‘WeUNiTE: Investing in Planet 50-50’

A high-level event organised by UN Women and the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mumbai, on 6 December will spotlight the link between women’s economic empowerment and ending violence against women, and the need for urgent and adequate investment in the twin themes. Private sector leaders, UN officials, gender experts and activists will participate in a conference titled ‘WeUNiTE: Investing in Planet 50-50’ that will explore how skill development, entrepreneurship and innovation can help achieve gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.

The Conference will stimulate country level conversations with a focus on the need for adequate resources to end violence against women and girls while providing costing examples, with best practices of “what works”.

The event is part of the global 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, a campaign that aims to galvanize action to end gender based violence around the world, observed globally, from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, until 10 December, Human Rights Day. During this year’s 16 Days, the UN Women-led UNiTE campaign’s “Orange the World” initiative urges raising money to end violence against women and girls.

Iconic Mumbai monuments such as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Western Railway Headquarters and Rajabai Tower at the University of Mumbai will be illuminated in orange on 6 December to mark the 16 Days of Activism to end violence against women.

IMC and UN Women will also sign an agreement to explore the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for women entrepreneurs.

Tuesday, 6 December, 9.30 am – 3.15 pm

Crystal Room, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Apollo Bunder,
Colaba, Mumbai

The Chief Guest of the event will be Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director; it will be attended by private sector leaders, gender experts and activists.

Other participants include:

Mr. Deepak Premnarayen, President, IMC
Ms. Radhika Nath, President, IMC Ladies' Wing
Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Chairperson, National Commission for Women
Ms. Aishwaryaa Rajinikanth Dhanush, UN Women’s Advocate for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India
Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog
Mr. Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator, India
Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank
Ms. Vibha Bakshi, Filmmaker
Ms. Elca Grobler, Founder, My Choices Foundation
Ms. Haseena Hussain, Activist
Ms. Subhashini Vasant, Founder Director, Vasantharatna Foundation for Art
Mr. Aditya Gupta, Co-Founder, People for Parity
Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research
Ms. Pavithra YS, Founder, Vindhya E-Infomedia Private Limited
Ms. Yamini Mishra, Regional Gender Responsive Budgeting Specialist, UN Women
Mr. Paul Divakar, General Secretary, National Campaign for Dalit Human RightsMr. Anil Dharker, Columnist and writer
Mr. Sunil Munjal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Hero Corporate Service Limited
Ms. Zarina Screwvala, Managing Trustee, Swades Foundation

3.00 pm – 3.30 pm: Media interaction with Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director and Mr. Deepak Premnarayen, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Interviews can be facilitated on request, subject to schedule.

Media contacts:

UN Women

Rineeta Naik, E-mail: Rineeta.Naik[at]unwomen.org and
Oisika Chakrabarti, E-mail: Oisika.Chakrabarti[at]unwomen.org,
Tel: +91 95 6059 7782

Indian Merchants Chamber

Sabrina Fernandes, E-mail: Sabrina.Fernandes[at]frb.co.in
Eden Menon, E-mail: Eden.Menon[at]imcnet.org,
Tel: +91 22 2204 6633 Ext: 105

Follow the online conversation on Twitter @unwomenindia using the hashtags
#16days #orangetheworld

Background:

As part of 16 Days, the global initiative ‘Orange the World: End Violence Against Women and Girls’, led by UN Women on behalf of the UN Secretary-General’s global campaign UNiTE to End Violence against women, uses the colour orange to symbolise a brighter future without violence against women.

Despite growing recognition that the pandemic of violence against women—which impacts one in three worldwide – is a gross human rights violation and a serious obstacle to development, concrete efforts on preventing and ending violence against women and girls continue to be a low priority on the international development agenda, with inadequate funding. A recent study estimated that the cost of intimate-partner violence accounting in 2013 could be as high as 5.2 per cent of the global economy. Evidence also illustrates how even relatively small-scale investments that are timely and well targeted can bring enormous benefits to women and girls and to their wider communities.

More information:

HQ - https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/end-violence-against-women
Asia-Pacific - http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/in-focus/ending-violence-against-women

About UN Women

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established in 2010 to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas:

• increasing women’s leadership and participation;
• ending violence against women;
• engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes;
• enhancing women’s economic empowerment;
• and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.

About IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMC)

IMC is an apex Chamber of trade, commerce and industry with headquarters in Mumbai, India. It has 2700 direct members, comprising a cross section of the business community, including public and private limited companies and over 225 trade and industry associations through which the Chamber reaches out to over 2,50,000 business establishments in the country. IMC has a Ladies’ Wing which is a premier business and professional women’s organisation with over 2200 members, consisting of entrepreneurs, managers, professionals and women from leading business houses.