The European Development Days, the event organised every year by the European Commission since 2006, provides one of the most important international occasions for the various players in the field of development cooperation to meet and exchange views. All the main operators in the industry, not only in terms of the institutions, meet to discuss new ideas, share best practices, develop partnerships and propose innovative solutions for tackling the most important issues.
This year, the EDD will be staged in Brussels next 5 and 6 June and will focus on women’s empowerment, a crucial factor for development on every level: Woman and Girls at the Forefront of Sustainable Development: Protect, Empower, Invest. The general programme is available on the page https://www.eudevdays.eu/programme.
The Agency will participate in the event with a stand named The Pink in Charge, Enterprise Within the Soul and the Heart where visitors can obtain detailed information about the PIDESS programme - Programme Intégré de Développement Économique et Social en Senegal.
The aim of the programme is to play a part in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular Goal 5, by promoting the social and economic development of women and vulnerable groups, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Family in Senegal, the local institutions and civil society organisations. The integrated, multi-dimensional approach adopted by the programme focuses on identifying the potential of women in economic and social life, on recognising the needs of women and tackling gender discrimination, with a view to promoting the economic empowerment of women in the following ways:
- promotion of the access to and control of the economic resources and opportunities on offer, including jobs, financial services, property, other production-related assets and the development of skills;
- implementation of the three cornerstones of the Senegalese strategy on gender violence; prevention; support for victims and their families; the promotion of legal and justice systems;
- encouraging and increasing the participation of women in the political decision-making process on both local and national levels. This includes sustaining women’s negotiating power, reinforcing business networks, promoting a gender-sensitive balance and creating two local economic development agencies with the objective of strengthening democratic governance, developing strategic development plans and empowering the native resources as well as promoting innovation, the social economy, gender equality and social inclusion.
The Agency will also be present at the stand of the Practitioners’ Network, the European network of those involved in cooperation that it joined in 2017. The stand of the PN fits in with the theme of EDD 2018, starting with its title “Joint Implementation: A Benefit for Women and Girls around the World" and proposes three projects that illustrate how the partnerships between the European development agencies, through joint implementation, can improve women’s skills, increase their participation and enhance their roles as leaders in the achievement of the sustainable development goals.
Here at stand 26 of the Global Village, on 6 June at 10.30 am, the AICS will present its experience in Palestine as part of the joint schedule of events regarding gender issues. Indeed, the Agency chairs the Gender Technical Working Group for Palestine in the European Union. The presentation, entitled "EU technical coordination for a better impact on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Palestine” will be managed by Cristina Natoli, head of the AICS office in Jerusalem, and Chiara Venier, Focal expert of the office in Rome.
