with a series of opening addresses from the Guest of Honor and Distinguished Speakers, followed by addresses from the host organisations.

As Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Tarek Rashed welcomed all participants and introduced a short video explaining the idea behind the Global Summit: to bring together all gender related Chairs to get to know each other and explore ways to collaborate for building a brighter future for all women and girls amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He presented the agenda for the 2-day Global Summit and introduced the Event Host, Dr. Bhavani Rao, India's UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment since 2016.

Dr. Bhavani Rao, UNESCO Chair hosting the event, thanked every participant for attending the meeting, and explained what an honour it was to bring together all UNESCO Chairs for the Global Summit for Gender-Related UNESCO Chairs and Networks. She introduced each of the guests and UNESCO Chairs attending the event.

“It’s been an honor indeed to be a part of this wonderful network created by UNESCO — the UNESCO Chair, the UniTwin program for bringing focus, access and increasing our boundaries in terms of knowledge, connections, and capacity. So we gather here today to share what we have learned from the past, and how it has helped us to understand the present. More importantly, how do we use this knowledge to gauge the future. I sincerely believe that based on our actions today, we will have the ability to determine what future will prevail”.

As Guest of Honor, Ms. Ava DuVernay, Co-Chair, Prada Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, had recorded a special message for the event, emphasizing how pleased she was to be part of this effort being done on a global scale to motivate, educate and empower women of all walks of life all around the world.

“When I embarked on my filmmaking career, I did so with incredible women role models and mentors and I greatly value the collective sisterhood that exists within my community. It doesn’t just happen though.

We all come together and we support each other, we check in on each other, show up for each other, we celebrate and toast each other’s success. And we rally together during times of struggle. And let’s be honest, we all struggle. But the important thing to know is knowing your worth, your value, knowing deep down, what you’re capable of.” Ms. Jamila Seftaoui, Director, Division for Gender Equality, Cabinet of the Director-General, UNESCO, Paris, emphasized how Gender Equality has been a priority since 2008 for UNESCO, not only through mainstreaming gender equality aspects in all programmes and projects, and in the organization itself, but also through the implementation of gender equality transformative work addressing the root causes of gender inequality. She explained how she started her mission as Director of the UNESCO Division for Gender Equality in a particularly troubled time of a global pandemic, which has adversely affected women and girls of all ages, and which has brutally undone many decades of hard work and progress towards gender equality.

In the context of this fast-changing, multi-faceted and uncertain global context, she explained how UNESCO will embark on a new strategy from 2022 to 2029, proposing an integrated and transversal framework with four strategic objectives and which promises coherent and impactful programme implementation cycles, centered on specific outcomes. She presented the role of the Division for Gender Equality and how essential it is to engage all internal and external partners and networks rooted in common values and goals.

She presented a new mechanism and two flagships: First, mobilizing global expertise in gender equality to deepen UNESCO’s work and support sectors in their programme implementation, moving to gender transformative approaches in all fields of competence, in an interdisciplinary way, which aims to establish a Gender Expert Facility as a long-term engagement, comprised of a roster of gender experts. Second, positive masculinities and empowering women artists in Africa as two high visibility and impact flagship initiatives.

“My vision for the next biennium builds on past progress and takes into consideration the huge still untapped potential of UNESCO to change people’s lives, in particular women’s and girls’ lives for good, for the better.

I intend to consolidate ongoing support to UNESCO programs, and help improve and steer the orientation of UNESCO towards more lasting transformative gender equality impacts.”

Mr. Eric Falt, Diretor and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, expressed his gratitude for the organization of this event. He explained how India was making progress on gender equality even though challenges remain. He emphasized how the pandemic created a situation where women play and continue to play a disproportionate role in responding to the virus including as front line health care workers, pursuing careers at home and much more, quoting examples from South Asia, while also mentioning the surge in domestic violence and cyber crimes.

He presented the work of UNESCO New Delhi on the gender priority and listed significant initiatives, including collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for School Health Program involving 1.5 million government schools in the country, the development of modules focusing on a range of issues from gender equality to nutrition, health and hygiene to be included in the school and teacher training curriculum as part of a unique partnership with the private sector (Procter and Gamble), a flagship report on the Status of Women in Science in India, a national program on engaging men and boys for gender equality, safety of women journalists and the publication of a comprehensive report on sexual harassment in the news media. “We believe in the power of UNESCO chairs to expand UNESCO’s mandate and to help realize the 2030 Agenda because we are convinced that a sustainable and peaceful world will never be so without gender equality”.

Dr. Gloria Bonder, UNESCO Chair in Women, Science and Technology, Flasco, Argentina, has been recognized as one of the 60 women worldwide who has helped accomplish UNESCO's goals throughout the 60 years of its existence. She champions the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender, which seeks to promote interdisciplinary exchanges and the generation of new knowledge that can contribute to the implementation of innovative practices and policies in the field of gender studies. The objectives of the Network include: to generate new knowledge linking gender studies and policies with education, culture, science, development, technology and other subject matters; to provide access to a database and publication archive; to coordinate forums, meetings and other in-person or on-line activities to promote debates on strategic gender-related topics; to offer expert advice to national, regional and international organizations; to disseminate information on the activities of the UNESCO Chairs on Gender in academia and among researchers, NGOs, foundations, governmental and cooperation agencies; to build strategic partnerships with universities, research centers, NGOs, governments and foundations. This is a very important year for the Global Network, being the 20th anniversary of the creation of the UNESCO Regional Chair for Women, Science and Technology in Latin America.