The WIP Summit 2015 of the Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP) commenced today at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Form today until Wednesday, more than 400 female Parliaments coming from more than 100 countries are gathering to discuss innovative policies to address the major global challenges that our world faces today.
Dr. Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission:
“Today we are advocating the right of women to be represented everywhere…”.
Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development:
“Now is the time to take decisive steps to close the gender gap once and for all”.
Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Founder of the Women in Parliaments Global Forum (WIP):
“The mission of WIP is to increase the number of female Parliamentarians, globally”
The Agenda of the WIP Summit 2015 “New Leadership for Global Challenges” will feature plenary sessions on the post-2015 development agenda and the redefinition of leadership; parallel sessions on entrepreneurship, regional cooperation, health and education; working groups organised by international organisations such as the United Nations or the World Bank; and media training for female Parliamentarians.
Sweden and Ecuador have received the WIP Award 2015 today, in acknowledgement of the national efforts to close the gender gap in politics (based on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report).
Today, only 1 out of 5 members of Parliaments are women. This meeting will highlight the importance of diversity in leadership positions and seek strategies to increase the number of women in politics. The WIP/World Bank Study “The Female Political Career” will be presented during the Summit.
The WIP Summit 2015 is co-hosted by the African Union Commission and co-financed by the European Commission.
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The Pictures of the Opening Session of the WIP Summit 2015 are now available online: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129990456@N06/ and on the African Union website: www.au.int
