Today, prospects for sustainable development remain a serious challenge as our global economy, our natural environment, our social well-being, and our political structures are in crisis. From the economy to climate change to food and agriculture, systems of governance are in disarray. Everyone is struggling more intensely in today’s world – particularly women and girls. The bottom line is that gender equity and sustainable development go hand in hand. The question for us now is: how can we make it happen?

On January 19, 2012, the Heinrich Böll Foundation North America and co-organizing partners Oxfam, ActionAid USA, Gender Action and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy tackled this question in a one day conference on gender equity and sustainable development. Four roundtables provided a gendered analysis of global governance processes, the global economy, the world’s food and agriculture system and climate change respectively. The conference focused on identifying remaining challenges, sketching out solutions and recommending necessary actions to achieve immediate and long-term results in order to make gender equity and sustainable development a reality.

Click here for the key note address by The Honorable Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State

Click here for the summary report of the conference roundtable discussions and recommended action points (10 pages, pdf, KB)