gender equality

Gender equality: Why is it important and what can we do to achieve it?

FULL COMMITTEE MEETING

UNITED NATIONS
VIENNA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
Monday May 9th 2022
[Due to the Pandemic Development the FCM will be held as a Zoom Conference]

Gender equality is a United Nations sustainable development goal (No 5), a core value of the European Union, and a target for many governments, companies and organisations. But why is gender equality so important? Research has documented that gender equality leads to happier, healthier, and more democratic societies: It can help tackle the gender health gap resulting from a lack of research on conditions that predominantly affect women and the dangers of childbirth in many parts of the world. In the economic sphere, gender equality helps boost performance, as women’s equal participation is associated with increased profits for companies and with an increase in Gross Domestic Product. In addition, equality in the political sphere has benefits for good governance. Not only is an equal opportunity to participate the core principle of democracy, but equal participation and representation of women also decreases corruption and increases citizens’ satisfaction with democracy and the legitimacy of the political system. Finally, gender equality matters for the individual: For example, it improves family life, and gender-equal societies consist of happier and healthier individuals.

In their presentation on gender equality, Prof Zoe Lefkofridi and Dr Nadine Zwiener-Collins of the Chair of Politics & Gender, Diversity & Equality at the University of Salzburg reflect on the importance of gender equality for different areas of society, and highlight how gender equality benefits everyone. In the subsequent discussion, they invite the participants to share and reflect on their own experiences, and to join the discussion of what we can do to achieve gender equality.

Professor Zoe Lefkofridi, Mag. MA MAIS Dr., holds the first Professorship for Gender Studies at the Paris-Lodron University Salzburg (PLUS). As Professor for Politics & Gender, Diversity & Equality in the Department of Political Science, her focus is research and teaching on democracy and representation, diversity and equality. Her publications have appeared in internationally leading journals such as West European Politics, European Union Politics and Politics & Gender. Professor Zoe Lefkofridi is also Editor-in-Chief of the Specialty Section Political Participation of the new gold open access journal Frontiers in Political Science and co-editor of the series Politics and Governance in the Smaller European Democracies (NOMOS Publications) and is an elected member of the board of the Austrian Society for Gender Research (ÖGGF). Prof. Lefkofridi holds a PhD from the University of Vienna (2009, Political Science) and a Habilitation from the University of Salzburg (2017, Political Science & Political Sociology) and prior to her time in Salzburg, was a Jean Monnet and Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the GESIS Leibniz Institute in Cologne and the University of Vienna.

Nadine Zwiener-Collins is a postdoctoral researcher in Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality at the Department of Political Science at the University of Salzburg, funded by the Land Salzburg. Her research focuses on the impact of (gender) inequalities in other areas of life, such as the labour market and the family, on the political behaviour and attitudes of citizens and politicians in Europe. Previously Nadine Zwiener-Collins was a Lecturer at the Social Research Institute of University College London (UCL), and taught there quantitative methods and data analysis to social scientists and also holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Ph.D. from the City University of London.

ADMINISTRATIVE SESSION 15:30 – 17.00

(i) Approval of the Agenda
(ii) Approval of the Minutes of the Full Committee Meeting November 8th 2021
(iii) Report of the Chairperson & Discussion with Participants
(iv) Online Quarterly Bulletin ‘Families International’ (FI) Christin Kohler, Executive-Editor FI Issue No. 122.
(v) Committee Statement 60th United Nations Commission for Social Development, February 2022. Franziska Reichel, Comm. Coordinator UNCSD
(vi) Committee Digital Networks – Update Report–Katharina Muegler, Committee Digital Networks Coordinator
(vii) Financial Report: Treasurer Alexandra Lugert M.A.
(viii) Reports from Member Organisations
(ix) Elections to the Board of the Committee for November 2022 – 2025 (Preview)
(x) Date and Place of next Full Committee Meeting.
(xi) Any other Business

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