The Paradigm Shift Needed to Achieve Economic Justice and Rights for Women

Perspectives in Global Development: Fall 2023 Seminar Series

Abstract

There is a sense of intensified polarization on gender equality around the world and within multilateral spaces, although gender equality remains an urgent and an under-actioned global priority. Tensions between human rights and development are at the center of this polarization. Ahead of the Beijing +30 being marked in 2025, how do we foster a global movement for urgent action and accountability for gender equality and ensure we do not compromise on the systemic changes that are needed to guarantee human rights for all women and girls in all their diversity. In this seminar, Jemimah Njuki will talk about the tensions, the vision for a gender equal world, how we can galvanize global action and the role of the UN system.

About the speaker

Dr. Jemimah Njuki is the Chief of the Economic Empowerment section at UN Women. She is a recognized leader on gender equality and women's empowerment, having directed global initiatives promoting women's economic empowerment. Jemimah previously worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as the Director for Africa, where she worked with African governments and key stakeholders to develop evidence for transformative policy change.

She has spent the last two years leading the UN Food Systems Summit's Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Lever of Change and was instrumental in establishing the Coalition to Make Food Systems Work for Women and Girls. Additionally, she led the design and deployment of the Global Food 5050, an indicator and mechanism for gender responsibility for organizations engaged in global food systems.

She has led the gender equality work with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) including the design of the Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GRoW), the Women in Agriculture programme at CARE USA, and the Poverty, Gender and Impact programme at the International Livestock Research Institute.

Perspectives in Global Development

The Perspectives in Global Development seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:20-1:20 p.m. eastern time during the semester. The series is presented in a hybrid format with some speakers on campus and others appearing via Zoom. All seminars are shown in Emerson Hall 135. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Integrative Plant Science as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.