Gender Equality in the Sustainable Development Agenda (2030) on the Agenda of ESCWA, LAS and UN Women

       The Deputy Director of the ESCWA Centre for Women, Ms. Mehrinaz El-Awady, today said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development may form a turning point in development policies in the world, underlining a shift in  the philosophy of development from  specific development policies linked to narrow thematic frameworks to more inclusive policies that require action in different fields.
 
            El-Awady was speaking at the UN House in Beirut during the opening session of a workshop on “Building the capacities of the Sub-Committee on Gender Equality in the Sustainable Development Agenda (2030)” organized in partnership with the League of Arab States (LAS) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (UN WOMEN). A number of high level experts is attending the meeting, specifically from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Syrian, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania.
 
            In her statement El-Awady also said the 2030 Agenda has put women's issues and gender equality at the heart of sustainable development concepts, and linked the status of women and their well-being directly with sustainable development, adding that the Agenda tackled women’s issues in ten goals, specifically Goal 5 which focused on the empowerment of women and gender equality. 
 
            The opening session also saw a statement by Mr. Mohamed Naciri, the Regional Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (UN WOMEN) who said, “The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are yours. You formulated and endorsed them. We are here today to commit that through them we should leave no one behind. This means that women’s issues should not only be confined to Goal 5 but across all the other goals.” “We are here today to commit to this in our Arab region and it won't happen without you,” he added.

This workshop aims to support Member States to develop a joint Arab vision for the implementation of the SDGs fifth goal and the follow up in this regard, and to assist Arab national women’s machineries in the elaboration of effective national strategies to achieve the SDGs. The workshop sessions, which will close tomorrow Thursday, is addressing many relevant themes. Various regional instruments relating to the implementation of the Agenda will be presented, including strategies, training material and studies to promote gender equality.