Past International Events
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2002
EVENTS 2008
11th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development - The Power of Movements
14-17 November 2008 - Cape Town, South Africa
This is both a conference and a call to action. The largest recurring event of its kind, the AWID Forum brings together women's rights leaders and activists from around the world every three years to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in a highly charged atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth. Up to 1,500 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world will converge on Cape Town, South Africa at the 11th AWID International Forum to discuss the power of movements.
Third Global Congress of Women in Politics and Governance: Gender and Climate Change
19-22 October 2008 - Manila, Philippines
Women and environment experts have raised concerns over the absence of women in the discourse and debate on climate change, a global mainstream issue that is currently impacting the entire world. The involvement of women in areas of environmental management and governance should not be perceived as an afterthought. Women's roles are of considerable importance in the promotion of environmental ethics. The current imperative is for women to understand the phenomenon of climate change and its impacts and implications at the individual, household, community and national levels. Studies show that women have a definite information deficit on climate politics and climate protection. Only with this information can women take their proper, significant and strategic role in the issue of climate change
World Rural Women's Day
15 October
World Rural Women's Day was launched by several international NGOs during the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995 and a worldwide empowerment and educational campaign is annually organized since 1997 by the Women's World Summit Foundation WWSF. Celebrations and events take place in more than 100 countries around the world.
AIDS 2008 - XVII International AIDS Conference
3-8 August 2008 - Mexico City, Mexico
AIDS 2008 will provide many opportunities for the presentation of important new scientific research and for productive, structured dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS. Conference organizers are developing a wide variety of session types that meet the needs of various participants and support collective efforts to expand delivery of HIV prevention and treatment to communities worldwide. Central to many of these sessions will be the transfer of knowledge and sharing of best practices.
Women’s Worlds 2008 – 10th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women
3-9 July 2008 - Madrid, Spain
Mundos de Mujeres / Women's Worlds 2008 (MMWW08) is open to proposals in all fields and themes related to women, gender and sexuality in contemporary societies, as well as historically. However, some thematic guidelines have been established to facilitate classification of proposals for the congress final program. A special emphasis is placed on two central themes: violence and migrations, but these will not be the only ones to be addressed at the conference.
3rd Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights: Sexuality, Poverty and Accountability in Africa
4-7 February 2008 - Abuja, Nigeria
Organised by Action Health Incorporated, under the auspices of the African Federation for Sexual Health and Rights, the conference will bring together key actors in the field of sexual health and rights to explore how sexuality has affected and can improve development in Africa, especially when working with women and youth.
Africa Regional Workshop: Women's Leadership in HIV/AIDS
28 January - 15 February 2008 - Nairobi, Kenya
This workshop is the first regional workshop conducted under the Advancing Women's Leadership and Advocacy for AIDS Action initiative of CEDPA. It follows a global workshop conducted on 16 July – 10 August 2007 in Washington, DC for 23 women leaders from 20 countries. The goal of the regional workshop is to build the leadership, advocacy and technical expertise of women—particularly HIV positive women—who are working on the frontlines in the fight against AIDS in Africa.
EVENTS 2007
African Gender Forum and Award 2007
9-12 December 2007, Dakar, Senegal
The second edition of the African Gender Forum featured a dialogue between African women, the African Diaspora, African descendants and other various stakeholders in Africa . The theme of the Forum was Gender and Migration, with the discussions focusing on its economic, social, and political implications. The 2007 African Gender Award was presented to Rwanda. H.E President Paul Kagame.
First AMARC AFRICA-MENA Conference: Community Radio in Africa-Middle East and North Africa: Sharing Experiences for development and democracy building from the grassroots
22-24 October 2007 - Rabat, Morocco
This conference, jointly organised by the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Africa, the UNESCO Office in Rabat and the UNESCO Chair in Public and Community Communication, will offer an opportunity for more than a hundred community radio stakeholders from the two regions to improve their skills, and increase the social impact of community radio where it exists and to develop an enabling environment for community radio in countries where community radio is not yet established – particularly in the MENA region – by benefiting from the best experiences in Africa.
The conference will reflect on how AMARC can most effectively contribute to increase the impact of community radio in Sub-Sahara Africa as well as how to transfer its rich African experience to the MENA region in order to strengthen community media as an important factor for democracy building. The participants will consider the situation of community radio in their respective countries and on the contribution of the community radio concerning key issues such as the democratization of societies, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and the resolution of the conflict situations.
Women Deliver: A Global Conference
18-20 October 2007 - London, UK
This conference will be the world’s largest gathering on women’s health and rights in the 21st century. It will focus global attention on the challenges that must be overcome in order to improve women’s health and safeguard their rights, with a particular emphasis on ensuring safe pregnancy and childbirth.
