International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE)-1
November 12-14th 2015, KTDC Samudra, Kovalam, Kerala
Organised by the Gender Park, Department of Social Justice, Government of Kerala
Technical Support: Centre for Management Development, Thiruvananthapuram

Gender equality exists when women and men enjoy equitable opportunities, resources and life prospects so that they can participate fully in and share in the benefits of development of their societies. Despite significant strides that have been made in narrowing gender gaps globally, substantial inequalities still persists across sectors and no country has achieved gender equality.

The international conference on ‘Gender, Governance and Inclusion’ is one of the key global events planned by the Gender Park for November (12th, 13th and 14th) 2015 to accelerate progress towards its vision of a gender just society. This conference aims to address the challenges and offer solutions to achieving gender equitable development from the initial planning to effective and sustainable implementation with a focus on gender equality, governance and inclusion. The conference will bring together a global membership of delegates (particularly from the developing countries of the South) and provide a platform to share global experiences in reducing gender inequalities. The broad goal of the conference is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, ideas and expertise to support and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. It will also draw attention to the successes (and weaknesses) of the Kerala model of development. For the State Government, lessons on how to move past the impasse Kerala appears to be in terms of highly educated and healthy women, but relatively powerless and resource poor will be crucial . The main conference output will be a high quality publication that will capture knowledge and lessons in this area as well as the formulation and declaration of a 2015 Gender Park Statement on the way forward for Kerala and India in terms of gender equality.

The themes for this conference include work, governance, citizenship, globalisation, health, education, masculinities, disability, role of media etc., and are being developed in a participatory manner by engaging eminent gender experts in the State—researchers, activists and policy makers.

Purpose and Format

The conference will explore obstacles to gender-just development in various domains of governance and human development and present and share knowledge on good practices and innovative interventions.
The Objectives of ICGE-1 on ‘Gender, Governance and Human Development’ are:

• To capture and share contemporary knowledge and global good practices on addressing critical gender equality issues, in order to review and reform areas for research, knowledge building and action.
  
• To strengthen local, national and global strategic partnerships to enhance collective action on responsive gender just policies and context specific interventions to support women’s empowerment and eliminate recurrence of gender inequality going forward.

The conference will use a range of formats: speaker presentations, panel discussions, poster exhibitions and a special ‘session on wheels’.
The conference is a 3-day programme beginning on 12th November, 2015.

The conference will explore three dimensions of gender equality, namely

• Women’s Access, Ownership, and Control Over Resources and Capabilities
  
• Strengthened Voice and Agency of Women
• Freedom & Security From Violence

Based on this analytical framework, the sessions for the conference will be centered on the following themes:

• Health
  
• Education
• Work
• Governance
• Citizenship
• Globalisation and Social Security

Panel discussions will be held on:

• Disability
  
• Masculinities
• Role of Media

(Invited speakers/papers only)

A poster exhibition will be on display throughout the conference and will include a selected number of examples to demonstrate various aspects of the conference themes related to gender equality and women empowerment.

The conference will take place at KTDC Samudra Hotel, Kovalam, Kerala, India.