Earuyan Solutions at the Stockholm Gender Forum
Founder and Managing Director of Earuyan Solutions, Billene Seyoum, was invited to attend and speak at the Stockholm Gender Forum in April 2018. Hosted by the Swedish Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström and other Ministerial delegates, the forum convened civil society, governments,private sector and academia from over 100 countries in the world to intensify efforts for a gender equal world. The forum which comprised Africancontributorsincluding Nigerian Author Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie; United NationsUnder-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka andChief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Dr Fatou Bensouda, covered various feminist issues such as peace and security, climate change, finance, sexual and reproductive health and rights as well as entrepreneurship, all explored through a gender lens.
With Ambassador Minata Samate, Commissioner
for Political Affairs, African Union Commission
As a feminist social impact focused company, for Earuyan Solutions and its founder Billene Seyoum, the forum was a great networking and learning platform, particularly to learn about global best practices in the promotion of gender equality. As a speaker on one of the sessions, representing Earuyan Solutions, Billene conveyed the importance of working to tackle gender norms and dynamics that govern inequalities as the basis for successful development interventions. Based on the work of Earuyan Solutions, she stressed that policies or interventions to empower women economically, politically and socially should work in parallel to challenge gender norms and biases that are the root causes of gender inequalities. And therefore, without systematically working to also address these issues, non-holistic interventions will fail to bring meaningful and lasting change. She also highlighted that women’s lives are not compartmentalized and therefore interventions should attempt to synergistically address the many ways women are disadvantaged politically, economically and socially.
Panelists & Organizers
Brief key takeaways for Billene from the Forum:
- A feminist approach to trade and investments is possible and can champion gender equality and eliminate patriarchal norms that currently dictate the global economic order and which disempower women in various ways;
- More women at the policy making level can translate into policies that have women’s lived realities and needs in mind;
- More women (in politics) should work to push for reframing the global security framework which currently relies on five security council member states to decide the structure of power in the world, with adverse effects on women;
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Earuyan means ‘equality’ in Geez. Earuyan Solutions is a social justice and impact driven feminist social enterprise supporting organizations and individuals promote gender equality and transformative feminist leadership through tailor-made workshops, convening seminars/forums, undertaking commissioned research, project/programme design and content development, in Eastern Africa and the Horn region.
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On Twitter: @earuyansolns
On Facebook: @earuyansolutions
On LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/13232652/
Website: www.earuyan.com
Email: info@earuyan.com
- TAGS
- #Gender Forum
