New York, April 23, 2010 — On Wednesday April 21st, WEDO participated in a panel entitled ‘Financing Climate Change: Gender Equality’ in preparation for the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review. The event was co-sponsored by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women/NY.

Panelists included representatives from USAID and the World Bank

WEDO made important inputs to the event with Program Director Cate Owren moderating the distinguished panel and Rachel Harris speaking about “What grass-roots women want: recommendations for action” in a presentation that highlighted WEDO advocacy campaigns and case studies on gender and climate change. The event organizer and WEDO board member, Soon-Young Yoon, made a presentation of “Women in decision making: CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.”

In her opening remarks, Cate pointed to the importance of engaging in a dialogue around gender equality and climate change financing:

“Tomorrow, the Global Preparatory Meeting will focus on rural women as agents of change and champions of global food security, followed by a session on development cooperation, examining international aid in effectively implementing, for example, the Millennium Development Goals and national development plans. And for those of us who have been deeply involved in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations, Copenhagen is still fresh in our minds as we race toward Mexico.

In this context, there is perhaps no topic more relevant – nor more timely – than looking at the intersection of gender equality and women’s participation and leadership, with the potentially billions of dollars that will be (that must be) generated to deal with the urgent issue on our global agenda: climate change.”

Access the full text of Cate Owren’s Opening Remarks

Access the full Program Details of the April 21 event