Side Event 74th UNGA: Women Leaders as Changemakers in Local Governance

As part of the partnership with UN Women, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (Local Governance) of the Government of India will be convening an event on the sidelines of the 74th UN General Assembly, to showcase the model of local governance in India, rooted in the constitution; and the affirmative action that has resulted in 1.4 million women leaders working towards the socio-economic betterment of rural India that will ultimately be key in achieving the SDGs at the national and global levels.

The event is organized in alignment with the UN High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, mandated to follow up and review progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs.

The dialogue will discuss on the role of women leaders in local governance in achieving the SDGs.

Key stakeholders:

The Dialogue, a forum to share global best practices and cross-learning, will benefit its key stakeholders in adapting best practices to their national and sub-national policies. Representatives of governments from Global North as well as Global South, particularly from ministries concerning local governance, gender and women’s development, members of academia and civil society, as well as international agencies will gain from the platform. The fourth and global pillar, the media, will also be critical to the dissemination of on ground challenges to the implementation of SDGs and the impact of adapting global best practices through the inclusion of women’s political participation.

Key Takeaways:

The key takeaways from the Dialogue will be :

1. to showcase the Indian model of democratic local governance and results of affirmative action in promoting women in decision making
2. innovative institutional mechanisms that have delivered on the objective inclusive and responsive local governance

Proposed Agenda: 

Keynote speech

Honourable Minister, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), Government of India

Thought Sharing and voices of changemakers

Women leaders as Changemakers in local governance towards achieving the SDGs (dialogue moderated by Ms. Nishtha Satyam, Deputy Representative, UN Women

1. Mahila Sabha as an innovative mechanism for convergence, empowerment and decision making:Speakers: Representative from MoPR and an Elected Women Representative (EWR)
2.  Elected Women representatives (EWRs) of Panchayats: Towards a more inclusive and responsive governance:Speakers: Prof Maxine Weisgrau, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
3. Gender Friendly Panchayat: Institutional mechanisms to establish models of inclusion and gender responsiveness at the village level:Speaker: Dr. W.R Reddy, DG NIRD&PR
4.  PRI-CBO Convergence as critical instruments of inclusive Governance:Speakers: Kudumbshree and EWR