Monday 3 June
The Power of Us: Opening of the Women Deliver 2019 Conference
Let us join together and kick-off the Women Deliver 2019 Conference. Enjoy an indigenous welcoming ceremony, a high-powered plenary discussion, as well as some good beats. The Power of Us opening will explore the frame of WD2019 “Power. Progress. Change.”…
Katja Iversen
Katja Iversen is the President/CEO of Women Deliver – a leading global advocate for investment in gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women, with a specific focus on maternal, sexual and reproductive health and rights. Iversen, an internationally recognized expert on development, advocacy and communications, has more than 25 years of experience working in NGOs, corporates and United Nation agencies. Previously, she held the position as Chief of Strategic Communication and Public Advocacy with UNICEF, a position she came to after almost six years of leading the team responsible for advocacy and communication on reproductive health with UNFPA. She holds a master’s degree in communications, bachelor’s degree in public administration and certificates in management, conflict resolution, and international development. Iversen has worked in global development for more than 20 years and has an extensive network within the UN, development communities, and global media. She has counseled and trained multiple Fortune 500 executives on cross cultural management and cross cultural communication. She is a member of President Macron’s G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, the Unilever Sustainability Advisory Council, the MIT Women & Technology Solve Leadership Group, and an International Gender Champion. Iversen was recently named 2018 Dane of the Year and included in the top 10 of Apolitical’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy. She is also a sought lecturer and speaker.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau is Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister. He also serves as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Youth. Trudeau’s vision of Canada is a country where everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed. His experiences as a teacher, father, leader, and advocate for youth have shaped his dedication to Canadians – and his commitment to make Canada a place where everyone has the opportunities they need to thrive.
Before entering politics, Trudeau spent several years teaching French, math, and other subjects in Vancouver. Teaching allowed him to make a positive impact in the lives of young people. He remains committed to hearing the voices of young Canadians, from the classroom to Parliament Hill.
Trudeau entered politics to make change that would better serve all Canadians. In 2007, he built a community-based, grassroots campaign to win the Liberal Party nomination in the Montréal riding of Papineau. He was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2011 and 2015. Justin was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in April 2013. His leadership campaign focused on building a new, truly national movement of progressive Canadians, bringing hundreds of thousands of Canadians into politics, most for the first time. He worked closely with his team to build a plan to create jobs, grow the economy, and strengthen the middle class. With Trudeau’s leadership, the Liberal plan emphasized fair economic opportunity for everyone, respect for and promotion of freedom and diversity, and a more democratic government that truly represents Canadians.
As Prime Minister, Trudeau leads a government that works hard every day to build an economy that works for the middle class and people working hard to join it. His team is focused on creating new jobs, fostering strength out of Canada’s rich diversity, fighting climate change, and achieving reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. A strong feminist, Trudeau appointed Canada’s first gender balanced Cabinet.
Trudeau is husband to Sophie Grégoire, a former Quebec TV and radio host. They married in 2005 and are the proud parents of Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien.
Lyse Doucet
Lyse Doucet is the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent who is deployed to present special news coverage and report across the BBC’s domestic and global outlets.
Lyse spent 15 years as a BBC foreign correspondent with postings in Jerusalem, Amman, Islamabad, Tehran, Kabul and Abidjan.
She was nominated to the Order of Canada in 2018 and received an OBE in the Queen’s Honours list in 2014 for services to broadcasting. Other recent awards include the 2018 Trailblazer Award from the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, a 2016 Columbia School of Journalism Award for exceptional journalist achievement, and an Emmy award in 2014 for her team’s reporting from Syria.
Born in eastern Canada, Lyse has honorary doctorates from leading British and Canadian Universities. She has a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto, and a BA Hons from Queen’s University in Kingston.
Lyse is a trustee of Inter Mediate, an honorary patron of Canadian Crossroads International, and a member of Friends of Aschiana UK which supports working street children in Afghanistan. She is a founding member of the Marie Colvin Journalists’ Network and a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto. She is a Trustee of the Frontline Club for Journalists and a member of the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma.
Her Excellency President Sahle-Work Zewde
Sahle-Work Zewde was elected as the fourth and first woman President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on 25 October 2018.
She spent her first professional years in the Ministry of Education. She later joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988 and started her long diplomatic carrier as ambassador to Senegal with accreditation to Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and the Gambia. She served in Djibouti and IGAD- Inter Governmental Authority on Development for 10 years before moving as ambassador of Ethiopia to France, Tunisia and Morocco and Permanent Representative to UNESCO. After her return to Ethiopia she was appointed Permanent Representative to the African Union and Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
President Sahle-Work Zewde joined the United Nations in 2009 and served as Special Representative of United Nations Secretary-General/SRSG/ and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA) thus becoming the first African woman to become an SRSG.
In 2011, she was appointed as the first dedicated Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) at the level of Under-Secretary-General. In June 2018, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ms. Zewde as his Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU. She was the first woman to hold these three positions at the United Nations.
Ms Zewde is a mother of two boys. She speaks Amharic, French and English fluently.
- Organization
- Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces
His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s fourth, was sworn in for his second term and final term on 28 November 2017, following that year’s second presidential election.
Born on 26th October 1961, he is the first son of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding father and first President. Uhuru was educated at St Mary’s in Nairobi and Amherst in Massachusetts, taking a degree in Political Science and Economics from the latter in 1985.
