A Woman’s Place is in the World - Beijing+20 Conference

Published: Thursday, March 19, 2015

Over 300 people took part in "A Woman's Place is in the World", the joint NWCI and IHREC conference in Dublin Castle. 

The conference, on women's human rights, heard from President Michael D. Higgins, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and President of The Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice, Lakshmi Puri, the Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and the Garda Commissionor, Noirin O'Sullivan. The Conference marked 20 years since the UN Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a roadmap for gender equality and women’s empowerment that is still considered the most comprehensive women’s rights agenda.

President Michael D. Higgins quoted Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
“We should all be feminists. A feminist is a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. A feminist is a man or a woman who says, ‘Yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it, we must do better’.”

The President continued by announcing that he had accepted the invitation of UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women Mlambo-Ngcuka to become one of the group of 10 Champion World Leaders for UN Women’s HeforShe campaign.

Mary Robinson commented
"Across the globe, women play an essential role in tackling the climate change challenge. Men and women are affected by climate change in different ways, because of the societal and cultural roles and responsibilities expected of them by families and communities. For example, women tend to be primary food producers and providers of water and cooking fuel for their families, while having greater responsibility for family and community welfare."

Lakshmi Puri had an op-ed in the Irish Times the morning of the conference, where she stated
"2015 can be a game-changing year. As the international community defines a new development framework, UN Women is pushing for new goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment and sustainable development."

The speeches from the conference can be access on NWCI's website.

Lakshmi Puri's Irish Times op-ed can be read here.

The Tumblr account with pictures from the day is here.