India's first global conference on gender equality to be organized in Kerala

In partnership with UN Women, Kerala government will host India’s first-ever global conference on gender equality in Thiruvananthapuram from November 12 to 14.

The summit titled ‘International Conference on Gender Equality’ (ICGE -1), will be held at famed beach destination Kovalam near Thiruvananthapuram and will witness participation of distinguished thought leaders, social activists, research scholars and policymakers from the country and around the world, an official release said.

President Pranb Mukerjee is likely to attend the three-day event, organised by The Gender Park, an institution under the state’s Department of Social Justice known for the highly successful all-women cab service ‘She Taxi’, the release said.

The taxi service initiative is now being adopted by other states as a powerful model for women’s entrepreneurship and a means to ensure their social and financial security. The conference is billed as the country’s first such large-scale exercise in creating an environment to share global knowledge and experiences in reducing gender inequalities.

“Gender, Governance and Inclusion” is the core theme of the conference that will discuss issues ranging from citizenship, globalisation, work, governance, health, education, disability and the role of media.

Dr Rebecca Reichmann Tavares, Representative, UN Women’s Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka said, “We are at a critical time in history. The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN Member States in September 2015 place gender equality and women’s empowerment at the centre of the global development agenda.

“I am certain that the International Conference on Gender Equality being organised by the Gender Park, Government of Kerala, in partnership with UN Women, will spur renewed political commitment and re-energise action on gender equality,” Tavares said.

P T M Sunish, CEO, The Gender Park said, it was “an honour and privilege” for the state of Kerala to host a conference of such caliber. “There are pressing gender equity issues that need to be addressed and I am certain this conference will provide the ideal platform for just that; to generate a pool of ideas that can be built on and implemented successfully at both the national and international levels,” he said.

The conference aims to entail an informative and interactive program that will include plenary sessions, thematic paper presentations and panel discussions by gender experts from around the world and poster presentations by young scholars. Kerala’s draft policy on transgender rights will also be discussed during the three-day event.

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