Women Speakers’ Summit to stress gender-based response to pandemic
The 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament will take place as a virtual conference on 17 and 18 August and will precede the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP). It is being organised in close cooperation with the Parliament of Austria and the United Nations.
The Summit provides women in the highest decision making positions of parliament a forum and opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences which are of interest to their national and international agendas. It is open to Women Speakers of national parliaments as well as to women Presidents of regional and international parliamentary assemblies that are Associate Members of the IPU. The provisional programme has been circulated.
This 13th edition of the Summit will discuss and identify collective and individual action needed to step up equality between men and women, building on the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. It will focus specifically on priority areas where bold action is needed: climate change, women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion, and violence against women and girls. The UK Parliament cannot be represented at this meeting as both the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker are currently male although participation in the past was regular and active noting the current Lord Speaker is the first male to hold the post since it was established in 2006.
Records of the previous Meetings of Women Speakers of Parliament are linked as follows: 12th (2018), 11th (2016), 10th (2015), 9th (2014), 8th (2013), 7th (2012), 6th (2010), 5th (2009), 3rd (2007)
The 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament will precede the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament (5WCSP) and is being organized in close cooperation with the Parliament of Austria and the United Nations.
