Women Deliver conference ends with a call ‘to be a catalyst for change’

The largest-ever conference for women and girls’ health and rights has ended in Copenhagen with a call to all “to be the catalyst for change” to achieve gender equality for economic growth and prosperity.

“The work starts now. You are in action,” Chief Executive Officer of Women Deliver Katja Iversen told the participants on Thursday, bringing down the curtain on the four-day conference that drew over 5,500 participants of diverse backgrounds from across the world.

The gathering, organised by ‘Women Deliver’ after the launching of the new development goals, SDGs, in January pressed the idea of seeing women as more than reproductive beings.

“Girls and women carry more than babies. Or water. They carry families. They carry businesses. They carry potential. And when we invest in their health, rights and well-being, it creates a positive ripple effect that lifts up entire countries.”

This concept served as the thread of conference deliberations with over 2,000 organisations taking part.

The Women Deliver also advocated women and girls’ “central role in implementing” the SDGs.

“When you invest in women and girls, it has rippling effects. Everybody wins,” Iversen said at the closing ceremony in which actresses and singers from different parts of the world reiterated their commitment to continue to raise their voices for the women cause.

“I am here to pull the stigma off,” Actress Jessica Biel, who works as an ambassador for WomenCare Global’s ‘if you don’t tell them, then who will’ campaign, said.

South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Hip-hop artist and Unicef ambassador in Ethiopia Abelone Melese also joined her at the ceremony that began with Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi’s word: ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world’.

Women Deliver CEO urged all to act as catalysts of change to take action when they go back home to get girls’ and women’s health, rights and well-being solidly placed in national SDGs.

The conference also stressed data generation to measure woment’s contribution in society.

Women are often not paid for the work they do. If the hours of unpaid labour provided by women worldwide were paid at the minimum wage, they would be worth at least $10 trillion—more than the GDP of China, according to a conservative estimate by McKinsey.

But these are just estimates. Melinda Gates, who is the co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announced at the opening of the conference a $80-million funding for generating accurate data to close “gender data gaps”.

Danish Crown Princess Mary, the conference patron, described girls and women as the world’s “greatest untapped resource” at the opening of the event.

“We all share a common conviction that girls and women are the key to building prosperous, sustainable and healthy societies and communities,” she said.

“When we invest in women, society as a whole benefits,” she had said.

Bangladesh State Minister MA Mannan, who led a delegation for parliamentarians, told bdnews24.com that resources would not be a problem for the government.

“We are ready to invest in women and girls,” he said, seeking “viable projects”.

The conference awarded Jill Sheffield, founder and president of Women Deliver, with the life-time achievement award for her decades of work for women rights.