UNECE Gender Actitivities
Gender at the UNECE sixty-second Anniversary
Session
(25-27 April 2007)
The “Economics of Gender” was one of the discussion panels of
the UNECE sixty-second Anniversary Session under Agenda item
8: Decisive Factors of Promoting Sustainable Development in the ECE region.
The panel discussion focused on: (a) the links between gender equality,
competitiveness and growth; (b) countries’ experiences in mobilizing
women’s economic
potential; (c) the EU’s equal opportunities policy and its impact
on neighboring countries, and (d) the role of regional and sub-regional
cooperation.
Key note address was delivered by the State Secretary, Ministry for Children
and Equality, Norway. It was underlined that gender equality is central
to modern growth strategy in the context of ageing and shortages of labour.
The panelists included representatives from the Ministry
of Health and Social protection (Russian
Federation), Ministry on
European and Euro-Atlantic Integration (Georgia),
and National Commission on Family Affairs (Kazakhstan)
as well as representatives of the World
Economic Forum, World Bank and European
Commission.
The recommendations included: (a) the need for raising awareness of policymakers
that gender equality as an economic asset; (b) capacity building in the area
of gender statistics; (c) more work on public finance and, in particular,
gender responsive budgeting; (d) promoting women’s entrepreneurship
and (e) enhancing regional and subregional cooperation among all stakeholders
and actors. Recommendations of the Panel included using SPECA as the platform
for subregional cooperation and exchange of good practices in promoting gender-sensitive
economic policies. These recommendations were taken into consideration to
strengthen UNECE activities on gender.
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