From Research to Action: Mitigating HIV/AIDS Impacts on Agriculture and Food Security in West Africa
1-4 October 2007 - Cotonou, Benin
This conference is open to all those who are interested in the mitigation and prevention of the impacts of HIV/AIDS on agriculture in Africa in general and in West Africa in particular. Policy makers and front-line practitioners in HIV/AIDS and food security mitigation programs from research, development, donor community and civil society are especially invited to attend.
Web2ForDev: Participatory Web for Development
24-27 September 2007 - FAO, Rome, Italy
Web2ForDev 2007 is the first conference devoted to exploring the ways in which international development stakeholders in agriculture, rural development, and natural resource management can take advantage of the technical and organizational opportunities provided by the often-called Web 2.0 methods and approaches.
SANGONeT Conference & Exhibition 2007 - ICTs for Civil Society
17-18 July 2007 - Illovo, Johannesburg
The theme of this third annual SANGONeT Conference will be "Applications for the Development Sector". It coincides with SANGONeT’s 20th anniversary and will thus also reflect on SANGONeT’s achievements since inception, as well as the progress that South African NGOs have made over the past 20 years in adopting and integrating ICTs in their work.
International Women's Summit: Women's Leadership Making a Difference on HIV/Aids
4-7 July 2007 - Nairobi, Kenya
The World YWCA, in partnership with the International Community of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (ICW) and other international organisations, will convene an unprecedented international conference on women’s leadership on HIV and AIDS.
Global Summit of Women - The Global Marketplace: Opportunities and Challenges
14-16 June 2007 - Berlin, Germany
For 15 years, the Global Summit of Women has celebrated women's leadership by bringing together outstanding women business, professional, and governmental leaders from around all corners of the globe. The Summit focuses on accelerating women's economic development through the effective use of technology, and maximizing the benefit of cross-border business alliances.
Fourth World Congress of Rural Women
23-26 April 2007 - Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
The World Congress of Rural Women is an international gathering of rural women, which occurs at four-year intervals. The aim of the congress is to discuss universal and wide-ranging issues confronting rural women today and to share concrete experiences of successes in addressing these worldwide. These include: globalisation; trade; sustainable development (social, economic and environment); gender equality; food security and related issues of access to land, water, finance, new technologies, transport and roads; rural housing, women’s health, governance and the impact of public policies on rural women. South Africa, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Affairs will host the 4th World Congress of Rural Women
EuroAfrica-ICT awareness workshops
Different dates, different venues in Africa
Event Objectives:
- Meet the most advanced local organisations in sub-Saharan Africa who will be invited to use the support and guidance facilities of the helpdesk in order to exploit opportunities for involvement in cooperation projects with European organisations in the ICT area
- Promote FP7 and the ICT challenge
- Introduce the objectives and activities of the START (EuroAfrica-ICT) project
- Further discuss thematic issues depending on local needs
UN Commission on the Status of Women 2007
26 February - 9 March 2007 - New York, USA
The 51st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) focused on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child. Because girls and women are part of the same continuum, failure to address inequalities in childhood leads to exacerbated gender inequalities in the later stages of the life cycle of women.
Nyéléni 2007 - Forum for Food Sovereignty
23-27 February 2007 - Sélingué, Mali
An alliance of social movements has taken the initiative of organising this international meeting on food sovereignty. Nyéléni 2007 aimed to offer a new opportunity to increase the recognition of food sovereignty and to strengthen the actions and campaigns that need to be carried out for its implementation. During the five days of the Forum, participants were not only asked to clarify what the right to food sovereignty means for them and what its implications are for food and agriculture policies in their own regions and countries, but they also considered a dynamic global strategy to ensure that food sovereignty is realised and implemented at both international and local levels.
More information - Read the Declaration of Nyéléni
10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development
12-14 February 2007 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The 10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development, hosted by UNESCO, aimed at developing a UN system-wide common approach to Communication for Development in the context of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Held on a biennial basis since 1988, the UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development seeks to address cooperation issues among the UN agencies regarding the implementation of programmes and projects in this domain.
EVENTS 2006
AMARC 9 - 9th World Conference
11-17 November 2006 - Amman, Jordan
The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) met for their 9th triennial conference, hosted by Jordan's AmmanNet Radio Station. The conference was attended by 300 radio practitioners, development professionals, and community radio scholars from 94 countries. This year's conference, "Voices of the World - Free the Airwaves," provided a space for attendees to engage in training workshops, share stories and experiences, evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the international community radio movement, and create a strategic plan for 2007-2010.
