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Archive for January, 2016

Honored to Participate in New UN Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment

January 22nd, 2016

Women’s economic empowerment is necessary for many reasons.  It is necessary to bring health, safety and opportunity to half of humanity.  It is necessary to bring investment and health to families and communities.  It is necessary to unlock economic growth and build more stable societies.

Today the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the first ever High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment to help drive change by providing thought leadership and mobilizing concrete actions.  The Panel will provide recommendations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to

. . . improve economic outcomes for women and promote women’s leadership . . .

The Panel is co-chaired by Luis Guillermo Solis, the President of Costa Rica, and Simona Scarpaleggia, the CEO of IKEA Switzerland.  Leaders of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, and UN Women will participate.  The Panel will also include a diverse range of representatives from different regions and roles.  I have been invited to serve on this Panel and I have, of course, accepted.  It’s clear to me that the Open Internet is the key to global growth that is innovative, inclusive and sustainable.   To fulfill this promise, digital transformation must include education and opportunity as well as basic access to everyone, with women as equal participants.  I am delighted to contribute this perspective to the work of the Panel.

The Panel is supported by the UNWomen, which will provide the Secretariat.  UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.  I’ve been lucky enough to watch the Executive Director of UN Women, Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, at work over the last six months or so.  She’s a tremendous force for the empowerment of women globally and I am delighted to work even more closely with UN Women.

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