Women Deliver 2019 - Power Full

WOMEN DELIVER 2019 – POWER FULL

Author - Dale Rodas, International Conference Services (ICS), Vancouver [IAPCO Member]

CASE STUDY - BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER

“I wouldn’t say you empowered me,” said one attendee at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, “…you showed me how I am already powerful.”

Over 8000 attendees and 3200 organisations from over 165 countries met at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the Women Deliver 2019 Conference – the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women. The central theme of Women Deliver 2019 was power – and, specifically, how it can drive, or hinder, progress and change.

Through a number of events, including speaking engagements, workshops and film festivals, attendees from all over the world were asked to examine the role of power in their own lives, and how the way it is used impacts girls and women throughout the world.

“Powerful moments were everywhere,” says Aoife Hoey, Senior Housing and Registration Manager from International Conference Services, which served as the PCO for Women Deliver. “It was in the lobby at 6 a.m. in the morning,” she continued, “when an older lady in full Peruvian dress, an English woman in

a power suit, and a twelve year old girl from Ghana were meeting to discuss important issues. When else would they have the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation?”

Conferences are often hailed as being a place to create ties, a place to network and meet colleagues from around the world. Women Deliver was no different, allowing colleagues from international advocacy groups to meet and discuss challenging issues faced by girls and women throughout the world. A number of organisations used Women Deliver to launch new women’s rights’ initiatives or announce the findings of research and studies that demonstrated the power of gender equality.

But Women Deliver also allowed for a different kind of connection – the personal, intimate connection made between people who are different, but the same.

“Women were embracing each other in the lobby of the convention centre, while in tears,” an emotional Aoife added, “and those were probably the most powerful moments of the conference for me. You don’t really see that at most conferences.

It really brought people together in a way that was different from other events I’ve attended.”

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and influencer for Women Deliver’s Deliver for Good campaign, praised the amount of effort on the part of Women Deliver and its affiliated organisations to ensure women from underrepresented countries were able to travel to Vancouver to attend the conference, ensuring a diverse, inclusive delegate demographic.

“What’s most touching is the diversity of backgrounds and stories because we’re all so different on our path of suffering, but we’re so united,” said Grégoire Trudeau.

Delegate response was overwhelmingly positive, with many noting that it succeeded in inspiring them to look more closely at the role of power in gender quality – but also at the power within themselves.

“We know that what lies behind us,” said Grégoire Trudeau, “is never as strong as what lies within us.”

| September 201919