The International Federation of Business & Professional Women is more than 90 years old with around 30K members who touch at least 150K women and girls. We are present in over 100 countries and 5 five continents. We are member of the Council of Europe, the European Lobby of Women, and one of the first NGOs to get consultative status by ECOSOC in 1947.
In many parts of the world, there remain deep-rooted and structural inequalities as well as systemic and legal barriers to the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls in social, political and economic life.
BPW is dedicated to accelerating gender equality and empowering women and girls in and through education and vocational training in a lifelong learning perspective, developing their business and professional potential, and fostering financing with a gender perspective, across sectors.
We believe Female leadership including at grassroots level is pivotal in creating a more sustainable, just and democratic world, while advancing women’s rights, especially amid conflicts and natural disasters. By nurturing leadership through programs like the Girls Congress in the Phillipines , BPW sets a powerful precedent for how grassroots efforts can effectively contribute to UNESCO’s mission of global accountability by cultivating the next generation of empowered, informed, and active contributors to a more inclusive and accountable world.
We call for equal representation of women in climate decision-making mechanisms and a gender- responsive approach in all climate change policies.
Promoting STEM education for girls is a matter of rights and access to equal opportunities but it will also boost the world economy and reshape the labour market increasing female talents and career opportunities . Excluding women from the digital world is detrimental to the world economy.
Bridging the Gender Digital Divide is crucial.To this end, we need to address gender norms and barriers to digital literacy and skills, accessibility and online safety.
We commend the leadership of UNESCO in Open Science and Ethics in AI and we believe in UNESCO as a laboratory of ideas and support the ongoing reflection on the transformation of education and on gender equality. We commend UNESCO’s strategy on partnerships- the WWAP multistakeholder coalition for accelerating gender equality in the water domain and the global platform for gender equality in & through education and we are engaged in both.
The International Federation of Business, Professional Women, UNESCO’s official partner for 75 years, pushes for active actions through cooperation so that we, Women and Men, Civil Society and governments can all together, help accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable 2050 and create the future we all want for sustainable development and for peace.
