Building Bridges: Gender Equality Event on International Women's Day

Participants in an Event on International Women's Day under the headline Building Bridges on Gender Equality enjoyed lively accounts of four alumni from the Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme in Iceland ( GEST) .The event was organised by the Embassy of Iceland in New Delhi, the UN Women, India with support of UNESCO India. The alumni related how their projects and studies had benefitted their present work in India, as well as their experiences from Iceland.

Martin Eyjólfsson the Permanent Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Iceland gave a key-note address on Icelandic gender policies home and abroad and the work of the Gender Studies and Training Programme which is under the the Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainability and Societal Change (GRÓ), financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and under the auspices of UNESCO.

Other panelists were Susan Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women India, Joyce Poan, UNESCO, and the moderator, Ambassador Guðni Bragason. The meeting was held in the UN House in New Delhi followed by a luncheon at the invitation of the Indo Icelandic Buisness Association.

The alumni answered questions from the room and said that the training in Iceland had benefitted their present tasks in India in various fields such as the health sector, grassroots politics and NGO activities. Six Indians have trained at the programme, four women and two men.