Women Gathered for the Summit

 

Istanbul Summit: Women’s Perspectives on UN Post-2015 Development Agenda was held on 30 May – 1 June in Istanbul, Turkey. According to the final declaration of the Summit, 306 participants, including 4 Ministers and 14 MPs, from 42 countries joined the Summit which was organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation.

 

The general aim of the Summit is to contribute to the UN Post-2015 Development Goals and to create awareness across societies worldwide. The specific aim is to open the floor to women’s perspectives and opinions on the proposed SDGs by bringing together women participants from across the world.

 

Two-Day Summit focusing Women

 

Following the award ceremony for Peace Project Grantees on 30th May, the two-day Summit officially started. Three or four panellists from various organizations including United Nations delivered a speech from their point of view in four different sessions; Civil Society and Development Goals, Environmental Dimension, Social Dimension and Economic Dimension.

 

　

In the Environmental Dimension, Anna TAMAKI, Project Coordinator of BHN Association, made an oral statement. She introduced BHN Association and its Bangladesh Project and proposed that Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction should be mainstreamed in the UN Post -2015 Development Goals emphasizing the importance of women’s empowerment for disaster risk reduction.

 

　

On the 2nd day of the Summit, participants were divided into Parliament Roundtable and 8 Working Groups; Eradication of Poverty, Women’s Empowerment, Health, Education, Food & Water Supply and Sanitation, Environment, Climate Change and Energy, Sustainable Economic Development, Peace and Good Governance. Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment were discussed almost in all the groups.

 

　

The recommendations from each group were delivered back to the centre session, and then at the closing ceremony the Final Declaration was announced. All documents are available here.

 

We all hope that this output of the Summit gathering all the discussions and arguments among the participants will make positive influences on the UN Post 2015 Development Agenda.

 

Anna Tamaki, Project Coordinator