Women Deliver 2016 Conference Opens With Call to Put Girls & Women at Forefront of Development

 VIOLET MENGO

Lusaka

May 17, 2016

WOMEN Deliver Conference opened in Copenhagen, Denmark yesterday, May 16, 2016. The meeting has brought together Heads of state and global leaders.

Over 5, 000 advocates, experts and young people from 168 countries have gathered for the fourth Women Deliver Conference, one of the largest gathering on the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women in over a decade.

Her Royal Highness Princess Mary of Denmark, who is also the Patron  of the Women Deliver 2016 conference said at the official opening of the conference that all people shall a common conviction  that girls and women are key to building healthy, prosperous and sustainable societies.

She said the evidence is sound when investment in girls and women is made, society as a whole benefits.

More than 200 sessions and side events will focus on solutions and how investments in health, rights, gender equality, education and economic empowerment have broad benefits across the development spectrum. 

The Women Deliver 2016 Conference is the first major gathering of girls’ and women’s health and rights advocates since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals last year, bringing together leaders from UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia and more.

“This week, more than 5,500 world influencers from more than 165 countries are gathered here in Copenhagen to make change [and] ensure that the world delivers for women and for girls,” said His Excellency Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark.

“That is a joint responsibility. The fight for equal gender opportunities is not just a women’s fight [or] a fight for women. It is a fight for all of us – women and men. It is a fight for a better and more prosperous world.”

To accelerate progress for girls and women, Women Deliver launched a new advocacy platform during the Conference’s opening session that promotes 12 critical investments in girls and women: Deliver for Good. 

This new platform brings together diverse organizations to show how a simple focus on investments in girls and women can be transformative for global development.

“The Deliver for Good campaign will drive action toward what we know is true: investing in girls and women unlocks untapped potential, and creates a ripple effect that benefits families, communities and entire nations,” said Katja Iversen, CEO of Women Deliver. “It’s 2016: now is the time to turn the conversation from ‘if and why’ to ‘how and now.’”

The campaign highlights evidence showing that when leaders make political, financial and programmatic investments in the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women, there are big returns for countries striving to build more equitable, healthy, peaceful and productive societies.

And Chief Strategy Officer Manisha Bharti says the evidence is clear that girls and women have less access to resources and opportunities and are subjected to exploitation, violence and abuse. 

“And because these global challenges are complex, demanding and interwoven, the solutions have to be connected as well, We are proud to support Women Deliver’s new Deliver for Good campaign, and to contribute to the body of evidence of what works and what doesn’t,” said Manisha Bharti.

Ms Bharti said it's time to meaningfully engage girls and women as equal partners at all levels and stages of development to help ensure they have the decision-making power necessary to shape their societies and their own lives.

Over the next three days, delegates will discuss the latest trends, innovations and research to drive solutions for girls and women around the world. Each day of the conference will focus on ways to accelerate progress including.