30th April 2024: The UN Global Compact Network India (UN GCNI) hosted the 7th Gender Equality Summit in New Delhi. The goal of the summit, themed “Inclusive Horizons: Integrating Gender Equality across SDGs,” was to coordinate efforts towards achieving gender equality with more general development goals. It offered a forum for stakeholders from different industries to work together to address gender inequality and advance SDG 5 and its related objectives.
Around 45 leaders from government, business, academia, research, policymakers, UN agencies, and civil society organizations (CSOs), and corporations were among the 350 participants in the event. The summit aimed to accelerate advancements in gender equality, aligning with the UN Global Compact’s Forward Faster initiative.
Shovana Narayan, Indian Kathak dancer, Gender Advocate; Seema Sahai, Founder and CEO, Bright Orange Foundation and Sanjeev Sharma, President/ Founder, Paryog Foundation.
To welcome her, Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Vice President-Northern Region, UN GCNI, and Co-Founder & Chairperson Sustainability, ReNew, said “As we stride halfway towards our Sustainable Development Goals, it’s a stark reminder that while we’ve made progress in various arenas, the glaring truth of SDG 5 – Gender Equality – being woefully off-track demands not just reflection, but urgent, concerted action from all of us”.
Anuradha Shankar, IPS, Additional Director General of Police (Training), Madhya Pradesh Police shared “Gender inclusion isn’t an option, it’s a necessity for progress. Let’s prioritize mainstreaming gender issues in every aspect of our policies and practices.”
Susan Jane Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women highlighted “there is a need for expanding educational opportunities for women and girls. With progressive realization of economic and social rights for all women and girls, gender-equitable inclusive growth will take place.”
Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP shared “Gender inclusion isn’t just a checkbox; it’s a fundamental principle of justice. Let’s accelerate our efforts to mainstream gender issues and build a society where everyone is valued equally.”
Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi emphasized “Attaining gender balanced representation at every level and guaranteeing fair compensation across all sectors is crucial to narrow the existing gender gap.”
Ratnesh, Executive Director, Global Compact Network India said, India has made significant strides in progressing towards Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5), which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. While challenges remain, there has been notable progress in various areas. Despite the advancements, challenges persist, and addressing these issues requires continued commitment from both the government and the private sector.
High-level panels exploring female entrepreneurs for social engineering, enabling the female multigenerational workforce, and shattering gender stereotypes across sectors were among the summit’s main highlights. Notable events included the launching of the Compendium “Forward Faster: Gender Equality” and spotlight talks on issues like women achieving success in business, technology, and innovation for gender equality, and gender-responsive climate change strategies.
The summit is main conclusions were that gender equality must be advanced through the private sector’s technological innovation and leadership, that stakeholder collaboration must be improved, that strategic conversations with the government regarding the mainstreaming of gender dimensions in various sectors must be started, and that gender equality must be promoted as a catalyst for meeting climate adaptation targets.
The event was there were a lot of speakers who enhanced the experience of the event, the speakers that were present in the event were Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Vice President-Northern Region, UN GCNI and Co-Founder & Chairperson Sustainability, ReNew; Anuradha Shankar, IPS, Additional Director General of Police (Training), Madhya Pradesh Police; Veena Sinha, CEO, REMC Limited; Susan Jane Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women ; Om Prakash Singh, Director-Technology and Field Services, ONGC; Isabelle Tschan, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP and many more.