Round Table at the first meeting of SPECA Governing Council
[Русский]
Gender Equality and Growth Prospects for SPECA Region Round Table at the first meeting of SPECA Governing Council
Baku, June 27, 2006
The roundtable on Gender Equality and Growth Prospects for SPECA Region at the first meeting of SPECA Governing Council discussed gender equality as an economic asset in establishing growth strategies for SPECA member-countries. The roundtable was organized under the SPECA Working Group on Gender and Economy, which is supported by UNECE and UNESCAP.
The roundtable was hosted by Ms. Hijran Huseynova (statement En, Ru), the Head of the Commission on Women, Family and Children Affairs of Azerbaijan and newly elected co-chair of the working group . The roundtable was opened by Mr. Kim Hak-Su (statement), Executive Secretary of UNESCAP and Mr. Marek Belka, Executive Secretary of UNECE (statement on his behalf was delivered by Ms. Ewa Ruminska-Zimny, UNECE Gender Focal Point).
The speakers included Mr. Bolat Akchulakov, Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan who delivered statement on behalf of National Commission on Family Affairs and Gender Policy under the President of Kazakhstan (statement), Ms. Regina Roy, EU Delegation in Kazakhstan, and Ms. Tiina Ilsen, Head of Gender Programme of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
The roundtable addressed the need for raising gender awareness of line economic ministries, synergies with the SPECA Network of Economic Research Institutes (SNERI), and use of the energy dividends for mobilizing women’s economic potential.
The Working Group will follow up on some of the issues discussed at the roundtable, such as organizing training for line economic ministries and establishing a Regional Centre in support of women’s entrepreneurship in SPECA member-countries.