BACKGROUND

Technologies and innovation are transforming society at a rapid pace, enabling unprecedented advances to improve the social, economic, and political status of women and girls, but also bringing profound new challenges that can perpetuate and deepen existing patterns of gender inequality. Women have limited opportunities to participate in the technology workforce and in leadership positions, and they are rarely viewed and empowered as technology developers, promoters, and decision makers. There is a continuum between offline and online gender-based violence, with technology often exacerbating the level of violence perpetrated by individuals or institutions.

Bringing women and girls into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. By designing and adopting gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education, immense opportunities can be harnessed to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This event, which will be held on March 8th to mark Women’s Day, aims to bring together a diverse group of government agencies, embassies, UN entities, financial institutions, practitioners, academics, and leading think tanks to share best practices on policies and programs to bridge the gender digital divide and identify actions that will enable gender-transformative technology and innovation.

OBJECTIVES

·Recognize challenges that disproportionately impact women and girls and put them at risk in the digital transformation.

·Identify solutions to ensure women’s needs and rights are systematically considered in the development of technology and promote their active participation and decision making in tech and innovation.

·Share global best practices of policies and programs to enhance digital gender equity and inclusion.

·Enhance international knowledge exchange on best practices of gender-responsive technology design, development and deployment in the context of global partnerships and cooperation.

TOPICS

· Gender-responsive technology design, development and deployment & gender-inclusive innovation and digital ecosystems

· Protection and economic empowerment of women and girls in the context of digitalization and innovation

LANGUAGE

English/Chinese simultaneous interpretation

Baidu live:

https://live.baidu.com/m/media/pclive/pchome/live.html?room_id=8110015660&source=h5pre

AGENDA

13 h 00 – 13 h 30 Arrival of Guests/Networking

13 h 30 – 13 h 45 Welcoming Remarks

13 h 45 – 13 h 55 Keynote Speech

13 h 55 – 14 h 15 Special address by the Chinese government

14 h 15 – 14 h 20 Group-photo/Technical Break

14 h 20 – 16 h 30 Roundtable Discussion

Theme 1: Gender-responsive technology design, development, and deployment & gender-inclusive innovation and digital ecosystems

Theme 2: Protection and economic empowerment of women and girls in the context of digitalization and innovation

16 h 30 – 16 h 50 Coffee Break

16 h 50 – 17 h 30 Special Dialogue by Women in Trade Beijing

<Making Sure Women Have a Seat at that Table: Strengthening the voice of women on technology and innovation decisions that will define the 21st century> – Insights from women leaders in international trade

17 h 30 – 17 h 35 Closing

17 h 35 – 18 h 00 Networking

PARTICIPANTS
(IN ALPHABETIC ORDER)

H.E. Ali Obaid AI Dhaheri, Ambassador of UAE to China

Ms. Smriti Aryal, Country Representative, UN Women China

H.E. Paulette Anne Bethal, Ambassador of the Bahamas to China

Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, Resident Coordinator, United Nations in China

Mr. CHEN Dali, Deputy Director-General, Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, Ministry of Education

Prof. FANG Xin, Academician, The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS)

Prof. Arancha González Laya, Dean and Professor of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po.; former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain; former Cabinet Director for the Director-General of the World Trade Organization

Ms. Dora Giusti, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF China

Ms. Kathy Gong, CEO and Co-founder, WafaGames

Ms. Karen Guo, Vice President of Public Affairs, Novelis China; Chair of Business Sustainability Committee, AmCham China

Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Director and Representative of UNESCO Office Beijing

Ms. Helene Juramy, Trade Officer, The European Union Delegation

H.E. Anne Lafortune, Ambassador of Seychelles to China

Mr. LIU Zhen, Vice President, Kuaishou

Prof. LYU Yue, Professor of International Trade, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)

H.E. Martha Mavrommati, Ambassador of Cyprus to China

Dr. Mabel Miao, Co-founder and Secretary-General, CCG

Mr. Johannes Neubacher, Vice President, WWD Greater China

H.E. Alenka Suhadolnik, Ambassador of Slovenia to China

Ms. Beate Trunkmann, Resident Representative, UNDP China

H.E. Oliver Wonekha, Ambassador of Uganda to China

Ms. XU Fang, Managing Partner, Galaxy Ventures

Ms. ZHANG Xiaoyan, Vice President, China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID)

Ms. ZHAO Xin, Artic Green Energy Group, Board Member and CEO of Business in China

Ms. Katrina Zhuang, General Manager, Arrail Plus