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“Gender inequality has been one of the main reasons why we have not achieved many of the Millennium Development Goals” said Mr Viktors Makarovs, the Special Envoy of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on development cooperation issues.
Speaking about their experience in working with women in Central Asia, the four panellists from the region and Latvia shared their views on the main challenges and causes regarding the vulnerability of women and girls, as well as the success stories that have emerged from the transition experience and cooperation with Latvia and other new donors.
“If we don’t deal with issues of violence, we cannot unlock the economic potential of women” said Iluta Lāce, representative of the ‘Marta’ Resource Centre for Women, a women’s NGO.
“Yes, there are anti-violence laws, but the problem is the perception of gender-based violence in society” said Gulshod Sharipova, representing the ‘Mir - Office for Initiative Development’ NGO from Tajikistan.
Sharing her experience of six projects in Central Asia, Olga Nogaeva highlighted that “there are tangible and intangible outcomes of women’s empowerment. Higher income is just one outcome. More importantly, the projects bring a mind-opening experience for women. I get goose-bumps thinking about the changes those women undergo in terms of ambition, self-confidence and self-esteem”.
Gender issues were also high on the agenda of the first day of the EDDs. Opening the event, the Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma highlighted that gender equality is one of the main development priorities of the Latvian Presidency and expressed her hopes that gender will be given a central role in the post-2015 Development Agenda.
The European Development Days is the largest annual development event in Brussels that brings together key development experts, opinion leaders and stakeholders. Coinciding with the European Year for Development and the run-up to the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda negotiations in September 2015, this year’s EDDs had a record-high number of debate labs and participants.
