World’s largest conference on gender equality

…calls made to redefine power at every level

Heads of State of four nations sat side-by-side young leaders and grassroots advocates as delegates from more than 165 countries kicked off the Women Deliver 2019 Conference on Monday in Vancouver, Canada.

Women Deliver President/CEO Katja Iversen

The Women Deliver 2019 Conference, the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women, kicked off with more than 8000 world leaders, influencers, advocates, academics, and activists.
The conference will focus on power, and how it can drive – or hinder – progress and change; and how societies must redefine the concept of ‘power’ and use it as a force for good.
The conference will examine power operating at three levels: the individual’s power – girls’ and women’s individual power, self-esteem, and agency – and how to strengthen that power; structural power –systems, barriers, and opportunities for progress in power relations, including political, economic, and social structures. And finally, the conference will examine the power of movements and how we can shape critical consciousness and marshal collective action for change.
While the Women Deliver 2019 Conference and global dialogue will place a special emphasis on power, the conference will offer solutions to fill the gap on a vast array of issues crucial to gender equality: economic empowerment; women and the environment; nutrition; education; political participation; preventing gender-based violence; health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights; human rights, and much more.
“The Women Deliver 2019 Conference is much more than a conference, it is one important step on the march towards gender equality,” Women Deliver President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Katja Iversen said at the opening press conference. “We all have power to contribute to a more gender equal world. If we use our individual and collective power – boldly, smartly and collaboratively – progress will follow.”