Riga to host international conference on women’s empowerment and sustainable development

On 2 March, the international conference “Post-2015 and Beijing+20: Women’s Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Development - the Synthesis for Success  will take place at the National Library of Latvia. The conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the European Commission is one of the key events of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Year for Development.

Conference participants will be discussing women’s empowerment in the labour market and access to financial resources. Examples of best practice from the developing counties will be analysed taking into account the degree of women’s involvement in business since this contributes to sustainable development of environment, economy and society. A special focus will be placed on ensuring that the rights of girls and women are included amongst the post-2015 global development goals.

High-ranking officials from the European Union institutions and Member States, experts from non-governmental organisations and representatives from the private sector including, for example, Microsoft and Mondelēz International are expected to take part in the discussions. The event will be opened by the Speaker of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament), the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica i, and the former President of Latvia and President of the Club de Madrid, Prof. Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga i.

The event will be broadcasted online on the websites of the Latvian Presidency ( www.eu2015.lv), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( www.mfa.gov.lv) and the European Commission ( www.ec.europa.eu).

Gender equality and empowerment of women and girls is one of the key priorities for the Latvian Presidency in development cooperation policy. Special attention will be paid to the pension gap between men and women, and the underlying causes - educational opportunities, career options, and the gender wage gap.

For the attention of the media

Media accreditation will be open from 27 January on the website of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

If the members of the media are interested in interviewing the conference participants, we ask that they register their participation no later than 26 February by contacting the Press Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by calling to +371 67016272 or via e-mail: media@mfa.gov.lv