Strong Women – Strong Economies

The Global Perspectives Initiative and the Agentur für Wirtschaft und Entwicklung jointly organised the highlight “Strong Women – Strong Economies: Promoting Economic Equality post-COVID-19” with exciting experts.

26 years ago, the Beijing Platform for Action was established with the aim of eliminating structural discrimination against and disadvantages faced by women. Yet to date, not a single signatory state has been able to fulfill its commitments made under the Beijing declaration – the world is indeed far from achieving equal rights for women.

Gender equality and diversity have demonstrably shown to increase economic productivity, open up crucial prospects for future generations and ensure greater justice in all sectors of society.

The COVID-19 pandemic set back many positive trends of recent years. Emerging from the pandemic, we must act now and set a precedent for more inclusive economies. According to McKinsey, the post-pandemic global GDP can grow an estimated 16 percent by 2030 if women are put at the centre of economic recovery.

Earlier this year, the Generation Equality Forum, to date the largest collective initiative on gender equality, came to a close. Amounting to 40 billion USD in new investments, the GEF established the largest collective financial funding by governments, the private sector, and philanthropic organisations for global gender equality. It is time to draw conclusions, present key results, and discuss with high-level partners from Africa and Germany:

• What needs to happen to achieve the agreed objectives of the Forum,
• What a just and inclusive economic recovery can look like,
• Why women in leadership positions are particularly important now,
• What global responsibility means regarding the future political agenda of women,
• And what African partners expect from the incoming German government.

A recording of the event can be found further down this page. Unfortunately, parts of the recording are only available in German. We would like to take this opportunity to thank UN Women for providing the video footage of the Generation Equality Forum 2021.