Toward a More Equal Future: Social Protection – A driver for women’s empowerment

Toward a More Equal Future: Social Protection – A driver for women’s empowerment

October 14, 2022, 12:15 PM – 1:45 PM EDT | Location: AFL-CIO, Solidarity Room, 815 Black Lives Matter Plz NW Washington, DC 20005

The Center for Global Development (CGD), the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), AFL-CIO, the World Bank's #AccelerateEquality initiative, and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) co-hosted a public event to discuss how social protection can promote gender equality and more inclusive economic development.

Social protection aims to ensure that all people can participate and benefit from social and economic development, making countries more resilient in the face of multiple global crises. By reducing barriers to equal participation, universal social protection systems can in turn contribute to achieving the goals of a feminist development policy – but only if these systems are designed to be gender-transformative: actively addressing social norms, gender stereotypes, and social power relations that lead to social inequalities.

Organized in the context of the World Bank Annual Meetings, this event featured a distinguished panel of international decision-makers and experts.

Speakers:

Welcome Remarks (AFL-CIO) & Inputs: 

• H.E. Svenja Schulze, Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
• H.E. Rania al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt
• Michal Rutkowski, Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs, World Bank
• Cathy Feingold, Director of International Department, AFL-CIO

Moderated panel discussion:

• Megan O’Donnell, Policy Fellow & Assistant Director for Gender, Center for Global Development

Q&A with audience

Closing Remarks (FES)

• Michael Bröning, Executive Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York