Press release 94/2016
13 May 2016
The Women Deliver 2016 Global Conference, which will be held in Copenhagen on 16–19 May, aims at the improvement of the status of women and girls. The conference will bring together over 6,000 participants from more than 150 countries.
"The wellbeing of women and girls plays a big role in the development and future of a country," emphasises Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Lenita Toivakka, who will participate in the conference.
"Strengthening the status of women and girls is one of the four priorities of Finland's development policy. Our support has contributed to girls' school attendance in Mozambique and Ethiopia, as well as to the availability of family planning services and to maternal health in Afghanistan."
The Women Deliver conference will focus on how to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted in the UN in the autumn of 2015, so that they matter to the status of women and girls. The conference will discuss especially maternal, sexual, and reproductive health and rights, and the links between gender equality, education, environment, and economic empowerment.
During the conference, Minister Toivakka will meet Denmark's Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, leaders representing the UN Children's Fund UNICEF and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, as well as representatives of the World Bank and other international actors.
A delegation of Finnish health sector companies and organisations, led by Finpro, will take part in the event. In the Women Deliver exhibition, the companies will present Finnish health sector products and services, focusing on those that further women's and girls' health and wellbeing The following companies will be represented in the delegation: Commit, FIHTA, Finn Church Aid, Lune Group, M4ID, Medixine, PerkinElmer and Relaxbirth.
Furthermore, Finland supports the participation of about a hundred young persons from the developing countries in the conference. "In this way, Finland promotes women's and youth's opportunities to influence in political decision-making and advocacy of the improvement of women's and girls’ status in their home countries," Minister Toivakka notes.
The conference will be organised by Women Deliver, an organisation focusing on the promotion of the rights and health of women and girls. It is sponsored by several international development actors.
Inquiries: Anne Lammila, Ambassador for Equality Issues, tel. +358 295 351 352, Gisela Blumenthal, Senior Adviser, Unit for Sectoral Policy, tel. work+358 295 350 958, Emma Hannonen, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 50 574 0736, Terhi Rasmussen, Advisor, Finpro, tel. +45 205 498 94.
Conference website: http://www.WD2016.org
