International Conference of Women Leaders to be held in Haifa, Israel

The UN Assistant Secretary General on Gender Issues, and about 50 high level representatives from around the world will attend the international conference from November 8-12.

About 50 participants - including women at the highest levels from about 30 countries around the world - among them government ministers, members of parliament, and holders of senior positions in civil society and academia will be arrive for the 26th biennial International Women's Leadership Conference to be held at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) on 8-12 November 2009. Moreover, participants at the conference will include experts from around the world, researchers in socio-economic fields, and representatives of UN agencies and various international and regional organizations.
This year's international conference will be devoted to The Global Financial Crisis - Implications for Women. It will be hosted in cooperation with the UN Assistant Secretary General on Gender Issues, Ms. Rachel Mayanja, and is under the auspices of MASHAV - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Deliberations will focus on gender issues and the impact of the current financial crisis on all aspects of society, and on the involvement of women in decision-making processes. Thousands of leaders from around the world have attended these conferences thus far. The concluding declarations of the conferences constitute a platform for plans of action in social and economic fields in various countries.

Women’s Empowerment in developing countries- a central issue to U.S. Foreign Policy

In a video message (you can click the link!), Ambassador for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer underscored the central role women's empowerment and equality play in U.S. foreign policy. Ambassador Verveer said:"Investing in women is one of the most powerful forces for international development and for advancing the causes of peace and security, democracy and prosperity around the world; and, yet, it’s a force that is still significantly untapped. Equality for girls and women isn’t only the right thing to do -- it’s also the smart thing -- for no country can get ahead if half its citizens are left behind. We still have a long way to go before women have equal economic participation, or equal political representation, or access to education and health care, or are free from violence and have the chance to follow their dreams.
http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entires/womens_empowerment/ (text and video).

The Mount Carmel Training center, in Haifa, Israel, has major activities in the field of women empowerment, in Israel and in developing countries.