Women’s Leadership Workshop in Geneva, Open to All Women from Public and Private Sector

17 September 2015, Geneva - UNITAR’s Women’s Leadership Programme announces its third Leadership workshop to take place on 22- 23 October 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. The upcoming workshop is the first in the series that is open to all women from public and private sector.

Working to increase the gender balance in decision making fora is one of the primary objectives of the new SDG 5 of the 2030 development agenda for sustainable development. Noting the significant lack of women in political, economic and public decision making positions, this workshop is designed for female professionals looking to develop and acquire the techniques and skills to drive their full potential and maximize opportunities in their career. Following UN Women’s Step it Up for Gender Equality call for Planet 50:50 by 2030, and promoting women’s full and effective participation in political decision-making fora (in the context of SDG5), the Women’s Leadership Programme seeks to address the gender imbalance that exists on delegations to multilateral conferences under the United Nations. Having more women in leadership positions may facilitate new ways of reaching consensus and may inform more gender-responsive policy.

“Women are proven agents of change. With the right tools and opportunities, they can be the most powerful drivers of sustainable development,” said Amina Mohammed, Special Adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Post-2015 Development Planning during the high level discussion launch event for the Women’s Leadership Programme, at the Seventeenth World Meteorological Congress in Geneva.

The workshop on 22 – 23 October will build on the success of previous workshops which have illustrated the importance and demand for such learning opportunities. Feedback from the workshops recognized that “the time is now; more women need to be attending these workshops to understand and define who they are as a female leader”.

The Women’s Leadership workshop invites female diplomats and delegates, as well as participants from the private sector, non-governmental organisations, and academics for a highly interactive and participatory workshop, which will enable participants to critically assess leadership styles, strengthen their confidence in their own leadership characteristics and employ tools to build high-priority skills, such as networking, influencing others, negotiation, collaborative leadership and public speaking.

Participants will develop an appreciation of how these skills may be applied to strengthen participation and personal performance in multilateral conference and decision-making processes.

The workshop will take place in English language, with some exercises to be facilitated in both English and French. Please note that no simultaneous interpretation will be provided during the event.

The course fee is 1000 USD per participant. Interested participants can find further information and should register online at: https://www.unitar.org/event/womens-leadership-workshop. Registration will close as soon as the programme is full.

For more information, please contact:womensleadership@unitar.org

Video testimonials by facilitators and participants of previous events can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAl8lMAoqc&index=1&list=PL20urtx5WSpt0EjIhAKEUJ2Ubk6f_uRAi