World Congress on Communication for Development
25-27 October 2006 - Rome, Italy
The first World Congress on Communication for Development, organised by The World Bank, FAO and The Communication Initiative, has focused on demonstrating that Communication for Development is an essential tool for meeting today’s most pressing development challenges and therefore should be more fully integrated in development policy and practices. This 3-day Congress brought together communication professionals engaged in development initiatives, policymakers, development practitioners, donor and civil society organization representatives, community representatives, and academics from around the world to share experiences and best practices in this growing field. Discussions and presentations focused on what works, what doesn’t, and how Communication for Development contributes to better development effectiveness.
International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD)
New challenges and options for revitalizing rural communities
7-10 March 2006 - Porto Alegre, Brazil
FAO took the lead in increasing renewed international commitment to agrarian reform and rural development by organizing this conference. The meeting primarily serves to review different experiences of agrarian reform around the world by analysing impacts, processes, mechanisms and the actors involved, in order to develop proposals for future action.
The ICARRD Conference closed with the adoption of a Final Declaration, in which 1.400 participants, representing government delegations from 92 countries, NGOs and civil society observers from more than 150 farmer and civil society organizations worldwide called for a new vision of rural development and agrarian reform that contributes to the revitalization of rural communities and thus reduces poverty and hunger on earth.
EVENTS 2005
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
16-18 November 2005 - Tunis, Tunisia
The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society took place in Tunis and aimed to carry forward the process of building a people-centred Information Society that will help accelerate the pace of development. Three key issues dominated the preparatory process leading to the Tunis Summit: Internet governance, financing strategies, and implementation mechanisms for the Action Plan developed by the first phase of WSIS in 2003, in Geneva.
Consultation on: "Galvanising action to combat violence against women"
New York, 6-7 September 2005
This consultation, organised by the the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), provided an opportunity for representatives of Member States, UN entities and NGOs to highlight the linkages between violence against women and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) prior to the 2005 World Summit, and to identify key issues to be addressed in an in-depth study to be carried out by the Secretary-General’s on all forms of violence against women.
The programme included a plenary session, followed by panel discussions on:
- Violence against women and the MDGs
- Measuring, defining and blaming violence against women
Participants at the meeting concluded that violence against women is a universal problem that needs to be incorporated into the MDGs and all development strategies. One important challenge will be to ensure absence of violence to the most vulnerable and less accessible groups of women in rural areas.
Worldwide Symposium on Gender and Forestry
1-10 August 2005 - Arusha, Tanzania
The second Worldwide Symposium on Gender and Forestry will focus on women and forestry, gender, poverty and sustainable development, forest resource utilisation and income-generating activities for local people, ideology, religion and environmental responsibility.
Beijing +10 and the Commission on the Status of Women
28 February - 11 March 2005
The review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action has taken place in the context of the 49th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York from 28 February - 11 March 2005.
The Commission focused on two thematic issues as outlined in its multi-year work programme:
The review and appraisal by the Commission focused on implementation at national level and identifying achievements, gaps and challenges and provide an indication of areas where actions and initiatives, within the framework of the Platform for Action and the outcome of the special session (Beijing+5), are most urgent to further implementation.
The Ministers present in New York reiterated their determination to promote gender equality and women's dignity and emphasised the impact of tyranny and war on the daily lives of thousands of women and children, and the heavy price that they have paid. The Minister for Women's Issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Faida Mwangilwa, spoke out against the thousands of cases of sexual violence against Congolese women, where rape is regularly used as a weapon by the warring factions in her country.
To provide input from civil society into the review and appraisal of the Platform for Action, the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) sponsored, organized and moderated 11 online discussions, each lasting four weeks. The archives of the online discussions can be found at the Womenwatch website
EVENTS 2004
Ninth UN Roundtable on Communication for Development
6-9 September 2004 - Rome, Italy
Communication for sustainable development was the main focus of this ninth UN Roundtable on Communication for Development. This informal forum provides strategic direction and input for development communication programmes. Every two years it brings together UN agencies, bilateral and multilateral donors, foundations, NGOs, scholars and development communication experts from around the world. Topics under discussion included communication and natural resource management; communication in research, extension and education; and communication for isolated and marginalized groups.
EVENTS 2002
Know-How Conference 2002
July 2002 - Kampala, Uganda
Dimitra participated in the Kampala Know-How conference 2002 which brought together specialists in the collection and dissemination of information relevant to women. The Conference's mission was to build and consolidate powerful relationships between participating organizations, in order to create new programs to make information on the position of women, and for women, highly accessible and visible.
