Moderator
Katherine Hagen, Executive Director, Global Social Observatory
Caitlin Kraft-Buchman, CEO/Founder, Women@theTable
The UN Secretary-General appointed a first-ever High-Level Panel on Women's Economic Empowerment in January 2016, co-chaired by Luis Guillermo Solis, President of Costa Rica and Simona Scarpaleggia, CEO of IKEA Switzerland. The High-Level Panel will report September 2016 to the full UN General Assembly. Therefore, it is extremely timely and appropriate to connect the High-Level Panel's preliminary recommendations to the larger discussion on inclusion and how women can participate more fully and equally in international trade. In the Secretary General's words, "there remains an urgent need to address structural barriers to women's economic empowerment and full inclusion in economic activity. If the world is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we need a quantum leap in women's economic empowerment."
This panel will focus on how the High Level Panel's recommendations can be implemented and operationalized, particularly by actors in international Geneva.