He is married to Margaret Kenyatta, Kenya’s First Lady. Her Beyond Zero campaign, which raises funds and awareness for maternal and child health initiatives in Kenya, has attracted global attention. They have three children: Jomo, Ngina and Muhoho Kenyatta.
After Amherst, Kenyatta came home and turned his hand to entrepreneurship. He ran his own business, which exported produce, while playing roles in other, established, firms.
He went into politics in 1997, entering Parliament as a nominated member in 1999, and Cabinet as Minister for local government in October 2001.
In 2002, as KANU, then the ruling party, prepared for that year’s general election, he was elected one of its four national vice-chairs. Later that year, Kenyatta emerged as KANU’s candidate in the December 2002 presidential election, but lost to the opposition’s Mwai Kibaki, though he was elected MP for his native Gatundu South. He entered Parliament, and served as Leader of the Opposition.
In 2007, he backed President Kibaki’s bid for a second term, and returned to Cabinet in January 2008, after Kibaki won. He would go on to serve as Minister for Finance and Deputy Prime Minister until 2012, before he led the Jubilee alliance to victory in the general election the following year.
Since he took office in 2013, President Kenyatta has pursued a number of policy initiatives. The Big Four, President Kenyatta’s administration’s priority since 2017, has emphasised universal healthcare, housing, industrialization, and agriculture.
Infrastructure has been a second central theme of the presidency. The Northern Corridor, connecting Mombasa with Kampala, Kigali, Bujumbura, and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has been revitalised. The inauguration of LAPSSET — under which Kenya is forging partnerships with investors to build a highway, an oil pipeline, a railway line and a seaport in Lamu, connecting South Sudan and Ethiopia — is a measure of the administration’s ambition. Yet another key infrastructure venture is the Standard Gauge Railway, which reached Nairobi in 2017.
On the continent, President Kenyatta’s administration has emerged as a key proponent of the Pan-African agenda, in recognition of which he was voted chair of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). He has also led regional peace and security initiatives, with a special focus on the situation in the Horn of Africa.
Farwiza Farhan
Farwiza is the leader of Forest, Nature & Environment Aceh (HAkA) a homegrown Acehnese NGO, which is striving to protect the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra. In her work, she seeks to share knowledge, connect and empower the local community to have their participation accounted for in decision making over land in their area. In the past, she has participated in initiating legal challenges against government and companies in order to have Leuser's protection acknowledged and recognized. She focuses her efforts on policy and advocacy element, starting from building grass-roots movements, equipping the local communities with knowledge and connection to the global communities. Farwiza’s impact on community driven conservation was recognized with the 2016 Whitley Award.
Natasha Mwansa
Natasha Chibesa Wang Mwansa is passionate about using the media to empower young people. She is currently a first year student at the University of Zambia pursuing a degree in Mass Communication with a minor in Political Science and Public Administration. Natasha is also a Women Deliver Young Leader (Class of 2018).
Natasha was born and raised in Zambia. As a Junior Reporter, Child Journalist, Child and Women’s Rights Advocate and Activist at the Media Network on Child Rights and Development, she is responsible for gathering and disseminating information and tracking stakeholder progress. Through her work, she was selected to be part of the African Union Commission’s Youth Advisory Board. Additionally, she is the Social Accountability Monitor at Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Dissemination Service and a youth representative for the United Nations Population Fund. As an advocate, Natasha is proud of being in the process of starting an initiative that will foster young people to take radical action and foster positive change.
- Date
- Monday 3 June
- Location
- Plenary Hall, Vancouver Convention Center
- Hours
- 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm PST
- Speakers
- Katja Iversen
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- Lyse Doucet
- Her Excellency President Sahle-Work Zewde
- His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta
- Farwiza Farhan
- Natasha Mwansa
- President of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
- Dr. Alaa Murabit
- Erica Armah-Bra Bulu Tandoh
- Tags
- Plenary
The Power of Us: Opening of the Women Deliver 2019 Conference
Let us join together and kick-off the Women Deliver 2019 Conference. Enjoy an indigenous welcoming ceremony, a high-powered plenary discussion, as well as some good beats. The Power of Us opening will explore the frame of WD2019 “Power. Progress. Change.” with heads of state, advocates, and young people. We will together generate new ideas, inspiration, and excitement for what lays ahead in the conference.
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Indigenous Welcoming Ceremony: 3 leaders of Indigenous BC Nations and Heads of State, panelists, Women Deliver Young Leaders and other selected delegates
Video: Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres
Welcome Remarks:
- Katja Iversen, President/CEO, Women Deliver
- The Right Honourable Justin P.J. Trudeau, Prime Minister, Government of Canada
Moderator: Lyse Doucet, Journalist, BBC News
High-Level Panel:
- Her Excellency President Sahle Work-Zewde, Government of Ethiopia
- His Excellency Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H.President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces
- Farwiza Farhan, Environmental Activist, The New Now
- The Right Honourable Justin P.J. Trudeau, Prime Minister, Government of Canada
- Natasha Mwansa, Children’s, Youth, and Women’s Rights Activist/Advocate, Media Network on Child Rights and Development
- President of Ghana His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, African Union Gender and Development leader and HeforShe Champion
- Dr. Alaa Murabit, High-Level Commissioner: Health, Employment & Economic Growth
Call to Action & Closing Remarks:
- Katja Iversen, President/CEO, Women Deliver
- Gapminder survey introduction to attendees
Music & Entertainment: “DJ Switch” Erica Tandoh